Google Search

Google Search dark mode on desktop will be able to match your system theme

Ben Schoon | Feb 10 2021 - 9:11 am PT

While it still hasn’t rolled out widely, Google is actively working on bringing a full dark mode to Google Search on desktop. Thanks to another A/B test, we’ve discovered that Google Search dark mode will also be able to follow the system theme on your desktop.

If you launch an incognito window on Chrome (or in our case Chrome OS), you might be greeted with a new message on your search. A box points out that “Dark theme is now available” and pushes users to quickly and easily turn the setting on with a shortcut button. Notably, the icon being used does look familiar. We’re fairly sure it was used on a previous dark mode rollout.

In Search settings, Google then offers users the ability to see the dark mode match the system theme on desktop, something that’s not very common for Google’s various dark modes. While many Google products have a dark mode on the web, most of them have to be manually enabled. Based on this A/B test, it looks like Google Search will just match the theme of your device as a whole. Google’s “My Activity” page is another notable example of this functionality in a web app.

This functionality will be handy for Windows 10 and macOS users, who both have system-wide themes that Chrome, Safari, Edge, and other browsers support.

In this case, we didn’t notice any changes in design to the overall look of dark mode on Google Search this time around. Google still opts for a dark gray background rather than true black, using white elements to contrast with the background as well as a light blur for the various icons and links. As previously reported, too, the dark mode still didn’t work on all pages, and also didn’t persist closing a reopening incognito.