How to get Google Drive’s new dark mode

Getting into a proper work-life (or studying-life) balance is extremely important, but sometimes, even if you’re really careful, you just need to stay up late to get something done. But staring at your screen for hours when the lights are dim can really be hard on the eyes, making the whole ordeal even less appealing.

That’s why dark mode has become so popular over the last few years. Turning white backgrounds and menus into black and dark gray ones is not only much easier on the eyes, but it can even make your screen use less power and wear out slower if you have one of the best OLED monitors around.

This mode quickly spread throughout the most popular apps, and even got adopted as a system-wide option in both desktop and mobile operating systems. However, there were outliers that seemed to cling to light mode, and one of the biggest culprits was Google Drive. Even though Google itself introduced Dark Mode to Android with Android 10, Google Drive was slow to adopt it. That was until recently, when the feature finally landed on the browser version of Google Drive, making it available in Dark Mode both on mobile and on the desktop.

You can now easily turn on dark mode in Google Drive, making browsing all your files and sharing them around not only easy, but also not as straining to the eyes — at least in the dark. If you’d like to turn your Google Drive black and gray, here’s all you need to know to do it.

How to enable Google Drive’s dark mode on Android

Dive into the Settings app

First, let’s tackle getting dark mode for Google Drive on mobile devices. It’s a feature that’s older than its desktop counterpart, as the mobile app has allowed dark mode for quite some time now, and turning it on is really easy.

In fact, you don’t have to do anything in particular in the app settings to enter Google Drive in dark mode. The application adjusts its color scheme to the colors you’ve set up in the operating system, which means — if your OS is in dark mode, the Google Drive app will be in dark mode as well. It not only allows you to match the vibe of the whole software, but it also lets you schedule certain hours during the day when the whole system — and Google Drive by extension — should use dark mode.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down until you see the Display tab. Tap on it.
3. Under Appearance you’ll see a Dark theme menu. Tap it to enter further settings or simply turn the switch next to it to ON to enable dark mode.
4. In the Dark theme settings you can switch dark mode on and off, as well as tap the Schedule option.
5. In the Schedule pop-up menu you can set dark mode to turn on or off at certain times of the day to match the lighting outside.

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How to enable Google Drive’s dark mode on iOS

It’s similar to Android

If you need a little reminder on how to enter dark mode on your phone, here’s how to do it on iOS:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap on Display & Brightness.
3. Under Appearance, tap on Dark Mode to turn it on.
4. You can also turn the Automatic toggle on to make it turn on and off as scheduled.

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How to get Google Drive’s dark mode on desktop

No third-party plugin required

Google has finally implemented a dark theme for Google Drive in the browser app. This means you can easily turn it on and off, and you don’t have to rely on installing outside software that can sometimes feel janky or mess up some colors in the process.

So, here’s how to turn on the new dark mode in the desktop version of Google Drive:

1. Open Google Drive in your browser.
2. Click on the cog icon in the upper right corner.
3. From the pop-up menu, choose Settings.
4. In the settings, under Appearance, choose Dark to enable dark mode or System default to match the color of Google Drive with the colors of your system theme.

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FAQ

Q: Why is dark mode so popular?

Before you turn on dark mode for Google Drive, let’s quickly discuss why you’d want to do that. Dark mode quickly gained popularity when it came onto the scene, and there are quite a few good reasons for it.

The first one is, of course, the aesthetics. Some people just prefer their menus looking dark, and dark mode is the answer to that preference.

Another reason is legibility. Quite often, maybe a bit counterintuitively, white text on a black background can look better and be more readable than the other way around. So, if that’s the case for you, dark mode is a great resource to ease the strain on your eyes.

Speaking of strain, dark mode also seems to cause less eye strain for some people, especially when used in darker environments, compared to light mode. That effect is still unconfirmed scientifically, but many people stand by this statement.

Finally, there’s power consumption and display wear and tear. This one is true only if you have an LED panel, which can completely turn off the pixels that are supposed to be black. That way, it uses less electricity and saves the lifespan of LEDs. That being said, if you’re using an LCD, this, unfortunately, does not apply to you, as the backlight has to be turned on for the whole display.