Google has painted most of its apps in the dark theme. It’s easier on the eyes and a joy for users like me. The company has been A/B testing dark mode for Google Search on desktop for some time now. It was first spotted back in December last year. And today, a lot of users are seeing the Google Search dark mode on desktop yet again.
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Google Search Dark Theme Test Confirmed
Google has confirmed to The Verge that it is currently testing the feature with select users. There is no word on the official rollout just yet. The dark theme looks pretty similar to the one spotted last year. The Google logo is painted white while the page background is dark gray. It will look odd at first and take some getting used to, but it certainly looks good.
Now, if you are wondering — how can I test out Google Search dark mode on desktop right now? The A/B testing is pretty random and you will most likely not see the dark mode when you’re logged into your Google account. I had to switch between browsers and jump into Incognito mode multiple times to finally see the dark theme on Google Search. It just showed up on a fluke and here’s how it looks:
So, if you want to test dark mode on Google Search, head to an ‘Incognito’ or ‘Private’ window in your browser and keep searching. You may encounter the dark theme on a random try. Just remember to set dark mode as the default theme of your OS, be it Windows 10 or macOS.
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Enable Google Search Dark Theme
Once you get access to the dark mode, you will see the “You’re now using Dark theme” message at the top of the search results. Hitting the ‘Turn off’ button takes you to the new ‘Appearance’ section (see image attached below) on the Search settings page.
As 9to5Google pointed out, the dark mode for Google Search on desktop will adapt to your system theme. This means your Google search results will have this gray theme the moment Google decides to flip the switch for all users. You do not need to enable the dark mode manually.
There is currently no word on when the dark theme will roll out to millions of Google Search users on desktop. Stay tuned for more updates.
