[Okular][Windows] Permanent dark mode and Language Switch

🕶️ Dark Mode

🐈‍⬛ Switch to 🌚 Dark Mode RIGHT NOW!

Basically, we switch 🌚 dark mode like this:

⚙️ Settings > ⚙️ Configure Okular > ✅ tick change colors > 🌙 color mode: change dark & light colors > 🎨 choose 2 colors (🌈 Colors in the gif are: #cec5b4 & #2d2d2d)

🦉 Permanent Dark Mode

But the thing is, this setting is only temporary. If you exit the app and restart it, it’ll back to ☀️ light mode again!

So here’s how to make 🌚 dark mode permanent.

• 🔔 Important: I downloaded Okular from the Microsoft Store and moved it to my 💾 E:/.

1. 📁 Check this path C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Local\okular\okularpartrc
   • If there’s a file named okularpartrc, ✅ great. If not, just create it here. (No .txt extension, just plain okularpartrc)

2. ✍️ Edit or Create the okularpartrc file:

    [Rendering]
    ChangeColors=true
    ColorMode=2
    DarkColor=#2D2D2D  ; 🌚 Your preferred dark background color
    LightColor=#CEC5B4  ; 🌙 Your preferred text color
   

   💾 Save the file and restart Okular.🔄 If it doesn’t work, you may need to reset the two colors manually again and click 💾 File > Save just in case.

   Restart again. This time should be dark perfectly.

🔤 Change Language (e.g. en_US)

🛠️ Why Changing Language via UI Doesn’t Work

There is a language change issue on Windows:

In ⚙️ Setting > Configure Language - Okular, I can’t change the main language to English. When I try to change and click save, it said will change when reboot. But when I restart, it still keeps the old language setting, no matter how many times I try to change it.

So I guess here’s the thing, once you choose one language in the process of installation, Okular from the Microsoft Store seems to lock that setting. 🔒.

🛠️ 2 Ways to Change Language

🖥️ Forcing Language Change Through Environment Variables

1. Press Win + R, type sysdm.cpl, and hit Enter. This opens the 🖥️ System Properties window.

2. Click on the ⚙️ Advanced tab, then click on 🔍 Environment Variables.

3. In the 🖥️ System variables section, click on ➕ New….

4. 📝 Create a New Variable:
   • Variable name: LANG
   • Variable value: en_US

5. Click ✅ OK to save, then ✅ OK again to close all windows.

6. 🔄 Restart your computer (I managed to do it just by restarting Okular.).

7. Open Okular and see if it starts in English.

💻 Batch File Method (💪 Full Control Over Okular Launch)

Instead of trying to pass the environment variable through a shortcut directly, we’ll make a batch file to launch Okular in English mode.

1. 📑 Open Notepad or Notepad++ (or whatever text editor you love)

2. Paste the following code:

    @echo off
    set LANG=en_US
    start "" "path\to\your\okular.exe" # your path to okular.exe
   

   • Explanation:
   • @echo off: Hides the command prompt details.
   • set LANG=en_US: Sets the language to English temporarily.
   • start: Launches Okular in a new process with the LANG environment variable applied.
3. 💾 Save the file as a .bat file:
   • File Name: LaunchOkularEnglish.bat
   • Location: Save it wherever you want, but maybe keep it in the same folder as your Okular executable.

4. 📂 Double-click the LaunchOkularEnglish.bat file.

5. Okular should now launch in English, regardless of your system’s language settings.

🌟 Making It Fancy

If you want, you can create a shortcut for this batch file and place it on your desktop or taskbar for easy access.

Why This Works:
The batch file temporarily sets the LANG environment variable just for launching Okular. No impact on your other apps, no messing with global variables. Just pure, focused execution.

💖 Support me with crypto or PayPal! 💘

Bitcoin (BTC):
bc1qtzjwfyfpleyzmpqu97sdatqes98ms3zxc7u790

Ethereum (ETH) & USDT (ERC-20):
0xFE05f74DeF594f8F904D915cB93361C99cB36500

Or support me on Ko-fi:

Any amount helps me continue creating content 💬💻