macOS Dark Mode

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    Known issues

    LibreOffice in macOS Dark Mode with document content also in dark mode

    Both LibreOffice 25.2.0 and 25.2.1 have the following known issues when using macOS Dark Mode:

    • Cannot see any black text in document - Documents with text set to black instead of LibreOffice's automatic color makes a document unreadable due to the black text being drawn on top of a black document background (see snapshot to the right).
    • Document is completely black - Changing some of LibreOffice's color preferences can cause documents to appear as an empty blank rectangle. This bug is due to a combination of the following bugs. Fixed bugs will be included in LibreOffice 25.2.2 which is scheduled for release in the last week of March 2025:

    How to fix these issues

    Step 1: Try setting the text color to LibreOffice's automatic color

    System dark mode with automatic text color

    If a document has a black background and you cannot see some or all of the text in the document, try changing the text color to automatic using the following steps. LibreOffice's automatic text color is a special color that appears black when in Light Mode and white when in Dark Mode:

    • Select some missing text
    • Open the Font Color toolbar button and select the Automatic color

    If the selected text was set to a black or near black, the text will change to white like as shown in snapshot to the right.

    Step 2: Try installing a light mode theme

    LibreOffice in macOS Dark Mode with document content in light mode

    If your document still only displays an empty black rectangle, the Light Application Colors extension should force LibreOffice to display the document contents area with light mode colors (see snapshot to the right). Use the following steps to install this extension:

    • Download the Light Application Colors extension
    • Launch LibreOffice and drag the downloaded extension file onto the LibreOffice icon in the macOS Dock
    • In the Extensions dialog that appears, install the extension (see snapshot to the bottom left)
    • Restart LibreOffice
    • Press ⌘ Cmd+, or select the LibreOffice > Settings menu item to open the Options dialog
    • Select the LibreOffice > Appearance item in the left sidebar and then select Light Application Color in the LibreOffice Themes listbox (see snapshot to the bottom right)
    • Press the OK button to close the Options dialog
    • Restart LibreOffice

    Install Light Application Color extensionSelect Light Application Color for LibreOffice Theme

    Step 3: Try resetting your LibreOffice preferences

    If your document still only displays an empty black rectangle, reset all of your LibreOffice preferences back to the their default values using the following steps:

    • Quit LibreOffice
    • Go to the Finder and select the Go > Go to Folder menu item
    • Paste the following folder in the dialog that appears and press the Enter key: ~/Library/Application Support/LibreOffice
    • Rename or move that folder
    • Restart LibreOffice