Google Tests Dark Mode for Its Desktop Web Search Page - MacRumorsOpen MenuShow RoundupsShow Forums menuVisit ForumsOpen Sidebar
Skip to Content

Google Tests Dark Mode for Its Desktop Web Search Page

Google is reportedly testing a dark mode for its desktop web search site, following a trend of introducing darker user interfaces across its mobile apps.

Google Search dark mode web 1

Image via 9to5Google

Apple introduced Dark Mode in macOS Mojave and iOS 13, and support for the system-wide option is now a staple feature of most third-party apps on both mobile and desktop.

For example, Google has added belated support for ‌Dark Mode‌ to its Gmail and Search apps, but it looks like Google for desktop web could be on its way, too.

According to 9to5Google, the tech giant is performing A/B testing of a dark interface for desktop-based browser searches for a random selection of users.

Instead of the traditional plain white background, users are seeing a dark grey color on the Google search page, with results appearing in lighter text. Black text is now gray, while a different shade of blue is being used for page names/links.

Other affected page elements include the Google logo altered to match the background, and the search filters like Images and News, which are now blue.

It's not clear how long Google plans to test the feature before rolling it out to all users, but if it's anything like how long it took to bring Dark Mode to Gmail, it could be a while yet.

In the meantime, users who want to try a web browsing experience that's easier on the eyes should check out the browser extension Dark Reader, available for Safari, Chrome, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge.

Tag: Google

Popular Stories

Apple Maps Google Maps Icons

Google Maps Showing 'Lake America' in U.S., Apple Maps Yet to Follow

Monday August 31, 2026 6:33 am PDT by
Google Maps users in the U.S. will now see the name "Lake America" instead of "Lake Ontario" for the Great Lake that straddles the New York—Ontario border. Google said it made this change in response to the U.S. Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) updating the name for "Lake Ontario" to "Lake America," following an executive order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump last week....
google ai student discount

College Students Can Get a Free Year of Google AI Pro

Wednesday August 19, 2026 12:00 pm PDT by
Google today said eligible college students in the United States can get a free year of Google AI Pro. Google AI Pro is normally priced at $19.99 per month, and it includes 4x higher usage limits in Gemini, access to Gemini Spark, Gemini in Google apps like Gmail and Google Docs, and 5TB of storage space. Eligible college students outside the United States can get a free year of Google AI...
iOS 27 Next to iPhone

Here's When iOS 27 Rolls Out Today in Every Time Zone [Update: It's Out]

Sunday September 13, 2026 3:00 am PDT by
Update 10:04 a.m.: iOS 27 is rolling out now, though it may take a bit for all users to see it, so keep checking! Apple is about to release iOS 27, which will finally deliver more advanced Siri AI capabilities as well as a variety of other refinements, improvements, and new features to iPhones. It's Apple's biggest software update of the year, and Apple announced at Wednesday's iPhone event...

Top Rated Comments

75 months ago
DuckDuckGo has had this for over a year, and they respect my privacy too.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SkyRom Avatar
75 months ago
Microsoft introduced Dark Mode in 1981...



Attachment Image
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
75 months ago

DuckDuckGo has had this for over a year, and they respect my privacy too.
And their dark mode looks way better than Google's current implementation.

I try to use DuckDuckGo as much as possible since I do not want to support Google, but I have to admit I almost always switch to Google because their search is just way better :/
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
n0va Avatar
75 months ago
im not saying that its correlated or anything, but youtube went down minutes after this
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
75 months ago
They tested the darkest mode ever, all down :cool:
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Weaselboy Avatar
75 months ago

And their dark mode looks way better than Google's current implementation.

I try to use DuckDuckGo as much as possible since I do not want to support Google, but I have to admit I almost always switch to Google because their search is just way better :/

True. However its results are substandard at best.
I do use it as my default engine but more often than not I need to switch back to Google to do stuff…
https://www.startpage.com

Try Startpage. You get Google results without using Google.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)