Most operating systems these days have something called Invert Colors or in Chrome OS it’s known as High Contrast Mode (in this article, we’re going to use these terms interchangeably). This feature changes the colors of the content to make them much more contrasting and more pleasing to the eye.
It was originally added as a means to help people with light sensitivity issues navigate better on their Chromebook. But even if your vision is fine, you could still enable High Contrast Mode on your device and get some benefits that you won’t get in a normal screen mode.
Why use inverted colors?
Although it does make everything look a bit strange, enabling inverted colors on your Chromebook has many benefits:
- A bright and white background can stress your eyes. Color inversion means light exposure is significantly reduced and can help combat eye fatigue.
- Darker screens produce less blue light, which can help you maintain a healthy circadian rhythm.
- A less bright screen consumes much less power, which extends battery life.
- Also, if you have a dark background, people around you may not be able to see the screen clearly. It also adds privacy when you use your Chromebook in public.
Now that you’ve understood the hidden benefits of this, let’s invert the colors on your Chromebook device.
Pro Tip: If you like the dark theme but don’t want to use the inverted color mode, try using a dark mode in Google Chrome.
How to enable inverted colors mode on Chromebook
1. Open your Chromebook and click on the clock on the bottom shelf and Select Settings.
2. In the left panel, click Advanced and then Accessibility.
3. Then press the Manage accessibility features button.
4. Activate the Use high contrast usage mode.
5. Now the screen colors are inverted.
Side note: this mode will not affect colors on screenshots. The image above is just an example that I edited in Photoshop.
The change is only visible to you. For example, if you take a photo and send it to a friend, you will see a normal color image while when this mode is enabled, you can only see a negative photo.
All colors on the screen will change, including the mouse cursor. Fortunately, Chromebook has a dedicated feature to change the cursor color to your personal taste to suit the inverted screen.