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Playwright Screenshot Shows the Wrong Color Scheme: Dark Mode Fix

Use Playwright’s colorScheme emulation before capture—or set it in test or project configuration—to make screenshots use the dark media preference.
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If a Playwright screenshot is coming out light, emulate the prefers-color-scheme: dark media preference before taking the screenshot:

await page.emulateMedia({ colorScheme: 'dark' });
await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png' });

This sets the browser preference; the page must respond to that preference for its styling to look dark. See the Playwright Page API.

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Set dark mode for a one-off screenshot

Call page.emulateMedia() on the page you plan to capture, then take the screenshot. Set the preference after creating the page but before the screenshot:

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import { chromium } from 'playwright';

const browser = await chromium.launch();
const page = await browser.newPage();

await page.goto('https://example.com');
await page.emulateMedia({ colorScheme: 'dark' });
await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png' });

await browser.close();

The relevant setting is colorScheme: 'dark'. Playwright documents this as emulating the prefers-color-scheme media feature, not as an instruction for page.screenshot() to choose or impose a theme. The page API also allows setting the media preference on an existing page. See the Page API reference.

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Make dark mode the default for tests

For tests that should consistently use dark mode, set the preference at the test or project scope instead of repeating the page-level call in every test.

Set it for a test

import { test, expect } from '@playwright/test';

test.use({ colorScheme: 'dark' });

test('renders in dark mode', async ({ page }) => {
  await page.goto('https://example.com');
  await page.screenshot({ path: 'screenshot.png' });
});

Playwright Test’s test.use() applies the option to tests in its scope. Refer to the Emulation guide for the documented test configuration.

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Set it for a project

To use dark mode as the default across a Playwright Test project, set use.colorScheme in playwright.config.ts:

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import { defineConfig } from '@playwright/test';

export default defineConfig({
  use: {
    colorScheme: 'dark',
  },
});

This is useful when the whole project needs the same preference. Use a narrower test-level setting when only some tests should emulate dark mode. The Test use options reference lists the available configuration options.

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Check whether the page received the dark preference

When a screenshot still looks light, check the browser’s media-query result on the captured page:

const isDark = await page.evaluate(
  () => matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches
);
console.log(isDark);

After emulating dark mode, this should log true. This verifies the preference the page sees; it does not prove that the application’s theme styles are using it.

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Why a screenshot can remain light

colorScheme: 'dark' emulates a browser media preference. The website must implement styling or behavior that responds to prefers-color-scheme for the page to appear dark. If the query check returns true but the image is still light, inspect the site’s theme mechanism: it may use an application setting, saved preference, or in-page toggle rather than following the media preference automatically. Set that application state as well when the site requires it.

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Use dark mode while generating a test

Playwright’s code generator accepts a dark color-scheme option. Pass it when launching codegen with the target URL:

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npx playwright codegen --color-scheme=dark https://example.com

See the official Codegen documentation.

Troubleshooting a light screenshot

  • The preference was set after the capture: call page.emulateMedia({ colorScheme: 'dark' }) before page.screenshot().
  • You configured a different page or context: apply the option to the same page being captured, or configure the test/project that creates it.
  • The media query is not active: evaluate matchMedia('(prefers-color-scheme: dark)').matches. If it returns false, check that the emulation call or test configuration is applied where the page is created.
  • The query is true but the page is light: the app may not use prefers-color-scheme, or its theme may be controlled by saved application state or a toggle. Configure the app’s own theme state as needed.

Or skip the browser setup

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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://stripe.com -o shot.webp

ScreenshotNeo removes cookie banners, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each step can be turned off. Bot checks, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and the response identifies the page verdict and billing status. Its MCP server lets AI agents use screenshot tools. The Free plan includes 1,000 screenshots per month with no card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots.

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