YouTube is rolling out a new layout to its users, and while there are those who will be disappointed with the new design, there’s one feature that everyone should appreciate: Dark Mode. Once you have the new design, you can easily turn Dark Mode on and off no matter where you are on YouTube’s website. But in order to activate Dark Mode, you have to update YouTube to the new layout. We’re going to show you how.
There appears to be more than one way to accomplish this, but here’s what worked for me (thanks Reddit):
- Update to Google Chrome 57, the latest version of the browser
- Navigate to YouTube.com (and stay on the homepage)
- Open the developer window: Ctrl + Shift + I on Windows; Option + Command + I on Mac
- Go to the Application tab (you might have to click the double arrow in the top right)
- Right-click on the row that says VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE and delete it
- Now head to the Console tab and copy and paste this:
- document.cookie=”VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE=fPQ4jCL6EiE”
- Press enter, refresh the page and you should see the new layout
Now that you have the new layout, all you need to do to activate Dark Mode is click on your profile picture in the top-right corner of any page on YouTube, find where it says “Dark Mode: Off” and toggle it on. If you hate the new layout and decide that Dark Mode isn’t worth it, you can change back to the classic layout from this same menu. The page will automatically refresh and the old layout will return.
