How To Enable YouTube's Hidden Dark Mode Feature

If you find YouTube’s piercing white background to be a bit harsh on the eyes, especially at night, then there’s some good news: Google has secretly been testing a dark mode for its popular video hosting service that dims the lights.

The new mode, first spotted by a redditor in the Google subreddit on Reddit, turns the white backgrounds on YouTube to black—essentially inverting the color scheme while ditching the typical YouTube red logo entirely.

Read: YouTube Streaming TV Service Announced, Channel List Includes ESPN, ABC, FXX, More

You won’t spot a button or a switch to turn off the lights on YouTube, though — at least not yet. For now, dark mode is a hidden feature. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make use of it. Here’s how to turn on dark mode for your nighttime YouTube sessions.

Turn On YouTube Dark Mode On Mac

First things first, make sure you’re running the latest version of Google Chrome. The version dark mode is first accessible in is Chrome 57.0.2987.133.

Once you’ve updated Chrome, you’ll need to open the developer’s window. To do so, hit Option + Command + I. The developer’s window will appear on the right side of your browser.

At the top of the developer’s window is a bar with a number of menu options. Select the console tab. In the console, paste the following command: document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=fPQ4jCL6EiE"

Once you enter the command, hit enter. Then close the developer window and refresh your browser. Click on your YouTube profile and you should see a dark mode toggle option in the main settings menu.

Turn On YouTube Dark Mode On Windows

Like Mac users, Windows users will want to make sure they are using the latest version of Chrome 57. Once updated, you’ll be following similar steps.

Windows users can open the developer’s window on Google Chrome by hitting Ctrl + Shift + I. Once open, select the console tab from the menu running across the top of the window.

Paste the following command into the console and hit enter: document.cookie="VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=fPQ4jCL6EiE”

Refresh your browser and you should see the dark mode toggle appear in your YouTube settings, which can be accessed by clicking your profile picture.