How to Enable Dark Mode on Chrome

Ever since dark mode entered people’s lives, it has revolutionized the way devices are used in poor lighting conditions. Reducing both the strain on your eyes and power consumption on mobile devices, it is an absolute wonder this feature did not appear decades earlier.

Many recent applications have been released with the option to choose between light and dark layouts. One such app is the Google Chrome browser. Besides allowing you to choose between these two modes, it also allows you to apply different dark themes and extensions.

How to Enable Dark Mode for Google Chrome on Windows 10

Enabling dark mode in Chrome on Windows 10 takes two steps. First, you need to set the global appearance of your Windows operating system to appear dark. This will essentially turn the settings menu in Chrome to dark. Next, to adjust the rest of Chrome’s interface, you’ll have to apply one of the dark themes for the browser itself.

To set your Windows appearance to dark mode, follow the steps below:

1. Click the Windows icon in the lower-left corner of the screen.
   
   
   
2. Click the Settings icon. It is the one that looks like a cog, the second icon above the Windows logo.
   
   
   
3. Click Personalization from the main menu.
   
   
   
4. Click Colors from the menu to the left.
   
   
   
5. Click the Choose your color drop-down menu. Select Custom. This will enable you to choose the tone for the Windows system and apps separately.
   
   
   
6. To make your Google Chrome experience turn to a darker tone, it is important to set Choose your default app mode to Dark.
   

Now that you have set the Chrome menus to go dark, it is time to change the browser’s layout as well.

1. Open Google Chrome on your computer.
2. Click the three dots in the Chrome’s top right corner then click Settings.
   
   
   
3. In the menu to the left click Appearance.
   
   
   
4. Click Themes entry from the main screen. If you are already using a theme for Chrome, this will take you to the theme’s page on Chrome Web Store. To go directly to the theme section of the store visit this link: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/category/themes.
   
   
   
5. Now choose a dark theme that suits you the best. You can opt for one of the official themes that Chrome publishes, or you can go with third-party options.
   
   
   
6. When you choose a theme, go to its page and click the Add to Chrome button. It is the blue button in the top right corner of the screen.
   

How to Enable Dark Mode for Google Chrome on a Mac

Enabling dark mode for Chrome on your Mac is pretty easy with Mac OS Mojave. This also applies to all the newer versions of Apple’s operating system as well. To turn on dark mode on your Mac, do the following:

1. Click the Apple icon in the top left corner of the screen.
   
2. Click System Preferences.
   
3. Now click General.
   
4. In the General menu, set the Appearance option to Dark.
   
5. Now that you have selected the dark appearance, simply close the General menu and that is it.

When you enable dark mode on macOS, you will notice that this will force other applications to turn dark if they support it. Since Google Chrome already comes with a dark mode of its own, the system will automatically enable it for you.

While in the General menu, besides the Light and Dark options, you can also set Appearance to Auto. This option will automatically manage the use of light and dark appearances depending on the time of day. When working on your computer in the daytime, the system will use the light mode. During evening hours, the appearance will automatically switch to dark mode. Please note that the Auto appearance setting works only on macOS Catalina and newer.

How to Enable Dark Mode for Google Chrome on an Android Device

Enabling dark mode on Android is pretty easy. Just follow the steps below:

1. Open Google Chrome on your Android device.
   
2. Tap the menu button in the top right corner of the screen. It’s the one that looks like three vertical dots.
   
3. Tap Settings.
   
4. Tap Themes.
   
5. In the Themes menu, select Dark and it is done.
   

It is important to note that the Themes menu allows you to choose between three options – Light, Dark, and System Default. While the first two are self-explanatory, the third one allows you to automatically turn Google Chrome dark, depending on the global settings of your Android device.

For example, you might want your menus to appear in light colors during the day but to tone them down in the evening. Also, the brighter the screen, the more power it consumes. This directly affects the device’s battery life, especially when it gets close to 0%. To manage all that automatically, you can use Android’s system setting. And when you set Chrome’s theme option to System Default, the browser will automatically fall in line with the system settings.

How to Enable Dark Mode for Google Chrome on an iPhone

Even easier than on Android, enabling dark mode on an iPhone takes only three steps:

1. Open Settings then go to Display & Brightness.
   
2. The first option from the top is Appearance. Here you can change you can tap on the darker option to set your system to dark mode.
   

