Here's How To Enable Chrome 68's Material Design On Desktop And Mobile In Just A Few Clicks

by Brandon Hill — Friday, July 27, 2018, 03:22 PM EDT

Earlier this month, Google issued a new build of Chrome Canary that allowed users to try out the latest version of the Material Design language. Google enabled the new Material Design by default on the experimental Chrome Canary browser for Windows, Linux and Chrome OS (and with experimental flags on macOS).

But for those that don't want to muck around with a work-in-progress browser like Canary, you can now enable the Material Design experience with the Chrome 68 public channel browser release. Below are the steps needed to enable it on desktop and mobile versions of Chrome 68.

Desktop Versions of Chrome 68

Paste chrome://flags/#top-chrome-md into the omnibox
Find “UI Layout for the browser’s top chrome” and flip it from default to refresh
If you're running macOS, you'll also have to additionally navigate to chrome://flags/#views-browser-windows and select enable
Restart the browser when prompted

Chrome 68 for iOS

Paste chrome://flags/#top-chrome-md into the omnibox
Find “UI Refresh Phase 1” and set it to enabled
Force close Chrome, and then restart

Chrome 68 for Android

Paste the following commands into the omnibox
chrome://flags/#enable-chrome-modern-design
chrome://flags/#ntp-modern-layout
Close the browser and reopen

In addition to allowing users to enjoy the new Material Design look, Chrome 68 also now marks all HTTP sites as "Not Secure" in order to shame websites into making the shift to HTTPS to improve security.

Tags: Google, (nasdaq:goog), google chrome, material design, chrome 68

Brandon Hill

Brandon received his first PC, an IBM Aptiva 310, in 1994 and hasn’t looked back since. He cut his teeth on computer building/repair working at a mom and pop computer shop as a plucky teen in the mid 90s and went on to join AnandTech as the Senior News Editor in 1999. Brandon would later help to form DailyTech where he served as Editor-in-Chief from 2008 until 2014. Brandon is a tech geek at heart, and family members always know where to turn when they need free tech support. When he isn’t writing about the tech hardware or studying up on the latest in mobile gadgets, you’ll find him browsing forums that cater to his long-running passion: automobiles.

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