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HOW TO ENABLE ADOBE ACROBAT READER'S DARK MODE TO READ PDFS IN A DARK THEME

By Ben Stegner
Updated Mar 20, 2023

Learn how to use Adobe Acrobat Reader's dark mode so you can read PDFs without
overwhelmingly bright light.

Image Credit: Elena Elisseeva/Shutterstock
Readers like you help support MUO. When you make a purchase using links on our
site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Read More.

PDF is such a common file format that you probably work with these files often.
It's a shame, then, that not all PDF readers feature an easy-to-use dark mode.

If you have the rest of your system set up in dark mode—with light text on a
dark background—opening a PDF at night could shock you with its overwhelming
brightness. This is an especially annoying problem if you often read PDFs for
long periods of time, such as with PDF textbooks.

We'll show you how to use Adobe Acrobat Reader in dark mode for an experience
that's easier on your eyes.

HOW TO USE DARK MODE IN ADOBE ACROBAT READER

To toggle dark mode for your PDFs in Adobe Acrobat Reader (formerly just Adobe
Reader), follow these steps:

1. Open Adobe Reader and head to Edit > Preferences (using the Ctrl + K
shortcut if you wish).
2. Choose the Accessibility tab from the left sidebar.
3. Next, look for the Document Colors Options section at the top. Inside this,
check the Replace Document Colors checkbox, then choose the radio button for
Use High-Contrast colors.
1. Don't choose Use Windows Color Scheme; even with Windows 11 in dark mode,
this option didn't work in our testing.

4. Select White text on black from the dropdown box next to High-contrast color
combination. This theme is equivalent to dark mode, and is easiest on the
eyes. If you want, you can also try Green text on black, which will look
like an old-school terminal.
5. Now, click OK to leave the Preferences window. You should immediately see
that any opened PDFs now display in dark mode. Any PDFs you view in the
future will use this dark theme, too.

Note that this only affects text, so it won't flip the colors of images and
other content. This might make it tough for you to see some items on the page
after the switch, so take a look around and make sure everything looks right
before you leave dark mode enabled in Adobe Acrobat Reader all the time.

You may need to toggle dark mode off depending on your file. To tweak how dark
mode is applied, consider toggling either or both the two checkboxes here: Only
change the color of black text or line art and Change the color of line art as
well as text.

If you're not happy with how your PDF looks in the dark theme, you can tweak the
color scheme on the same Accessibility options page mentioned above. Try using
the Custom Color option to set your own Page Background and Document Text
colors. For example, a gray background instead of black might be easier for you
to see, or could reduce the distortion on certain PDFs.

And if you ever open a PDF in Adobe Acrobat Reader and don't want to use dark
mode, you can turn this setting off. Just open up Edit > Preferences again and
uncheck the Replace Document Colors box to remove the setting.

HOW TO CHANGE ADOBE ACROBAT READER'S THEME TO DARK MODE

Aside from changing the colors of the actual PDFs, Adobe Acrobat Reader includes
two themes for its other elements (like the homepage and menu bar). By default,
these follow your system's theme setting, but you can change the app's theme if
it's not displaying in dark mode automatically.

To do this, go to View > Display Theme in Adobe Acrobat Reader's top menu bar.
There, you can choose from Light Gray and Dark Gray options. Dark Gray is closer
to dark mode; it's not fully black, but is the best choice for dark mode fans.
If you often change your OS theme, select System Theme here.

This is independent of the option above, so you can use the dark theme for PDFs
while keeping the light theme for the menu elements, if you like.

THE BEST WAYS TO GET PDFS IN DARK MODE

With these two small tips, you can give Adobe Acrobat Reader a decent dark mode.
It's not perfect, but it's better than blinding yourself with bright elements
across the software.

If you don't like this dark theme, why not try another PDF reader? Some other
PDF software supports dark mode, too. You can also open PDFs in your browser and
use a dark mode extension to invert their colors.

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Related Topics
* Productivity
* Adobe Reader
* PDF
* Dark Mode

About The Author
Ben Stegner • Devices Segment Lead (1794 Articles Published)

After joining MUO in 2014 and earning a degree in Computer Information Systems,
Ben left his IT job to go full-time with the site in 2016.

As a writer, his specialties include Windows, Android, Gaming, and iPhone
explainers and how-tos. His work has been viewed over 100 million times.

Now, as the Segment Lead for Devices, Ben leads the overall strategy for
Android, iPhone, Mac, and Windows and guides their team of writers and editors
to new successes.

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