Date: 2025 05-May 27

Fixing Hard-to-Read Text Colors in Windows PowerShell

If you're experiencing hard-to-read or low-contrast text in PowerShell, especially when using custom themes or syntax highlighting, you can resolve it without installing modules, changing your PowerShell version, or using admin rights.

Solution: Enable Automatic Text Contrast Adjustment

Steps

1. Open a PowerShell window.
2. Right-click the window title bar and select Properties.
3. Navigate to the Colors tab.
4. Scroll to the bottom of the dialog.
5. Set “Automatically adjust lightness of indistinguishable text” to Always.
6. Click OK to save and close the dialog.

Why This Works

This setting forces PowerShell to automatically improve contrast when background and foreground colors are too similar, making the text easier to read.

Notes

• This setting applies immediately.
• No restart or configuration file changes required.
• Works for both legacy and modern Windows terminals that still use the classic Properties dialog.