Chrome 74

Chrome is finally getting native dark mode support on Windows 10, but the feature isn’t coming to Windows 7 via the update as the operating system does not have built-in dark theme settings. For those of you who can’t wait for the feature to become available on Windows 7, there’s a useful workaround that will just do the trick.

If you use Windows 7 and Google Chrome, you can force dark mode on Chrome 74 by following a simple trick that also brings the dark mode to Windows 10.

To force dark mode on Google Chrome version 74 for Windows 7, you’ll to follow the steps outlined below:

  1. Update Chrome to version 74.
  2. Pin app’s shortcut to the desktop.
  3. Right-click on the app shortcut.
  4. Open the properties
  5. Then add the following parameter at the end of the Target field:
--force-dark-mode

In case the above command line isn’t working, you can also try the following code:

--enable-features=WebUIDarkMode --force-dark-mode

Chrome dark mode in Windows 7

Once you follow these steps, Google Chrome will have a dark theme appearance the next time you open it. Dark themed Google Chrome on Windows 7 looks quite similar to Chrome for Windows 10 and there are no glitches.

Chrome 74 for Windows 7

Unfortunately, Google Chrome does not have a built-in option to enable or disable dark mode. As a result, if you wish to return back to the original look, you have to remove the parameter and restart the web browser.

Thanks, PP for the tip!

About The Author

Mayank Parmar

Mayank Parmar is an entrepreneur who founded Windows Latest. He is the Editor-in-Chief and has written on various topics in his seven years of career, but he is mostly known for his well-researched work on Microsoft's Windows. His articles and research works have been referred to by CNN, Business Insiders, Forbes, Fortune, CBS Interactive, Microsoft and many others over the years.