Blog · Comparison
PDF Readers with Dark ModeWhat Actually Works
“Does my PDF app have dark mode” has a different answer for every piece of software. Here's every major reader, side by side — what it actually supports, and what it doesn't.
Support is all over the map. Some readers — Foxit, Acrobat, Sumatra — have had a dark-mode option for years, just buried a few menus deep. Others — Chrome, Firefox, Android's stock viewers — have never shipped one, despite years of user requests. A few, like macOS Preview and iOS Files, only just added a toggle in their 2025/2026 releases.
But almost every option on this list shares the same limitation: it's a software setting, not a property of the file. Turn on dark mode in Preview or Foxit and the PDF itself hasn't changed — open it in a different app, on a different device, or send it to a colleague, and it's a plain white document again. The table below spells out, reader by reader, whether what you get is a permanent dark file or just a temporary viewer effect — and what happens to the images along the way.
The comparison
12 readers and viewers, checked for native dark-mode support, how permanent the effect is, and what happens to embedded images.
| Reader | Dark mode? | Permanent file or viewer effect? | Images | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adobe Acrobat Reader | Yes, buried in settings | Software setting | Unaffected | Preferences → Accessibility → Replace Document Colors. The Dark Gray UI theme only recolors the toolbar, not the page. Full Acrobat guide → |
| Sumatra PDF (Windows) | Yes | Temporary (key press) or permanent (config file, this PC only) | Transparent images can distort | Press i to invert on the fly, or hand-edit settings.txt for a fixed custom color scheme. Windows-only. Full Sumatra guide → |
| Foxit PDF Reader | Yes — the most complete of the bunch | Software setting | Unaffected | Dark Skin under File, Night mode under View, plus Replace Document Colors in Accessibility preferences. Off by default, but genuinely built out. |
| PDF-XChange Editor | Limited | Software setting | Varies by configuration | No dedicated dark mode — relies on the Accessibility color-override option as a workaround, with results that depend on how it's configured. |
| Nitro PDF | Limited support | Software setting | Unclear | Dark/theme support is limited and not fully documented publicly — check the current release notes for your version. |
| macOS Preview | Yes, since macOS Tahoe (26) | Viewer effect only, no file produced | Left untouched | “Use Dark Appearance for PDF” in the View menu inverts text but not images — only works inside Preview, and only on macOS 26+. Full macOS Preview guide → |
| iOS / iPadOS Files & Books | Yes, since iOS/iPadOS 26 | Viewer effect only, no file produced | Unaffected | A “Dark Background” toggle appeared in iOS/iPadOS 26. Nothing for older versions. Full iPad guide → |
| Chrome built-in viewer | No | — | — | Toolbar follows the OS theme; the page itself always renders on white. No setting exists. Full Chrome guide → |
| Firefox (PDF.js) | No | — | — | Same story as Chrome — the built-in PDF.js viewer has no dark page option. Full Firefox guide → |
| Microsoft Edge | No native toggle | Experimental flag, browser-wide | Distorted by the flag | An edge://flags experiment can force dark rendering, but it mangles images and isn't a real per-document setting. Full Edge guide → |
| Android (Files by Google / Drive viewer) | No | — | — | No native dark mode for PDFs. Users have been requesting this in official forums for years without a fix. Full Android guide → |
| Browser extensions (Dark Reader for PDF, etc.) | Yes, via CSS inversion | Viewer effect only, no file produced | Become negatives | Works, but photos invert into negatives, you must manually allow local-file access, and the permission scope is broad. Full extension guide → |
| PDF Dark (this site) | Yes — built for exactly this | Produces a real, permanent dark PDF file | Auto-detected and kept in original color | Free, no install, no login. Read online at pdfdark.org or convert & download — the result opens dark in any app, on any device, forever. |
Scroll sideways on small screens to see the full table.
Skip the per-app hunt for a dark-mode toggle
Convert once, stays dark everywhere
PDF Dark produces an actual dark-themed PDF file — no login, no upload, photos kept in their real colors. Open it in any reader, on any device, and it's dark by default.
Convert a PDF to dark mode →Just want to read something now? Open it in the dark-mode reader instead.
More from the PDF Dark blog
Different angles on the same converter — pick the post that matches your scenario. The drop zone is at the top of every page.
PDF Dark Mode in Chrome
PDF Dark Mode in Firefox
Convert PDF to Dark Mode
How to Darken a PDF
Darken a Scanned PDF Online
Invert PDF Colors, Keep Your Images
How the Conversion Works
PDF Dark Mode in Microsoft Edge
PDF Dark Mode in Adobe Acrobat
Do You Need a PDF Dark Mode Extension?
PDF Dark Mode on Mac
PDF Dark Mode in Sumatra PDF
PDF Dark Mode on Android
PDF Dark Mode on iPad & iPhone
PDF dark mode comparison FAQ
Which PDF reader has the best built-in dark mode?
Foxit PDF Reader has the most complete native implementation — a Dark Skin option, a View → Night mode toggle, and an Accessibility color-override setting. It's still off by default and desktop-only, but it's more built out than Acrobat's buried Replace Document Colors option.
Why is almost every reader's dark mode 'temporary'?
Because it's a software setting, not a property of the file. Toggle dark mode in Preview, Foxit, or a browser extension and the PDF itself hasn't changed at all — open the exact same file in a different app, on a different device, or send it to someone else, and it's back to a white page. Only a tool that rewrites the PDF's actual color data (like PDF Dark) produces a file that stays dark everywhere.
Why do images get distorted in so many of these dark modes?
Most dark-mode implementations work by inverting every pixel on the page — text and images alike. That flips a photo's colors into a negative (skies turn orange, skin turns blue). A proper implementation has to detect which regions are photographic content and leave those colors alone, which is what PDF Dark's Images toggle and Auto detection do.
Does Adobe Acrobat have a real dark mode for PDFs?
Sort of. It's hidden in Preferences → Accessibility → Replace Document Colors, and it recolors the page content. But it's an app-wide setting you have to configure per install — the file you view stays a normal white PDF everywhere else.
Do phones and tablets support PDF dark mode?
Only very recently, and only in specific apps. iOS/iPadOS 26 added a Dark Background toggle to Files and Books, and macOS Tahoe (26) added one to Preview. Older OS versions and most Android PDF viewers still have nothing — the page stays white regardless of system dark mode.
If I just want a PDF that's dark everywhere, what should I use?
Convert it once instead of hunting for a per-app toggle. PDF Dark runs entirely in your browser, detects and preserves photos automatically, and produces a real dark-themed PDF file you can reopen in Acrobat, Preview, your phone, or anywhere else — no per-app setting required.