How to invert colors on Mac (2025 - 2026 guide)

Need help with your Mac? Here’s a straightforward guide to inverting colors on your display. I’ve found that inverting colors really helps reduce eye strain during late-night work sessions. It’s also a great accessibility feature, making the Mac more usable for people with vision difficulties or color vision deficiencies. Below, I’ll walk you through every method, step by step, so you can choose what works best for you.

Invert display colors on Mac using accessibility

If you want to invert colors on your Mac, the built-in Accessibility settings make it simple. The exact steps depend on your macOS version.

On macOS Ventura, Sonoma, and later:

1. Click the Apple menu > Choose System Settings.

2. Click Accessibility in the sidebar.

3. Click Display.

4. Turn on Invert colors.

On macOS Monterey and earlier:

1. Click the Apple menu and choose System Preferences.

2. Select Accessibility.

3. Click Display in the sidebar.

4. Check the box for Invert colors.

Try Dark Mode for a subtler option

Before diving into full color inversion, you might want to try Dark Mode first — it’s often enough to reduce eye strain without the dramatic visual change that comes with inverted colors.

To enable Dark Mode:

1. Go to System Settings

2. Click Appearance.

3. Choose Dark.

You can set Dark Mode to turn on automatically at sunset or schedule it to your liking. Here’s a complete guide on how to use Dark Mode on Mac.

And if you want to be able to easily turn the Dark mode on and off, you can use the One Switch app that allows you to switch the mode on and off with an enabled switch in the drop-down menu of the app’s icon in your menu bar:

Dark Mode vs. Invert Colors 

Dark Mode changes the interface and supported apps to a dark background, but keeps images and videos unchanged. Inverted colors flip all screen colors — including images — to their opposites, which is a much more dramatic effect.

Mac keyboard shortcut to invert colors

If you often need to switch between normal and inverted colors, setting up a keyboard shortcut is a real time-saver.

To enable the invert colors shortcut on macOS Ventura and later:

1. Open System Settings.

2. Go to Keyboard > Keyboard Shortcuts.

3. Select Accessibility.

4. Turn on Invert colors.

On macOS Monterey and earlier:

1. Open System Preferences.

2. Go to Keyboard > Shortcuts.

3. Click Accessibility in the sidebar.

4. Select Invert colors.

Once that’s set up, you can quickly enable color inversion on and off using Control + Option + Command + 8. I find this shortcut really handy when I need to switch back and forth frequently.

Use Siri to invert colors

Prefer voice commands? Here’s how to use Siri to invert colors:

1. Make sure Ask Siri is enabled: Go to System Settings > Apple Intelligence & Siri > Turn it on  (or System Preferences > Siri on older macOS).

2. Click the Siri icon in your menu bar or press Command + Space > Ask Siri.

3. Say: “Invert colors.”

4. To turn inversion off, just say: “Turn off invert colors.”

Invert colors for just one app (advanced)

If you want even more control, you can use a third-party app like BetterTouchTool, a macOS automation utility. With it, you can assign the invert colors action to a custom trigger — like a single key or gesture — and even limit it to specific apps. For example, I’ve set up a shortcut so that pressing D in Finder enables color inversion, but it won’t affect other apps.

BetterTouchTool supports triggers from your keyboard, trackpad, Magic Mouse, remotes, MIDI devices, drawings, and more. It’s a great way to streamline repetitive actions and tailor shortcuts to your workflow.

To set an action to invert colors for a certain app:

1. Install and open BetterTouchTool

2. In the left sidebar, choose the app.

3. Choose Keyboard Shortcuts in the top menu bar.

4. Click “+” to assign the action.

Read also:

• How to use F keys on Mac: Updated 2025 guide

• How to convert images to black and white on Mac

• How to make a video or a GIF into a Live Photo on iPhone and Mac

Why invert colors on Mac

Here’s why you might want to invert colors on your Mac:

• Reduce eye strain: Inverting colors can make screens more comfortable to look at in dark environments, especially for late-night work. Peer-reviewed study: Blue-light and eye strain

• Accessibility: Improves visibility for users with low vision or color blindness, making it easier to distinguish interface elements.

• Contrast boost: Sometimes, inverted colors offer better contrast for reading or editing certain types of content.

Final thoughts on inverted colors 

No matter why you need to invert colors, these methods should have you covered — I’ve found them all reliable for different situations. 

If you want even more control or automation, try apps like One Switch (for a quick Dark Mode switch) or BetterTouchTool (for an inverted color switch), both available via Setapp. You can try both One Switch and BetterTouchTool (and 260+ more) with a seven-day free trial.