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Known Participant
July 27, 2025
Question

Dark Mode Does Not Stay - Reverts Always Even After Repair And Fresh Installation

  • July 27, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 1327 views

Hello, 

as the subject says, the dark mode or theme does not stay, I have to set it every time I start Acrobat Reader. Previoius setting does not stick. I have repaired Adobe Reader and had a complete reinstall and nothing worked so far.

 

My sytem: Windows 10 Pro, version 22H2

Adobe:Continuous Release: 2025.001.20577 | 64-bit

1 reply

Legend
July 28, 2025

Hi @anmatr

 

 

Thanks for reporting the issue with Dark Mode not staying enabled in Acrobat Reader, even after a repair or fresh installation.

 

From what you’ve described, it’s quite likely you’re working on a company-managed or IT-administered machine. In such environments, settings like Dark Mode may not persist due to system policies or restrictions.

 

Here are some potential reasons why the preference isn’t sticking:

 

IT Policies or Registry Restrictions:

Your organization may be enforcing certain Acrobat settings via Group Policies or locked registry keys, which can override or block preference changes — including UI appearance.

 

Profile or File Permission Issues:

If your user account doesn’t have write permissions to certain folders (like AppData) or registry paths, Acrobat won’t be able to save your preferences. This is especially common in restricted or non-persistent profiles.

 

Reset on Login or Restart:

Some IT setups restore system or application configurations at each login or reboot, wiping any personalized settings like theme choices.

 

What you can try:

  • Check with your IT support team if any policies are being applied to Acrobat.

  • Confirm whether you have write permissions to your profile and settings folders.

  • Try enabling Dark Mode on a personal, non-managed device to see if the issue is specific to your work setup.

 

 

If you’re also noticing other settings (like recent files or toolbar layout) resetting, that further confirms it’s likely an environment-managed restriction.

 

Let us know if you’re on a managed system or can test it on a personal machine — that will help narrow it down!

 

 


Best regards,
Tariq | Adobe Community Team

anmatrAuthor
Known Participant
July 28, 2025

No I am not working on a company-amanged or IT-administererd machine. This is my private laptop not connected to any company.

The user I am working with has admin rights and full access to the folder you mentioned.

S_S
Community Manager
Community Manager
August 1, 2025

Thank you for this suggestion. 

I'm already using Windows dark mode - but there is no "system theme" in Adoboe.

 


Hi @anmatr,

 

Thanks for sharing the details. 

 

From the screenshot, it seems like the "Use System Theme" setting is disabled on your system. 

 

Here are two steps you might want to try:

 

1. At a Windows level - 

Go to Start > Registry Editor > go to location "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Themes\Personalize"

Add Dword AppsUseSystemTheme

Change Value: 1

 

2. At app-level - 

Go to Start > Registry Editor > go to location "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\<version>\AVGeneral"

Add Dword: bUseSystemTheme

Value: 1 

 

In both the cases, the system and the app should enable the option for you to select "System theme" from the menu.

 

Note: Please keep all the applications closed when you make the changes to the registry. Also, log out and log in to Acrobat once you are done with the changes.

 

Let us know how it goes.


Regards,
Souvik.