How to install and uninstall themes in Chrome

Chrome has themes. If you’re ever tired of the constant strain on your eyes from the browsers bright interface, a dark theme is a good solution. You can also install various extensions to dim browser tabs or you can use Night light on Windows 10. Here’s how you can install and uninstall themes in Chrome.

Install themes

You can find themes for Chrome in the Chrome Web Store. There are quite a few to choose from and there are some themes from Google as well as an entire collection of dark themes. Select a theme that you want to install and click the Add to Chrome button. It’s more or less the same as installing an extension in Chrome.

Uninstall themes

Uninstalling a theme in Chrome is about as easy as installing it though you cannot uninstall it from the Chrome Web Store like you can with extensions.

To uninstall themes in Chrome, click the more options button at the top right and select Settings from the menu that opens.

On the Settings screen, scroll down to the Appearance section and you will see an option called Theme. This option will have a Reset to default button. Click it and the current theme will be removed.

Chrome themes aren’t bad but they do have their shortcomings. The theme, even if it’s a dark one, will not change what the Chrome internal pages e.g., the Downloads or History page looks like. This goes for all themes because the themes, like the extensions for Chrome, are all bound by the same rules which prevent them from modifying internal pages. This is a security feature that aims to prevent malicious extensions or themes from hijacking your browser.

This doesn’t mean you’re subject to a blindingly bright white interface all the time. The new tab page can be modified with a theme and if you install a dark theme that can modify this page,  you can get a dark background on the new tab page. If you’re not a fan of themes but would like for the new tab page to be less bright, you can change the background to any picture of your choice.

Regardless, the internal pages will remain unchanged. There is no flag that you can enable nor any registry key you can edit to change this. Chrome is eventually going to get a dark mode to match that of Windows 10. It’s still only in beta so it could be a while before it is available to all users but it’s something to look forward to.

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Fatima Wahab

Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

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