Formatting Issues

How to Fix Word Font Color Showing Black on Screen but Printing Correctly

John Wilson Sep 27, 2026 872 views

Question details

The user is experiencing an issue where colored text in Microsoft Word appears black on the monitor, despite the document printing in the correct colors.

How to Fix Word Font Color Showing Black on Screen but Printing Correctly

Product: Microsoft Word
Device & OS: Windows
Scenario: Viewing and editing a text document containing colored fonts.
Observed behavior: The font color renders as black on the screen preview but outputs the correct intended color when sent to the printer.

Before you start

Ensure your monitor's color calibration is standard and check if the display issue happens in all Microsoft Office applications or just a specific Word document.

Solution 1Recommended

Disable Windows High Contrast Theme

High-contrast themes in Windows override application colors for accessibility, which can cause colored fonts to appear black on the screen.

Windows accessibility settings prioritize readability over document formatting. When a high-contrast theme is active, Word will ignore custom font colors to maintain screen contrast, even though the print data remains unchanged.

Open Windows Settings

Press the Windows key + I on your keyboard to open the Windows Settings menu.

Navigate to Accessibility

Click on 'Ease of Access' or 'Accessibility' (depending on your Windows version), then select 'High contrast' from the left sidebar.

Turn Off High Contrast

Toggle the switch under 'Turn on high contrast' to the Off position, or choose a standard Windows theme.

Restart Microsoft Word

Close Microsoft Word completely and reopen your document to verify that the font colors are displaying correctly.

Theme Applied: Once the standard theme is applied, Word should immediately restore WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) color rendering.

Solution 2

Update Display Drivers and Office Software

Outdated graphics drivers or rendering bugs in Microsoft Office can cause discrepancies between on-screen colors and printed output.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

Try WPS Office for Accurate Document Rendering

If Microsoft Word continues to have screen rendering issues, consider switching to WPS Office. It provides a lightweight, reliable environment that ensures your font colors and document formatting display exactly as they will print.

1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS website and download the free installation package for your operating system.
2. Install the Software: Run the downloaded installer and follow the on-screen instructions to set up WPS Office on your computer.
3. Open Your Document: Launch WPS Writer and open your existing Word document to view the font colors accurately.

Completely free and lightweight office suiteHigh compatibility with Microsoft Word (.docx) formatsAccurate WYSIWYG color rendering on all displaysFamiliar user interface for a seamless migration

microsoft office alternative - wps office

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does Word show font colors differently than they print?

Word's on-screen rendering can be altered by Windows accessibility themes, specific graphics driver glitches, or draft view settings that simplify rendering on the screen while keeping the print data intact.

How do I check if my Word document is in Draft mode?

Go to the 'View' tab on the Microsoft Word ribbon and select 'Print Layout'. Draft mode often simplifies formatting and hides certain visual elements to improve editing speed.

Can hardware graphics acceleration cause font colors to turn black?

Yes. Hardware graphics acceleration uses your computer's GPU to render graphics and text. If your GPU driver has a bug, it can misinterpret color codes. Disabling hardware acceleration in Word's Advanced Options often fixes this.

Does changing the page background color affect font color display?

Sometimes Word automatically adjusts font colors for readability if the page background color is changed. However, this adjustment is usually for the screen preview only and prints according to the actual text color setting.

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