Having dark mode in Google Chrome browser can help you read more web pages with less eyestrain than in light mode / theme. If you spend countless hours browsing the internet and Google Chrome is your browser of choice, these dark mode Chrome extensions can help you improve your reading experience. Although it is possible to enable dark mode in Chrome for web content, having an extension can provide more flexibility.
The best Chrome extensions in dark mode
This list has many extensions that have different options for different purposes. Take a good look at all of them before choosing one.
1. Dark mode
Dark mode is a basic but useful extension to enable dark mode in Google Chrome. Although it lights up a dark theme on websites, there is a significant downside to using this extension. Enable dark mode only on some predefined and popular websites like Wikipedia, YouTube, Facebook, Google search page, etc. In other words, if you want to read TechWiser in dark mode in Chrome, unfortunately, you can’t.
Using this extension is easy as you don’t believe in complexity I guess, and that’s why it comes with only two buttons: on and off. Every time you toggle those buttons, you should have to reload the page.
Reflexes:
- Extremely basic and easy to use.
- Enable dark mode only on a specific website
- No additional options or features
2. Dusk
Nightfall is almost identical to dark mode, as they both offer dark themes only for a specific list of sites entered by the respective developers. However, Nightfall is a better Chrome extension in dark mode than dark mode as it reverses colors better than that. It works almost flawlessly on Google Docs, Facebook, Wikipedia, etc. However, you may have trouble using it on YouTube.
It comes with an additional option that allows users to disable dark mode on a specific website. For that, you can click on the extension icon after visiting the website and clicking on the Add to block list button.
Reflexes:
- Easy to use, no fancy features
- Works only on a specific website
- Some options on YouTube may seem strange
- Disable dark mode on a particular website
3. Chrome dark mode
Chrome Dark Mode is another Chrome extension to enable dark mode on all websites at once. Enabling dark mode in Chrome is just one click away and then adding it to the browser. However, it does not allow users to enable / disable dark mode on a specific website.
If you want to enable dark mode on any website, please open it first and click the corresponding extension icon. As the color contrast is lighter than the actual dark mode, it creates a better reading environment.
Reflexes:
- Activate / deactivate with one click
- There is no option to enable / disable dark mode on a specific website
- No option to customize
Get Chrome in dark mode for Chrome
4. Night mode for YouTube
As the name says, you can enable night mode or dark mode on YouTube with the help of this extension. If you are a YouTube video creator and you often spend time reading / replying to tons of comments, this extension can help you get rid of eyestrain to some extent.
To activate the dark theme on YouTube, open the website and click the extension icon. It is as simple as said.
Reflexes:
- YouTube only
- Activate / deactivate with one click
- There is no option to adjust the brightness and contrast.
Get Night mode for YouTube for Chrome
5. Coal
Charcoal allows you to enable dark mode on Facebook Messenger. If you spend a lot of time replying to Facebook messages, Charcoal can help you get into dark reader mode. The only problem with this extension is that it doesn’t enable a dark theme when clicking on it Delivery courier icon on Facebook website. However, you can find the dark mode on the messenger.com website, a website dedicated to managing Facebook messages.
Reflexes:
- Works only on the messenger.com website
- Three modes: charcoal, deep blue and midnight
- Activate / deactivate with one click
- No additional option
Get Chromium carbon
6. Dark mode in Chrome
It is another basic extension to activate the dark mode in the Chrome browser. Unlike some extensions, you can enable dark mode on all sites at once. However, if you already have some tabs open, you have to reload the page to get dark mode. Although it does not work well with Facebook, you may not encounter problems when using it on a normal website. Since it doesn’t have an on / off button, a single click on the corresponding extension icon does the work for you. There is no way to blacklist or whitelist sites.
Reflexes:
- Single click to enable / disable dark mode
- There is no option to customize the brightness.
- No blacklist / whitelist
- Doesn’t work well on Facebook.com
- Works well on regular blogs
Get Dark mode in Chrome for Chrome
7. Sauron
Most dark mode extensions don’t change the brightness automatically unless you have a dedicated option to adjust. However, Sauron can dim images, which makes or breaks the overall night mode reading experience in Chrome. In other words, even if a web page does not have dark mode screenshots / images, it can lower the brightness of all images at once. You can create a whitelist to disable Sauron on specific websites. The most essential or time-saving feature is scheduling. It implies that you can turn dark mode on or off at a predefined time.
Reflexes:
- Whitelist website to disable dark mode
- Calendar
- Sun images
- Minimal options to configure things
Read: 20+ popular Android apps with dark mode
8. My dark reader
My Dark Reader is primarily designed for people who spend a lot of time reading content on various websites. It comes with all the essential options you might need. For example, auto mode sync, whitelist, custom brightness, etc. are available in the options panel. To use the Chrome extension, you can visit a website and click on the My Dark Reader icon. Apart from that, you can adjust the brightness (general, including image) using the corresponding bar.
Reflexes:
- Activate dark mode at a predefined time
- Whitelist website to disable dark mode
- Activate / deactivate with one click
- Dedicated panel to manage settings
9. Lunar Reader
Lunar Reader also enables night shift in Google Chrome. Having so many options can take more time than usual to set it up. However, once you’re done with setup, it’s easy to use keyboard shortcuts to do all your basic work on Windows and Mac. You can schedule dark mode and night shift to automatically turn on at a predefined time. On the other hand, it is possible to adjust the brightness and contrast, allowing you to configure a custom environment according to your requirements.
Reflexes:
- It takes time to customize all the options
- Keyboard shortcut to enable / disable dark mode
- Custom brightness and contrast
- Night shift
- Grayscale
- White list and black list
10. Dark reader
Dark Reader is one of the best Google Chrome extensions to enable dark mode on all web pages at once. Apart from some browser-protected pages (Settings page, Chrome Web Store, etc.), you can have dark mode enabled for all other pages without any problem. The best thing about this extension is that you can quickly activate the dark mode using a keyboard shortcut (Mac: Shift + Option + A, Windows: Alt + Shift + D).
The next useful feature is the brightness and contrast control. In other words, you can adjust the brightness and contrast of its dark and light mode, which helps you get a better reading environment while in a low-light area.
Reflexes:
- Keyboard shortcut
- Custom brightness and contrast
- Custom theme for a specific website
- Automatically turn on dark mode at a preset time
- Import / export settings to apply on multiple devices
Conclusion: Chrome extensions in dark mode
The latest version of Windows and macOS offers options to enable system-wide dark theme, which may or may not turn on dark mode in Google Chrome. Instead of relying on those options, you can use a dark mode extension in Chrome to get your work done. If you don’t have a lot of time, you can choose something simple. However, it is recommended to take a look at Dark Reader, My Dark Reader, and Lunar Reader once. They offer a lot of options, but they work flawlessly once you’re done setting them up.
Read: How to get dark mode in WhatsApp for Android
