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YouTube has a hidden dark mode. Here's how to activate it

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YouTube has a hidden dark mode which gives the site a more cinematic feel. The feature is only available through Chrome and requires you to dip your toes into Chrome's developer tools. But that's nothing but sticking in a line of code and refreshing YouTube; It will take less than a minute. Here is how to do it..

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  1. Make sure you are using the most recent version of Chrome (version 57 or later) .

  2. Open Chrome, go to YouTube, and sign in to your account..

  3. Open Chrome's Developer Tools panel by pressing Command-Option-I on Mac or Ctrl-Shift-I on Windows.

  4. On the panel that opens on the right side of your Chrome window, click the Console tab..

  5. Copy and paste this line of code: document.cookie = VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE = fPQ4jCL6EiE, Then press Enter.

  6. Close the Developer Tools panel and refresh YouTube.

  7. Click on your profile icon at the top right and you'll see a more extensive menu, including a row for Dark Mode. Click on it and click on the switch to activate dark mode.

Unfortunately, you will have to re- enable Dark Mode every time you restart Chrome. Hopefully Google will make this experimental feature official soon, to help you skip the step of entering the code when you're watching YouTube late at night and want to make things a little easier on your eyes.


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