On Google Chrome 115, you can now enable the support for the mica material, and in this guide, you will learn how. The mica material is a design technique available on Windows 11 that shines the desktop background colors through the app’s body with a semi-transparent blur effect (like a frosted window). In Google Chrome, you can see the new material in the title bar.
The support is still in preview, but anyone can turn it on, starting with version 115 and higher releases. However, the new design element is available only when not using a custom theme or theme color. Furthermore, version 115 also introduces a new “Reading mode” experience for the side panel, which allows you to view the currently open page without distraction by stripping away all the distracting elements, such as ads, images, and sidebars.
In this guide, you will learn the steps to enable the new visual update (and Reading mode) for Google Chrome.
Enable new mica material on Chrome
To enable the new mica design style on Google Chrome, use these steps:
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Open Google Chrome (115 or higher).
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Type the following path in the address bar and press Enter to open the “flags” experimental settings to enable the mica in the title bar setting:
chrome://flags/#windows11-mica-titlebar
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Use the “Windows 11 Mica titlebar” setting on the right and select the Enabled option.
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(Optional) Type the following path in the address bar and press Enter to open the “Reading Mode” setting:
chrome://flags/#read-anything
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Use the “Reading Mode” setting on the right and select the Enabled option.
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Click the Relaunch button.
Once you complete the steps, Google Chrome should now appear with a title bar that makes use of the Windows 11 mica material. If you also turn on the Reading mode feature, you can access it by opening the “Side panel” with the bottom in the top-right corner and choosing the “Reading mode” option.