Last Fall,Googlestarted rolling out a major redesign to its desktop browser. Google calls its changes “Material You,” but I started calling them “ugly” and “annoying” when an update marred my browser’s UI in December. Then I figured out how to get rid of the changes and was happy with the classic interface, until today (June 01, 2025) when my browser updated itself to version 123 and overrode my changes, bringing me back to the hideous look I tried to get rid of. Read on, because there’s a new workaround that, as of this moment, still works.
On the surface, the changes seem slight and many won’t notice them or care. The tabs and and all menus (bookmarks, settings, etc) look like they are detached and somehow floating slightly above the main window. The icons for folders and for the extension menu look hollow and lifeless. Worst of all, the open tabs menu has inexplicably moved from the right side of the window (next to the minimize button) all the way over to the left side, next to the left most tab icon.
Here’s the good news: you may revert Chrome back to its tried-and-true design and layout with a few settings changes. Google has already, as of this week, tried to prevent people from going back to the older 2023-and-prior era design so I can’t guarantee that, at some point, Google won’t block these changes altogether. (h/t toGeeker Mag on YouTubefor this new method).
How to Revert Chrome Browser to Its Old Design
1.Navigate tochrome://flags/#chrome-refresh-2023.This will take you to the Flags menu and directly to the option called “Chrome Refresh 2023.”
4.Disable Customize Chrome Side Panelat chrome://flags/#customize-chrome-side-panel.
Get Tom’s Hardware’s best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox.
5.Click the Relaunch button,which will close and reopen the browser.
Chrome will now have its old design. You can always reverse this process if you wish to switch back.
Avram Piltch is Managing Editor: Special Projects. When he’s not playing with the latest gadgets at work or putting on VR helmets at trade shows, you’ll find him rooting his phone, taking apart his PC, or coding plugins. With his technical knowledge and passion for testing, Avram developed many real-world benchmarks, including our laptop battery test.
