[Tip] How to Enable / Disable New Refresh UI in Google Chrome

Original article posted on September 09, 2023:

Google has started rolling out the new “Visual Refresh 2023 Design” UI to Chrome 117 and later versions. This article will help you in enabling or disabling the new design UI in Chrome 117 and later versions.

Following image shows a comparison of the new fresh look-n-feel and the old classic UI of Chrome:

You can see in the above image, the titlebar or header color, drop-down arrow, tabs design, lock icon in the address bar, icons and many UI elements have been changed or redesigned in the new UI. The new UI features rounded corners or edges around all elements and the lock icon has been replaced with a “Tune” icon in the address bar.

Following screenshot shows the new 2023 refresh design UI in action in Chrome 117.0 version in our Windows 11 device:

Along with the icons, tabs and toolbars, the main 3-dots menu has also changed in the new Chrome UI. The 3-dots menu now displays icons for all available options such as new tab, history, downloads, extensions, settings, etc. Few options have been renamed or moved to help users in finding those frequently used options quickly and easily.

Following screenshot shows the redesigned 3-dots menu in Chrome 117 version:

PS: The new Chrome UI is known by various names. Google officially refers it as “Visual Refresh 2023”. If we search using Chrome Flags page, we find a few other names such as “Chrome Refresh 2023”, “WebUI Refresh 2023” and “CR 2023”.

Google was working on this design overhaul or redesigned theme for Chrome web browser since a few months. The new UI was being developed using the new Google Material You 3 design language. This new UI was available for testing in Beta/Canary editions of Chrome. We posted about it in following article:

Chrome and Edge will Get a Refresh UI Design in 2023, Here is How to Enable and Test It

Now the new theme or UI has been finalized and Google has started enabling the new UI to all Chrome users to celebrate Chrome’s 15th birthday. The roll out is being made in phases, that’s why some Chrome users have received the new UI and some are waiting for it.

Now there might be two types of Chrome users:

• One who have received the new visual refresh UI in Chrome but didn’t like the new UI and want to restore the classic UI.
• Second who haven’t received the new visual refresh UI and want to activate and enable it right now in Chrome.

Fortunately, Google Chrome team has provided a few hidden secret preferences/flags which can be used to enable or disable the new visual refresh 2023 design UI in Chrome browser.

If you also want to enable the new 2023 design UI or want to bring back the old classic UI in Chrome, following steps will help you:

STEP 1: Open Google Chrome web browser and type chrome://flags/ in address bar and press Enter. It’ll open the advanced configuration page.

STEP 2: Now type 2023 in the “Search flags” box.

Look for following options in the results:

STEP 3: To activate and enable the new visual refresh design UI in Chrome, select Enabled from the drop-down box for all above mentioned options.

To disable the new refresh UI and restore old classic look-n-feel in Chrome, select Disabled from the drop-down box for all above mentioned options.

STEP 4: Google Chrome will ask you to restart the browser. Click on “Relaunch now” button to restart Google Chrome.

That’s it. You have successfully enabled/disabled new design UI in Chrome.

PS: In future, if you decide to restore default setting in Chrome, select “Default” option from the drop-down box for above mentioned options and restart the browser.

NOTE: Advanced users can also modify following extra preferences/flags to enable/disable minor elements in new Chrome UI. Search for CR23 on chrome://flags page and enable/disable following flags:

Also Check: If you want to disable the new Blue color title bar and restore classic Grey color title bar in Google Chrome web browser, following article will help you:

How to Change Title Bar Color from Blue to Grey in Chrome

BONUS TIP: If you also want to restore other classic stuff such as bottom download panel, classic customize new tab page dialog box, bookmarks UI, etc, following articles will help you:

[Tip] Disable or Remove Download Button from Chrome Toolbar

How to Enable / Disable Power Bookmarks UI in Chrome Side Panel

[Tip] Restore Classic Customize Chrome Window on New Tab Page

[Tip] Enable or Disable Windows 11 Style Menus and UI in Chrome and Edge