Text or letters are light on my display everywhere in Word

This is usually a display/theme issue in Word rather than a document formatting problem, especially if the text looks wrong on screen but prints normally.

Try these checks in order:

1. Check whether Word is using Dark Mode
   • In Word on Windows, go to File > Account > Office Theme.
   • Set it to Black only if Dark Mode is wanted, or use Use system setting.
   • If the page background is dark and the text looks washed out, go to View > Switch Modes to toggle the page background.
2. Keep the page light even if Office uses a dark theme
   • Go to File > Options > General > Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office.
   • Turn on Never change the document page color.
   • This keeps the document page light while retaining the Office theme.
3. Check Windows contrast settings
   • If text and colors look unusual across Word, a Windows contrast theme may be enabled.
   • Open Start, search for Contrast Themes, and set it to None.
4. If the screen brightness itself feels harsh
   • Open Settings > System > Display.
   • Turn on Night light.
   • Open Night light settings and adjust the Strength slider.
5. If Word text looks inconsistent or oddly rendered
   • Go to File > Options > General and turn off Optimize for compatibility, then restart Word.
   • Then go to File > Options > Advanced > Display and enable Use subpixel positioning to smooth fonts on screen.
   • If available, also disable graphics acceleration there.

If the issue started after a change but only affects how Word looks on screen, the most likely causes are Dark Mode, a contrast theme, or Word display rendering settings.

References:

• Dark Mode in Word
• Microsoft Word has the wrong page and text colouring by default - Microsoft Q&A
• Text and colour scheme has gone weird. - Microsoft Q&A
• Use color and contrast for accessibility in Microsoft 365
• MS Word Text appears to be different sizes although it isn't - Microsoft Q&A Why does the text on my Word document look as if the fonts are different sizes?