Exporting Darkmode PDF OneNote

Question

I am using OneNote for class notes and homework this semester on my Surface 7+ with Windows 11. I use OneNote in Darkmode because it is much easier on my eyes and I prefer the pastel-ish color options when writing on this dark background. When I export a page to PDF though, OneNote automatically changes the PDF background to white making most of the text unreadable. Is there a way to export the page explicitly with a dark background since there is no intention on printing the PDF anyway?

I saw this was asked previously in this post, https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/263645/saveexport-onenote-in-dark-mode.html but that was answered to be unsupported because the user was on an iPad. I am hoping that this is possible with a microsoft device running Windows 11.

Here is a snippet of what my darkmode notebook looks like in OneNote and then what the same portion of the page looks like once exported to a PDF.

Answer 1

Hi @Emma F ,
This is the by design behavior in OneNote, the dark mode is related to the OneNote application but not the OneNote pages. Application settings may not available export and import to another(not the same company) application. In my opinion you can try this workaround to help you set the black background to help you keep the dark background in OneNote and then save/export as PDF:

Just checking in to see if the information was helpful. Please let us know if you would like further assistance.

---

If the response is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.