How to Turn On High Contrast Mode in Windows 11

For users with visual impairments, light sensitivity, or certain forms of colour blindness, standard computer interfaces can be incredibly difficult to navigate. Thin grey text on a white background often blends together, making reading a frustrating experience.

To combat this, Windows 11 includes a powerful accessibility feature called High Contrast Mode (now rebranded as “Contrast Themes”). This feature completely overrides the default colours of your desktop, websites, and applications, replacing them with stark, highly visible colour palettes like bright yellow text against a pure black background.

How to Enable a Contrast Theme

Unlike the standard “Dark Mode,” which merely darkens window borders, Contrast Themes strip away complex shadows and gradients to ensure maximum readability.

1. Press the Windows Key to open the Start menu.
2. Click the Settings icon (the gear).
3. In the left-hand sidebar, scroll down and click on Accessibility.
4. Under the “Vision” section at the top, click on Contrast themes.
5. You will see a drop-down menu with a preview box above it. Click the drop-down menu to view the four pre-installed themes:
   • Aquatic: Light text on a dark blue background.
   • Desert: Dark text on a beige/sand background.
   • Dusk: Light text on a dark grey background.
   • Night sky: Bright yellow and green text on a pitch-black background (best for severe light sensitivity).
6. Select a theme from the list.
7. Click the Apply button.

Your screen will display a “Please wait” message for a few seconds as Windows forces the new colour scheme across the entire operating system and all open applications.

How to Customise a Theme

If the default themes are almost perfect but one specific colour bothers your eyes, you can tweak them individually.

1. On the same Contrast themes settings page, select a theme you want to start with.
2. Instead of clicking Apply, click the Edit button.
3. A new menu will appear showing coloured boxes for Background, Text, Hyperlinks, Inactive Text, Selected Text, and Button Text.
4. Click on any coloured box to open a colour picker and select a new shade that works better for your specific vision needs.
5. Click Save as, give your custom theme a name, and click Save and apply.

The High Contrast Keyboard Shortcut

If you share a computer with someone who does not need high contrast, navigating into the Settings menu every time they log in is tedious. Windows includes a global shortcut to toggle the feature on and off instantly.

Press Left Alt + Left Shift + Print Screen simultaneously on your keyboard. A warning box will appear asking if you want to turn on High Contrast. Press Enter to confirm. You can press the exact same key combination later to turn the theme off and return to normal colours.