QuireHow to read EPUB books in dark mode on a computer
Short answer: dark mode for a book is a setting in your reader, not in the EPUB file. In Quire EPUB Reader press D to cycle through light, sepia and dark. In Apple Books choose Dark from the Appearance button. Thorium has a night mode, and calibre’s viewer has colour schemes in its preferences.
Updated 15 October 2026. Quire details are from its documentation and test suite; the other apps’ steps follow their own help pages.
Dark mode in Chrome with Quire EPUB Reader
Quire is our extension. The theme changes both the book’s page and the reader around it.
- Open the book in Quire EPUB Reader
Install Quire EPUB Reader, then click an .epub link or drop a file on its library page.
- Press D
Each press switches the theme: light, then sepia, then dark. A short message confirms which one you’re on. The choice is remembered for every book.
- Adjust the text
Press A to open the appearance panel. Choose the font (the book’s own, serif, sans-serif, Verdana or monospace), a size from 12 to 32 pixels, line spacing from 1.2 to 2.2, the page width, justification, and one or two columns. Changes apply as you make them.
Sepia sits between the two. It has a warm, paper-like background with dark text, and some people find it easier than pure white in the evening without going fully dark.
Apple Books on a Mac
- Open the book and move the pointer to the top of the page.
- Click the Appearance button and choose Dark. Light and Automatic are the other choices.
- Pick a theme such as Original, Quiet or Paper. Click Customize to change the font, turn on bold text, or adjust spacing.
The Mac’s own Light, Dark and Auto appearance setting is in System Settings › Appearance.
calibre’s e-book viewer
calibre’s manual says colours “can be changed in the Colors section of the viewer preferences”, where you can choose a dark scheme. Ctrl++ and Ctrl+- change the font size, and Ctrl+0 resets it.
Thorium Reader
Thorium has sepia and night modes, plus settings for font, spacing, hyphenation and columns. It is free for Windows, macOS and Linux.
Making dark mode comfortable
- Light text on a dark page can look thinner. A size or two larger and a little more line spacing often helps.
- Lower your screen brightness as well. A dark page at full brightness still glares in a dark room.
- A narrower page width keeps lines short, which is easier on the eyes whatever the theme.