Google Just Added Dark Mode to Drive
So many apps and websites have a dark mode these days, it’s a little annoying when it doesn’t. While most Google products support dark mode (Gmail offers a ton of customizable themes), the company continues to leave users of many of its web apps in the light. That’s how it is, at least until now: Google Drive has a dark mode , folks.
According to Android Police, Google has been working on this implementation for about a month now , starting with a limited release. However, it should be available to all users starting Tuesday, although it may take until May 1 for all users to see it. As part of this rollout, Google notifies users of the change with a pop-up that says “New! Dark Mode: Continue to enjoy your ride in the dark.” When you get the pop-up, you can easily change the Drive theme from Light to Dark or to Device , which will set the Drive theme to whatever theme is currently installed on your computer.
However, depending on when you see this post, you may not see this popup, and without it, you’ll never know that Google Drive has actually added dark mode as a feature. This is because when using Drive, there is no obvious switch or option for dark mode like there are in some web apps. If you want to find this option, you need to click on the settings gear at the top of the page, click on Settings and find Appearance . Here you’ll find the same three theme options as in the pop-up window: Light , Dark , and Default Device .
Google Drive for mobile already matches the theme of your system. You can change this option in the Google Drive app settings menu on Android, and on iOS Drive will always match your system theme. This is fine for people like me who use light mode during the day and dark mode at night, but it would be nice to have some control for Drive users on iPhone.
Now that Google Drive won’t blindside us when we access our files at night, it would be great if more Google apps joined the fray. If I could check my schedule in Google Calendar or type out notes in Google Docs with the same dark theme as my computer, that would be great.