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How to Use Dark Mode in Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader (PC & Mac)

By Erin Wright

Art supplies on black wooden desk with text overlay "How to Use Dark Mode in Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader"Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader don’t have a formal Dark Mode as Microsoft Word does. However, you can create your own Dark Mode by changing the color of the interface and the page background color.

Quick Links

  • How to Change the Color of the Interface
  • How to Change the Page Background Color

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 100 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Adobe Acrobat Pro DC. These steps also apply to Acrobat Reader DC. In addition, the steps are similar on PC and Mac. Differences between the two operating systems are noted within the individual steps.

How to Change the Color of the Interface

  1. Open your PDF in Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader.
  2. Select the View menu.
View menu in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 1. View menu
  1. Select Display Theme from the drop-down menu.
Display Theme option in the View menu in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 2. Display Theme option
  1. Select Dark Gray from the submenu. (For most users, System Theme and Light Gray will look the same.)
Dark Gray option in the View menu in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 3. Dark Gray option

The interface (but not the page) should change to dark gray.

Dark Gray Display Theme in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 4. Dark Gray display theme

Continue to the next section if you want to match the page background color to the Dark Gray theme or change it to another color.

How to Change the Page Background Color

  1. Select the Edit menu on a PC (figure 5) or the Acrobat menu on a Mac (figure 6).
Edit Menu in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 5. Edit menu (PC)
Acrobat menu in Adobe Acrobat on Mac
Figure 6. Acrobat menu (Mac)
  1. Select Preferences from the drop-down menu.
Preferences option in the Edit menu in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 7. Preferences option
  1. Select Accessibility in the Categories menu in the Preferences dialog box.
Accessibility category in the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 8. Accessibility category
  1. Select Replace Document Colors.
Replace Document Colors option in the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 9. Replace Document Colors option
  1. Select Use High-Contrast colors and then select an option from the High-contrast color combination menu.
    • Green text on black
    • Yellow text on black
    • White text on black
    • Black text on white
High-Contrast Color options in the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 10. High-contrast color options
  1. (Alternative Option) Select Custom Color.
Custom Color option in the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 11. Custom Color option

a. Select a new color from the Page Background menu.

Page Background menu in the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 12. Page Background menu (PC)
Page Background menu in the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Acrobat on Mac
Figure 13. Page Background menu (Mac)

b. Select a new color from the Document Text menu.

Document Text menu in the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 14. Document Text menu (PC)
Document Text menu in t he Preferences dialog box in Adobe Acrobat on Mac
Figure 15. Document Text menu (Mac)

Pro Tip: Additional Color Options on a PC

You may have noticed that Mac users have many more color options than do PC users in the Page Background menu (see figures 12 and 13) and Document Text menu (see figures 14 and 15).

For additional customization options, PC users can select Other Color in the Page Background or Document Text menu to open an advanced Color dialog box.

Color dialog box in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 16. Color dialog box
  1. Select the OK button.
OK button in the Preferences dialog box in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 17. OK button

Your changes should take effect immediately. These changes won’t affect how your document prints or appears on other people’s computers.

Black page background with Dark Gray theme in Adobe Acrobat
Figure 18. Black page background

Related Resources

How to Open Links in Separate Tabs in Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader

How to Use Automatic Scrolling in Adobe Acrobat and Acrobat Reader

How to Use the Split View in Adobe Acrobat

Updated January 16, 2022

Filed Under: Adobe Acrobat Tagged With: Adobe Acrobat DC, Adobe Acrobat Reader

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Technical Writer and Editor Erin Wright

Hello! My name is Erin. I am a technical writer and editor who shares writing-related software tutorials on this website and on YouTube.

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