Google Chat is giving you more control over how it looks

Google Chat is a solid messaging app for businesses, allowing colleagues to connect easily, share files, discuss ideas, and more. For a long time, the platform limited its users to a default view, which doesn’t cater to all preferences and needs. Fortunately for web users, Google Chat is now rolling out an option that lets them customize its appearance.

Google announced yesterday that it will let its Chat users choose between Comfortable and Compact modes on the web. The former option is the default, which follows the modernized Google Material Design 3 guidelines. While it arguably looks more futuristic and is easier on the eyes, it displays fewer visual elements at a time. So, those consuming lots of content may have to scroll more often.

The Compact mode, on the other hand, is the opt-in option that shows more information on users’ screens. This impacts the look of the conversation bubbles, the website’s padding, the density of the content, and more. The end result may not look as minimalistic, but it should spare users from frequently scrolling.

Google Chat has already started rolling out the ability to customize the web interface to Rapid Release domains, and it could take the feature over two weeks to appear for eligible users. The full rollout, which can take up to three days, will then follow for Scheduled Release domains starting December 2. This encompasses all Google Chat users, including Workspace and personal accounts.