Text in emails is appearing black on black or white on white.

Since updating to 26 I've been experiencing that when I copy text from a word doc to an email (a thing I need to do daily for work) it makes the text black on black. When it sends out it makes the text white on white for folks who do not have dark mode on, or those who are on PC. I've also received response emails that were black text on black background from folks to these emails.


I'd rather not need to turn off dark mode if I can help it as I work in a low light environment.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 26.2

Posted on Jan 29, 2026 6:22 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 3, 2026 1:02 AM

Re: Text in emails is appearing black on black or white on white


You can take charge and change the text color and / or background color in emails to what you want.

See Format text in emails in Mail on Mac - Apple Support


You may want to experiment with other things you can do to enrich your own workflow / see what works for you.


You can switch between dark and light background styles in the Mail app itself:

See "Use dark backgrounds for messages" in the article below for all the tips:

See how to: Change Viewing settings in Mail on Mac - Apple Support


There are many other options available like always pasting text to the text color you choose for quotes in settings

Eg: You can set the color for quoted text from the article below:

Change Fonts & Colors settings in Mail on Mac - Apple Support


Then Format text in emails in Mail on Mac - Apple Support

Eg: also says:

Copy and paste text

  1. Go to the Mail app  on your Mac.
  2. Do any of the following:
    • Copy all the text in a message: Click to place the insertion point anywhere in the message body (where the text of the message is), choose Edit > Select All, then choose Edit > Copy.
    • Paste text: Choose Edit > Paste.
    • Paste text using the surrounding style: Choose Edit > Paste and Match Style.
    • Paste text as a quotation: Choose Edit > Paste as Quotation. A vertical bar appears next to the text you pasted."

______________

Useful Resource: Mail User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 3, 2026 1:02 AM in response to ohgingersnaps

Re: Text in emails is appearing black on black or white on white


You can take charge and change the text color and / or background color in emails to what you want.

See Format text in emails in Mail on Mac - Apple Support


You may want to experiment with other things you can do to enrich your own workflow / see what works for you.


You can switch between dark and light background styles in the Mail app itself:

See "Use dark backgrounds for messages" in the article below for all the tips:

See how to: Change Viewing settings in Mail on Mac - Apple Support


There are many other options available like always pasting text to the text color you choose for quotes in settings

Eg: You can set the color for quoted text from the article below:

Change Fonts & Colors settings in Mail on Mac - Apple Support


Then Format text in emails in Mail on Mac - Apple Support

Eg: also says:

Copy and paste text

  1. Go to the Mail app  on your Mac.
  2. Do any of the following:
    • Copy all the text in a message: Click to place the insertion point anywhere in the message body (where the text of the message is), choose Edit > Select All, then choose Edit > Copy.
    • Paste text: Choose Edit > Paste.
    • Paste text using the surrounding style: Choose Edit > Paste and Match Style.
    • Paste text as a quotation: Choose Edit > Paste as Quotation. A vertical bar appears next to the text you pasted."

______________

Useful Resource: Mail User Guide for Mac - Apple Support

Text in emails is appearing black on black or white on white.

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