Google is testing a pitch-black dark theme for Search. The company is looking to switch the Search background to the color with the hexadecimal code #000000, which is the darkest of all colors. Google Search’s current dark theme uses a gray color rather than black.

This change is already available to some users on the desktop web. The completely black dark theme currently only works for Search result pages though. The google.com homepage still uses a gray background.

In Search results, Google has also tweaked the colors for links and previously visited pages. The overall look now has a slightly bolder contrast than before. This gives the results page a jarring appearance rather than a bit muted one you get with a gray background. Users might better like the latter for a smoother transition when moving to a light-themed webpage from Search results. But with more websites now supporting dark themes, and more people preferring those, many users may welcome a completely dark background for Google Search with open arms.

This change comes days after reports that Google Search wouldn’t revert to the light theme for some users. It would automatically switch to the dark theme even if users have selected the settings otherwise. Google said it’s investigating the issue but hasn’t provided an update on it since. The issue seemingly isn’t widespread and, hopefully, it has been fixed.

Google should offer both gray and black dark backgrounds for Search

It’s unclear whether Google plans to fully replace the existing gray background for Search with the new pitch-black option. According to 9to5Google, who first reported about this rollout, the quick settings panel for Search only features one dark theme option. Even for users who have access to the new black theme, it is referred to as just a “Dark theme” as before. But we hope the company will offer both gray and black dark backgrounds as user-selectable options with the public rollout of this change, along with the light theme. Apps like Twitter feature all these theming options.

As said earlier, the new dark theme for Google Search is only available to select users as part of this early A/B testing. Some users who had received the change recently have reportedly already lost it. The rollout doesn’t seem to be specific to any operating system or device make or model. We will let you know when this change for Google Search becomes available widely.