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Google Chrome dark mode

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

  • Updated:

The hottest new feature these days that all apps must have is the humble dark mode. Google has been working on a dark mode for Chrome for quite some time now. That development has now reached a point where anybody using Google Chrome can now activate the dark mode for Google Chrome. For now, however, it isn’t as simple as flicking a switch so let’s have a look at how to activate dark mode on Google Chrome.

Google Chrome desktop and mobile

Google Chrome dark mode

How to get Dark Mode on Google Chrome

To enable dark mode for Google Chrome you need to follow a few simple steps. These are:

Step 1: Enter Chrome’s properties

Before opening Google Chrome, you need to right-click on the Chrome icon on your desktop and click Properties.

Step 2: Look for the label Target

Find the text box labeled Target. Then copy this line of text –enable-features=WebUIDarkMode –force-dark-mode and paste it into the Target field at the end of the text already in the field. This should be after it says Chrome.exe”.

Properties on Google Chrome

Step 3: Click Apply and then OK

Now, when you double click on the Google Chrome icon it should open in the brand-new dark mode, with a dark grey background around the tabs and address bar, and a pitch-black background in the main window. You may notice that it looks a little like Chrome does whenever you’re surfing in incognito mode. The only difference will be the incognito logo, which appears in the top-right of the screen whenever you’re browsing privately.

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What Google Chrome dark mode looks like

Chrome 73 update

This latest change to Google Chrome comes via the Chrome 73 update. As well as introducing the long overdue dark mode, Chrome 73 also introduces a number of security fixes and patches.

Other key features include a streamlining of the Chrome Settings page with the introduction of a Sync and Google Services section, which gives easy access to all data that Google collects based on your usage. Until now, most of these features were found in the Privacy tab.

Chrome 73 is also introducing an Auto Picture-in-Picture feature to the browser. According to the Chrome Platform Status blog. “Video in installed Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) will enter and exit picture-in-picture automatically when a document’s visibility changes. Web apps for video meetings will benefit by allowing picture-in-picture when users switch back and forth between web apps and other applications or tabs.”

The biggest feature by far, however, is the new dark mode. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney

Patrick Devaney is a news reporter for Softonic, keeping readers up to date on everything affecting their favorite apps and programs. His beat includes social media apps and sites like Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, and Snapchat. Patrick also covers antivirus and security issues, web browsers, the full Google suite of apps and programs, and operating systems like Windows, iOS, and Android.

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