Key Takeaways
- By default, Google Drive has a light theme with white pages.
- Switching to Google Drive dark mode changes the background of your drive interface to give a darker color.
- Using dark mode at night eases your eyes and lets you work comfortably.
Are you bored with the all-white interface of Google Drive? We know it is impossible to switch to Google Drive dark mode from the settings. But dark mode fans still have hope. Using an Android or iPhone allows you to switch between the light mode and dark by tapping the corresponding radio button.
Replacing the bright background with a dark one can reduce the excessive strain on the eyes. This is especially true when you work late into the night, probably finding out how to password protect Google Drive folder. So changing the entire interface to make way for a dark background is a much-awaited feature from Google. But Google Drive web dark mode can still be achieved using browser extensions and Chrome flags.
How To Enable Google Drive Dark Mode
The cloud storage service has plenty of features that make the platform user-friendly and updated. However, the ability to enable Google Drive dark mode is missing from the desktop version. Its default theme is a light theme. Our article addresses the issue with several solutions that you can try out. Use the dark mode extensions we have mentioned or the Chrome flags; the goal of attaining a comfortable color option is taken care of. So, look at how to switch to dark mode in Google Drive.
1. Use Turn Off the Lights Extension
The Turn Off the Lights extension supports the Google Drive dark mode feature and gives a nice dark hue to your Google Drive interface. You can use any browser to access the drive, including Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Safari, and Firefox, and the tool works fine. It is a lightweight add-in that turns off your screen light and gives a comfortable experience working on the drive.
Add the Turn Off the Lights extension to Chrome.
You can see a gray lamp button when you open Google Drive on your browser. Right-click on it and select “Options” from the context menu.
The Options page gets opened. Select “Night Mode” in the left menu. Then, on the right side, click the blue and white night switch to view the tool’s icon on the websites.
Go to Google Drive, and click on the icon to switch to dark mode.
2. Use Dark Mode – Night Eye Extension
Dark Mode – Night Eye is a tool that lets all the websites switch to dark mode with a single click of the mouse. When you turn on Google Drive dark mode using the extension, you can work longer hours without hurting your eyes. The lakhs of people who enable dark mode and use Night Eye are happy with the smart conversion to night mode. In addition, you don’t have to worry about data mining or the annoying buttons and ads that pop up now and then. Their technical support is also praiseworthy.
Go to the Chrome Web Store and install Dark Mode – Night Eye by clicking the Add to Chrome button. Once it is added, you will find it in the extension menu in the top-right corner. You can pin it to make it easily visible. Then, click on it and change the mode as and when required. All sites with built-in dark mode feature benefit from this extension button.
However, the tool warns you that it will read and change your website data. This is necessary to analyze the site’s color and give a soothing color scheme that reduces eye strain. But, it will never collect your data and use it for other purposes.
3. Use Dark Reader Extension
Chrome extensions do wonders when it comes to Google Drive dark mode. And the next one on our list is the Dark Reader extension with many settings, including a dark mode setting. Once you have added the extension for Google drive in dark mode, it can be used across all the websites you open.
So you can either set the dark mode version in Google Drive only using the current site shortcut feature or all the sites you have opened.
Go to the Chrome Web Store. Download and install Dark Reader by clicking the Add to Chrome button in blue color. Next, open Google Drive and click on the icon for the extension to open the Dark Reader extension menu. You can easily toggle the button to switch between light and dark modes, but you can also press Alt + Shift + D to get it done.
The toggling feature can work for all websites, but if you want it for specific sites only, you can change the settings by clicking “Setup current site toggle hotkey.” In addition, many custom settings are found under Filter that allows changing contrast, brightness, and more.
4. Use Google Chrome Flags
The experimental settings called Chrome flags can be used to enable Google Drive dark mode. You will not find these dark mode flags in the main versions of Chrome browser; hence, they are not part of the browser settings. But you can still use them carefully if you want. The settings created by the Chromium project have a flag that makes the background dark.
You will notice a warning displayed on the page saying that you could lose browser data or compromise security if the feature is enabled. It is a non-production feature, and admins are not advised to use it. Go ahead only if there is a dire need.
Open Google Chrome on your desktop and type “chrome://flags” in the address bar to open the Experiments page.
Search for Auto Dark Mode for Web Contents. Then, in the drop-down menu next to the feature, select “Enabled.”
Now, a Relaunch button will appear. Click on it to relaunch the browser for the changes to apply.
Note: The forced dark mode feature works well in Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge browsers. When you enable the feature, you will not only view dark mode for Google drive, but it also applies to all the other websites.
How To Enable Dark Theme On Android Device
Unlike Google Drive on a PC, mobile devices have a dedicated option to choose Google Drive dark mode. Even though the default mobile app mode color is white, you can follow the following steps to enable the dark mode on Google drive.
Open the Google Drive app on your mobile phone, and tap on the hamburger menu (the three horizontal lines) in the app’s top-left corner.
Select “Settings” from the left panel.
Tap on “Choose theme” under the Theme section.
Tap on “Dark,” and the theme changes to dark.
Final Thoughts
If Google Drive is your favorite file storage platform for personal or business use, you must be using it day and night. And at times, you might have felt the need to switch to Google Drive dark mode for the comfort it provides. But unfortunately, the drive does not have an explicit setting that would change the theme to dark.
You can use browser extensions or Chrome flags to change the background color. But you must be careful, as some of them change the color of all the browser tabs. Android phone users can be happy as the mobile device already has the option to choose a theme. Choosing a dark theme in Google drive offers the same benefit as going into the battery life saver mode.
