How to Enable Google Chrome Dark Mode on All Your Devices

Dark mode pulls a nifty trick: it changes the visual theme of your desktop interface or browser window from one that is predominantly light colored, to one that is dark.

Also known as dark theme (or, just to confuse people, "dark mode theme"), once it's selected, you'll notice that the fields where text and icons appear are dark hues like gray and black, rather than the usual lighter shades.

Dark theme amounts to a kind of negative image of the standard computer and mobile interface. Rather than black text on a white screen, it's the opposite: When you activate dark mode, whether on your Chrome browser or on your operating system, the default will be light colored text on a dark field.

Google Chrome's dark mode option allows this switch within the Chrome browser, although the specifics of your experience will depend upon your device, operating system and the web content you access.

The reasons people swap the usual white background for a black one are myriad, but dark mode is generally thought to be a bit easier on the eyes. It can make text easier to read, it saves battery life on devices with OLED screens, it delivers better sleep after that pre-bedtime screen time, plus it makes you feel more like you're in a spy movie.

When it comes to hard data, it can be hard to prove that dark mode, whether in Google Chrome or elsewhere, provides tangible benefits. If it feels like it reduces eye strain, that's great, but just know that it might be the placebo effect.

At the very least, plenty of people find the aesthetic angle hard to beat. If you want to enable dark mode for the vibes — or because it looks cool when you're composing code or content at your local coffee shop — then by all means, hit that dark theme and don't look back.

Before you jump into your Chrome settings, it's good to know that the dark or light theme of your browser will follow the system default of your OS. That's true on Mac and PC desktops and laptop computers, as well as Android devices and iPhones.

While Google Chrome dark mode can be toggled in the browser settings, if you have dark mode enabled on your device, you won't need to take any extra steps. This is because newer operating systems offer a system wide dark mode, and this also applies to the dark theme in your web browser.

With that being said, let's take a look at how to turn on dark mode in your system settings.

You might notice, after having selected dark mode in your System Preferences or your Chrome browser, that not all web content appears to be in dark mode. This is because dark theme changes the browser, but not the content and text you encounter on the web.

Luckily, there is a workaround in Google Chrome, which essentially allows you to force dark mode, but it requires a few extra steps.