How to Enable Dark Mode in Chrome?

Apple introduced the dark mode with the macOS Mojave version during 2018. It was so good and blends with the default apps to make it more appealing to users. Later Microsoft introduced dark mode in Windows 10 and offers a separate dark theme option for Edge browser. However, Google Chrome does not offer separate dark mode option except in Android. In this article, we will explain how to enable dark theme or mode in Chrome on various devices.

Related: How to stop autoplaying audio and video in Chrome?

Dark Mode in Google Chrome

Unlike Microsoft Edge, Chrome does not have a separate setting to toggle dark mode in desktop and iOS. You have to change the setup on your device in order to use dark mode in Chrome. On Android, you have an option in Chrome app to change the app to use dark theme which will force Chrome to use dark mode.

Chrome Dark Mode on Mac

Dark mode works at macOS level that Chrome will adopt to the mode of your Mac. Follow the below process to enable dark mode in Chrome.

• Click on the Apple menu and go to “System Preferences…” option. Alternatively press command and , keys to open system preferences section.

• On the preferences dialog box, look for “General” option and click on it.

• Mac offers three modes of appearance – light, dark and auto. Enable dark mode by clicking on it under “Appearance” section.

Enabling Chrome Dark Mode in Windows

Similar to Mac, as of now Chrome does not offer dark mode in Windows version. You have to use the system background settings to change entire computer to dark mode and Chrome will follow your computer’s settings.

• Press “Win + I” keys to Windows Settings app and then navigate to “Personalization” section.
• Go to “Colors” section and select “Dark” option for “Choose your default app mode”.

Always Force Chrome in Dark Mode in Windows

Sometimes, even you enable dark mode in Windows, the browser will still look with normal light mode. However, you can follow the below trick to launch Chrome always in dark mode in Windows.

• First go to desktop and locate the shortcut icon of Google Chrome. In case, if you are not finding the shortcut you need to first create a desktop shortcut from the Chrome executable file. You can generally find the chrome.exe file under “C:\Program Files\Google\Chrome\Application\” folder.
• Right click on the desktop shortcut and click on “Properties”.
• When you are “Google Chrome Properties” dialog box, click on “Target” text box and move your cursor to end position.
• Now press spacebar and add “-force-dark-mode”. It should look like below.

• Click “Apply” and then “OK” buttons to close the properties dialog.
• Now double click on the desktop shortcut and launch the browser.
• You can see the browser forces the dark mode and looks like below.

How it Will Look?

After changing dark mode in Mac or Windows, open Chrome and you can view the browser in dark mode. Though default apps look elegant on the Mac dark mode, you will find it difficult to view the shortcuts on Chrome new tab page.

Also the predictions are difficult to view with the Chrome dark mode.

In summary, Chrome will show home page, settings and top title bar in dark mode. However, you will feel difficult to work with Chrome dark mode as the content area will look normal when viewing most of the websites. This is challenging because you need to disable the dark mode, in order to work on Chrome light mode. This essentially means, you need to disable elegant dark view simply because Chrome can’t support well.

Using Extensions

If you don’t like default dark mode in Chrome, there are plenty of themes and extensions you can use. For example, search for dark mode in Chrome Web Store and install the “Dark Mode” extension. This works similar to default dark mode and change the browser to black.

Enable Chrome Dark Mode in Android and iOS

As mentioned, you have to enable dark theme in Android and use system settings in iOS to use dark mode in Chrome.

• Android – Open Chrome app and tap on three dots button on top. Navigate to “Settings > Theme” section and enable “Dark” theme.
• iOS – Open “Settings” app and navigate to “Display and Brightness” section. Enable “Dark” option under “Appearance” section similar to macOS.

Note: When choosing “Auto” mode in Mac and iPhone, Chrome will follow the system settings of looking light during day time and looking dark after sunset.