Invert Colors on Windows 7

Knowing how to invert colors on Windows 7 is a useful skill because reading a document with a black background and white text can be easier to process visually. Instead of enabling high contrast in the ease-of-access center like you did in Windows XP, you will use the Magnifier tool in Windows 7 to invert colors.

Steps

  1. Click on the "Start" menu. Type "Magnifier" in the search box. Click on the Magnifier application to open it.
    • When the Magnifier application opens, your screen will be zoomed in. Click the negative button (-) until you're zoomed out all the way.
  2. Click on the gray gear to open the "Preferences". Put a check in the box that says "Turn on color inversion." Then click "OK" to finish inverting your colors. The options for the Magnifier do not change if you leave the application, so you will only need to do this once.
  3. Right-click on the Magnifier application on the task bar. Click "Pin to taskbar." You'll now be able to invert your screen colors by right-clicking and choosing "Close window" to restore the colors. To transfer them back to their inverted state, click the icon once.

Invert Colors on Windows 7 Using NegativeScreen

  1. Download NegativeScreen, which is freely available under GPL license.
  2. Activate the program. Your color inversion will occur automatically. Use your F1 - F10 keys to change the color mix.

Invert Colors on Windows 7 Using Personalization

  1. Open the Start menu. Click "Control Panel" and then click "Personalization."
  2. Choose a High Contrast theme from the menu. Doing this will give you a dark background contrasted with lighter text.



Tips

  • When Magnifier is open, you can also press CTRL-Alt-I to invert colors.

Warnings

  • When you shut down Windows 7 or place your computer on standby, turn color inversion off and close the Magnifier application. The graphics card may not process color inversion correctly when the computer wakes up.

Things You'll Need

  • PC
  • Windows 7, 8 or 10
  • NegativeScreen

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Sources and Citations