Google is gearing up for a striking design update in Chrome. There are experimental options in the hidden settings introduced in the stable version, giving users a taste of Chrome's updated look, which complements Windows 11's rounded corners. This upcoming design is called “Chrome 2023 refresh” and will be released later this year.
The official name for Google's design overhaul is “refresh”. The design appearance of the browser remains largely unchanged. All familiar functions, buttons and settings remain in their usual places. The update mainly focuses on the transition from sharp to rounded corners, the introduction of new color accents for certain buttons and other subtle changes.
This update to Chrome is in line with both Google's “material design” principles and Windows 11's Mica Effect. The image below shows the before and after Chrome design, which can be enabled from versions 117 and later.
It is important to note that this is still in the experimental phase, so there may be some minimal issues.
Enable Google Chrome new look 2023
For starters I recommend Update Google Chrome to the latest version first. Also read: Which Chrome version do I have?
- Open the Google Chrome browser.
- In the address bar type: chrome://flags/
- In the search bar, look for the following flags:
- chrome-refresh-2023
- chrome-webui-refresh-2023
- customize-chrome-side-panel
Change each flag above to “Enabled” instead of “Default”. When you have enabled all the above flags, click on “Relaunch” at the bottom to restart the Chrome browser.
You will see the new Chrome appearance after the restart.
Do you want to restore the old appearance? Then open Chrome://flags/ and click on the “Reset all” button at the top right.
I hope to have informed you with this. Thank you for reading!
Read more: 9 lesser-known features in Google Chrome.