The Dark Mode Discrepancy
Google Docs recently introduced a “Pageless” setup mode, which removes the physical boundaries of an 8.5×11 page and allows text and images to flow continuously to fit the width of your screen. If you use the Pageless format in conjunction with Google Docs’ Dark Mode on a mobile device or a specialized browser extension, you might notice an irritating behavior: Google Docs will sometimes automatically change the background page color (the canvas) to a dark grey or black to match your system theme, and invert your text to white. While this is easier on the eyes for casual reading, it completely destroys the visual accuracy of the document if you are trying to format specific colored tables or export the file as a PDF for printing.
Forcing a Static Canvas Color
To maintain absolute visual fidelity and stop Google Docs from automatically changing the page color to accommodate dark mode or pageless views, you must explicitly define the canvas color in the Page Setup menu.
Open your Google Docs document. In the top menu bar, click on File and scroll down to select Page setup. A dialogue box will appear. At the top of this box, ensure you are looking at the Pages tab (even if you ultimately intend to use the Pageless view, setting the strict color here helps enforce it). Look for the section labeled Page color. Click the circular color swatch next to it. By default, it might be set to a dynamic “White” that allows for inversion. Explicitly click the absolute top-left circle in the color picker (Standard White). To ensure this setting sticks, click the Set as default button at the bottom left of the dialogue box, then click OK. This hardcodes the background canvas to hex #FFFFFF, preventing the automatic theme inversion.