How to enable new Windows 11 mica material on Chrome

Google Chrome 115 brings support for the Windows 11 mica material, and here's how to enable it.

Chrome Windows 11 mica
Chrome Windows 11 mica

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:

  1. Open Google Chrome (115 or higher).

  2. 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
  3. Use the “Windows 11 Mica titlebar” setting on the right and select the Enabled option.

    Chrome enable mica

  4. (Optional) Type the following path in the address bar and press Enter to open the “Reading Mode” setting:

    chrome://flags/#read-anything
  5. Use the “Reading Mode” setting on the right and select the Enabled option.

  6. 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.

About the author

Mauro Huculak is a Windows How-To Expert who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He has also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows and software, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 21 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn and About.me. Email him at [email protected].