Now, when you open the Google Chrome app on your phone, you will see it displayed in the darker theme.

You can also use your device’s Control Center to toggle dark mode on and off quickly.

1. Pull down with your finger from the top right corner of the screen.
   
2. Now that you are in the Control Center menu, tap and hold on the Brightness control.
   
3. This will bring you the Dark Mode control, allowing you to turn it on or off.
   

Additional FAQ

Here are some more answers to your frequently asked questions.

Can I change the dark mode color schemes for Chrome?

Yes and no. If you are thinking about customizing the color layout of the browser’s Dark Mode option on your own, that is not possible by default. At least not without some serious coding on your part. However, you can use some of the available themes and extensions so that you can tweak your visual experience with Google Chrome.

Please note that themes and extensions are not available for the Chrome mobile app. Changing color schemes works only on desktop and laptop computers. This includes Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

To change the look of the dark and light modes, you will have to install one of the available extensions from the Chrome store. When you install such an extension, it will change the default color scheme for both modes. Each time you switch between them, the color scheme will follow, regardless of the theme you are using for Google Chrome.

1. Open Google Chrome on your computer.
2. Click Extensions from the menu at the top of the page.
   
3. Click Manage Extenstions.
   
4. Click the three bars on the top left corner to open the Main Menu.
   
5. Click Open Chrome Web Store at the bottom of the page.
   
6. Now you should see the results appearing on the page. They are arranged into two sections – Extensions and Themes.
   
7. To see more options for extensions, click ‘More extensions’ button in the upper right portion of the screen.
   
8. Now all you have to do is browse through the available dark mode extensions and pick the one you like the most. When you decide, click the name of that extension.
   
9. When the extension’s page opens, click Add to Chrome to install it.
   

Besides dark mode extensions, you can also look for dark themes. Although these will change the look of your Chrome browser, they’ll also avoid interfering with the color layout of the options menus. To apply different Chrome themes, follow the steps below:

1. Open Google Chrome on your computer.
2. Go to Google Chrome homepage at www.chrome.google.com.
3. Click Extensions from the menu at the top of the page.
   
4. Click Themes from the menu to the left.
   

Now in the main window, you will notice various themes organized in sections. The first section is Published by Chrome, which hosts official Google themes. Directly below, you will find the Dark & Black Themes section, where you can browse numerous variations on the topic.

Once you find a theme that you like, open its page and click Add to Chrome. It is the blue button in the upper right portion of the main window.

How do I revert back to normal or light mode if I do not like dark mode?

Reverting back to light mode is super simple. Just like you have enabled it, you can disable it as well.

On Windows 10, you can either disable dark mode in the system or Google Chrome settings. To disable it in the system, do the following:

1. On your keyboard, press the Windows button and letter I at the same time.
2. In the Settings menu, click Personalization.
   
3. Click Colors from the left menu.
   
4. In the main screen, choose your color from the drop-down menu and select Light.
   

To disable it in Google Chrome, follow the steps below:

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Click the three dots menu in the top right corner.
   
3. Click Settings.
   
4. Click Appearance from the left menu.
   
5. Click Themes from the main screen.
   
6. Now choose one of the light themes that suit you the best.
   
7. Click Add to Chrome and you are done.

On Mac OS X machines, it’s a simple matter of disabling the system dark mode option.

1. Click the Apple menu in the top left corner of the screen.
2. Click System Preferences.
3. Click General.
4. Set Appearance to Light and that is it.

On Android mobile devices, you can disable dark mode by following these steps:

1. Open Google Chrome.
2. Tap the menu button in the top right corner of the screen (three dots).
   
3. Tap Settings.
   
4. Tap Themes.
   
5. In the Themes menu, select Light.
   

On iPhone and iPad devices, it is easier than ever to disable dark mode.

1. Pull down the Control Center menu.
2. Tap and hold the Brightness control.
3. When the Dark Mode control appears, tap it to turn it back to Light Mode.

Surfing in the Dark

Now that you know how to enable dark mode in your Chrome browser, your eyes will thank you when working in the dark. Turning those bright white menus into a dark grey color makes a world of difference. And whenever you think you need the light mode again, it’s a simple matter of flipping the switch in the options menu.

Have you managed to enable dark mode in Chrome? Have you customized the color scheme of your browser? Please share your thoughts in the comments section below.