How to Print a Web Page Normally When Dark Mode Is Enabled

Print a page while dark mode is on and you may get a black page that eats toner, or faint gray text on white paper. The fix depends on where the dark mode comes from: the website's own theme or an extension.

If the dark mode is an extension

Dark mode extensions change how the page is drawn, and many keep doing it in the print preview. Modern Dark Mode is one of them: its filter applies to printing too. Before printing:

1. Press Alt + Shift + D (or use the toolbar button) to turn dark mode off for the page.
2. Print with Ctrl + P (Cmd + P on Mac). The preview should now look like the normal page.
3. Turn dark mode back on with the same shortcut.

For sites you print often, such as a bank or a recipe site, add them to the extension's excluded sites.

If the website's own dark theme is on

• Switch the site to its light theme before printing, usually in its settings or with a sun and moon toggle.
• If the site follows your system's theme, switch your computer to light mode briefly, or choose a light theme in the site's settings.
• Well-built sites include a print stylesheet that prints dark text on white paper whatever theme you use. If the preview already looks right, just print.

Check Chrome's print settings

• In the print dialog, open More settings.
• Background graphics is off by default, which skips dark backgrounds. If it's on, a dark page prints as a block of ink. Turn it off.
• With backgrounds off, a dark page can print light text on white paper, which looks faint. That's the sign to switch the page to light mode first.
• Use Pages to print only what you need, and Scale to fit text better.

Saving as PDF

Choosing Save as PDF as the printer works the same way: switch off dark mode first, or the PDF will look dark or washed out.

Printing just the article

To skip menus, ads and sidebars, open the page in Chrome's Reading mode to read it cleanly, or use a print-friendly extension or service that strips the page down to the article before printing. Many recipe and news sites also have their own print button, which gives the cleanest result.

Printing for the long run

If you're printing to keep a record of a page, consider also saving it to a public archive, which keeps a dated copy online. See how to archive a web page.