iPhone stuck in Dark Mode? 8 Ways to fix it!

The iPhone’s Dark Mode is an excellent way to reduce eye strain in dim environments or at night. However, it can be annoying if your iPhone gets stuck in Dark Mode with no way to switch back to light mode. If you’re facing this issue, here’s a list of practical solutions.

1. Check if app supports Light Mode
2. Try other ways to turn off Dark Mode
3. Force restart your iPhone
4. Unlink Dark Mode from focus filters
5. Turn off automatic Dark Mode switching
6. Check your iPhone’s Accessibility Settings
7. Check for iOS system updates
8. Reset all settings on your iPhone

1. Check if app supports Light Mode

If you think your iPhone is stuck in Dark Mode, you should first check if the app you’re using supports Light Mode.

While most apps nowadays support both dark and light modes, there are still several apps, like Spotify, BeReal, the default Stocks app on iPhone, and more, that don’t support light mode.

2. Try other ways to turn off Dark Mode

If you cannot switch to Light Mode using the Light and Dark Mode toggles available on the Display & Brightness page of the Settings app, you can try doing so through the Control Centre on your iPhone.

1. Open the Control Centre on your iPhone.
2. Tap and hold the Brightness slider until you feel haptic feedback.
3. Tap and toggle off the Dark Mode option in the bottom left corner.
   
   

If you’re looking for an ever quicker way to switch between dark and light modes from the Control Centre, you can add it as a dedicated toggle.

1. Navigate to Settings → Control Centre.
2. Scroll down and tap the green plus button next to Dark Mode.
3. Now, summon the Control Centre → Tap the Dark Mode button to turn it off.
   
   

3. Force restart your iPhone

If the preliminary fixes couldn’t get your iPhone out of Dark Mode, some temporary software glitch could be causing the issue. If you want to fix such glitches, your best bet will be to force restart your iPhone.

If you have a newer iPhone running iOS 16 or later, press and release the Volume Up button → Press and release the Volume Down button → Then, hold the power button until the Apple logo shows up.

In case you own an older model, you can refer to our guide on how to force restart any iPhone.

4. Unlink Dark Mode from focus filters

Are you only running into issues when you have a certain Focus Mode enabled on your iPhone? In that case, you must unlink the Focus Mode from the Dark Mode Focus Filter.

1. Go to the Settings app → Select Focus.
2. Select any Focus Mode that you want to configure.
   
   
3. Scroll down and tap the Dark Mode option located under Focus Filters.
4. Toggle off Enabled or tap Delete Filter to turn off the Focus Filter.
   
   
5. Repeat the steps to turn off or delete Focus Filters for all Focus Modes.

5. Turn off automatic Dark Mode switching

Automatic Dark Mode switching on your iPhone allows it to automatically switch between Dark or Light Modes as per local sunrise and sunset times.

While that’s convenient, it may cause your iPhone to switch to Dark Mode unexpectedly. So, you should turn off the automatic Dark Mode switching.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
2. Go to Display & Brightness → Toggle off Automatic.
   
   

If you don’t want to turn off automatic Dark Mode switching for added convenience, you can also opt to schedule it according to your preference.

1. Toggle on Automatic → Tap Options.
2. Tap Custom Schedule → Set a custom time for Light and Dark Mode.
   
   

6. Check your iPhone’s Accessibility Settings

There are a couple of Accessibility settings in iOS, which, when accidentally turned on, can make it appear like your iPhone is stuck in Dark Mode. If you want to ensure that this isn’t the case with you, you may follow these steps:

1. Go to Settings → Accessibility → Display & Text Size.
2. Scroll down and toggle off Smart Invert and Classic Invert.
   
   

7. Check for iOS system updates

Glitches or bugs in iOS are often the root cause of several annoying issues like iPhone being stuck in Dark Mode. If you are facing the same, you can check if Apple has issued an iOS update with relevant fixes that might help patch such annoying software issues.

1. Go to Settings → General → Software Update.
2. Tap Update Now if an update is available.
   
   

8. Reset all settings on your iPhone

Many times, unnecessary changes you might have made to your iPhone settings can also cause some features to unexpectedly stop working for you. If you’re only facing issues after you’ve made any major changes in the settings app, you must reset all settings on your iPhone to fix them.

1. Go to Settings → General → Transfer or Reset iPhone.
   
   
2. Tap Reset → Reset All Settings.
3. Enter your iPhone or iPad’s Passcode.
   
   
4. Tap Reset All Settings again to complete the process.

Contact Apple Support

As a last resort, you can always contact Apple for tech support. Certified professionals from Apple will be able to diagnose your iPhone for potential software issues and suggest relevant solutions that might help you if your iPhone seems to be perpetually stuck in Dark Mode with no way back.

Wrapping up…

That’s pretty much it! With the effective fixes I’ve mentioned above, you should easily switch to light mode when your iPhone is somehow stuck in Dark Mode. If this troubleshooting guide was able to assist you, do let us know which solution did the trick for you in the comments section.

Also read:

• How to turn on Dark Mode on iPhone: A complete guide
• How to turn on Instagram Dark Mode on iPhone

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