Chrome 52 is rolling out for both Windows and Mac today, and the first thing you’ll notice is that it comes with a slightly new look. This new interface translates better on some devices than it does others, but thankfully if you’re not a fan it’s easy to get the old design back.




Chrome 52 is all about Google’s Material Design, which means the UI is a little more flat and a bunch of the icons have changed. This means tab shapes are different, icons are totally changed, and the ominbox is redesigned to match the mobile apps. Good news though, if you’re not a fan of the new design, you can disable it:

In the URL bar, type in chrome://flags and press Enter. Search for “Material Design in the browser’s top chrome” and set it to either “Non Material” to revert back to the previous interface, or “Material Hybrid” to enable a hybrid mode. We can’t tell what exactly is different from the hybrid and default modes though.


With that, you can continue on your merry way, ignoring Google’s newest design.