Official Turn Off the Lights Blog

This Turn Off the Lights browser extension update is all about performance.

The browser extension continues to keep its promise of simplicity: dim the web page with a single click, while offering many useful options for users who want to customize their browsing experience. With these features, you can get the best video and web experience in your favorite web browser.

Improved Performance

With the new version 4.7 release, the Turn Off the Lights browser extension reduces main thread usage by up to 60% compared to the previous version.

Each major feature now has its own JavaScript file. Since most users do not use every feature, this approach prevents a large script from being injected unnecessarily into web pages. As a result, web pages can load faster, and the browser extension has a smaller impact on performance.

New Feature

Shake Mouse to Dim

A new Shake Mouse feature is now available in the Turn Off the Lights Options page.

Once enabled, simply give your mouse a slight shake over the web page to dim the page. Shake your mouse again to remove the dark layer.

You can also customize the shake sensitivity in the Options page, allowing you to choose the setting that feels most comfortable for you.

Improved Chrome Policy Support

Turn Off the Lights Chrome extension version 4.7 also introduces improvements to its Chrome Policy support.

Schools, organizations, and enterprises can now enable the Night Mode feature through Chrome policies. Administrators can also configure Night Mode to work only on a specific whitelist of websites.

This gives organizations more control over how dark mode is used, making it possible to provide a consistent dark-mode experience on selected websites.

Conclusion

Turn Off the Lights is a free and Open-Source browser extension designed to give you a simpler, more comfortable web and video experience. And free to get for Google Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Microsoft Edge, Samsung Internet, and Naver Whale web browsers.

Your support helps us continue developing and maintaining this project for all major web browsers.

If you enjoy using Turn Off the Lights, please consider making a small donation; even $1 makes a difference. Your contribution helps us continue supporting and improving this free and open-source project.

Thank you for supporting Turn Off the Lights!

If you have been looking for a way to unwind after a long day, we have something special for you. The Turn Off the Lights team just wrapped up a filming trip across Arizona, Utah, and Colorado, and we have turned the footage into a brand-new collection of Zen meditation music videos designed to help you relax, focus, and reconnect with a sense of calm.

The Best is Yet to Come: Our Official Music Video

We kicked things off with something a little different: our second official music video, “The Best is Yet to Come”. Filmed in late April 2026 across the American Southwest, this cinematic lyric video takes you from the spectacular Grand Canyon to vast desert vistas dotted with iconic saguaro cacti. It is a celebration of everything we love about this project, and a thank-you to everyone who supports Turn Off the Lights as a free, Open-Source browser extension.

Four New Zen Meditation Music Videos

Alongside the music video, we are releasing four new nature relaxation videos, each paired with soothing Zen music and stunning real-world scenery:

• Glenwood Springs Red Escarpment – Dramatic red rock formations and layers of red and green landscape in Colorado, perfect for meditation, yoga, or simply unwinding in the background while you work or read.
• Head of the Rocks Overlook – A breathtaking overlook in Utah, with deep canyons and distant mesas that make for an ideal mindfulness and breathing-exercise companion.
• Bryce Canyon – Captured at Bryce Point around 8:40 AM in late April 2026, this video showcases the park’s famous hoodoos alongside gentle, soothing sounds built for deep calm and sleep.
• Beautiful Golden Cereal Fields – Filmed near De Beque, Colorado, after the Grand Valley Diversion Dam, this video blends golden fields with distant red rock formations for a warm, peaceful escape.

Each of these Zen meditation music videos is designed for a wide range of everyday moments: meditation and mindfulness practice, yoga and breathing exercises, falling asleep, studying, reading, or simply creating a calmer atmosphere while you work.

Why We Make These Videos

At Turn Off the Lights, our mission has always been about creating a more comfortable, focused viewing experience, whether that is dimming your browser tab so a video pops on screen, or now, producing our own calming content to enjoy that experience with. These new videos are a natural extension of that mission: real landscapes, real stillness, and music that gives your mind room to breathe.

Watch in the Dark for the Full Effect

Here is a tip: these Zen meditation music videos are even more immersive when you watch them with our free and Open-Source Turn Off the Lights browser extension. With one click, the extension dims the rest of your screen and puts the spotlight entirely on the video player, turning any video into a mini cinema experience, right in your browser. It also includes handy features like Atmosphere Lighting, Eye Protection, Video Filters, and Auto HD, all built to make your viewing experience calmer and more comfortable.

Explore More

Whether you are drawn to the desert cliffs of Utah, the red rock canyons of Colorado, or just need five quiet minutes between meetings, this new batch of Zen meditation music videos has something for you. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more calming journeys through beautiful places, and do not forget to support our Open-Source project so we can keep creating free content and tools for everyone.

Welcome to my new YouTube series for 2026, where I will show you how to make watching videos on your computer more comfortable, focused, and enjoyable with the Turn Off the Lights browser extension.

If you regularly watch YouTube, online courses, movies, livestreams, or other videos in your browser, you may have noticed how distracting the rest of the web page can be. Bright backgrounds, advertisements, comments, recommended videos, and other elements can compete for your attention. That is where Turn Off the Lights can make a difference.

What You Will Learn in the YouTube Series

The 2026 series will be aimed at both beginners and existing users who want to get more from Turn Off the Lights.

You will see new tutorial videos on how to enable Dark Mode on the Google Workspace, such as Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and Google Drive.

Other videos will explain the different Night Mode engines available in Turn Off the Lights. One engine allows you to customize individual elements on a webpage, giving you detailed control over how each website looks. The other provides a more balanced and consistent dark appearance across websites.

There will also be tutorials specifically focused on the YouTube video platform. I will show you how to use features such as AutoDim, Zoom in and out, and Rotate the video to customize your YouTube viewing experience.

I will also show you how to get a dark theme in your web browser, including Google Chrome and Firefox. In addition, there will be a tutorial about how to enable a completely black theme with a 100% solid black background. This can be especially useful on OLED displays, where displaying true black means the individual pixels can turn off completely, helping reduce power consumption and potentially minimizing screen wear.

Why I am Making This YouTube Series

The Turn Off the Lights Browser extensions often have more features than people realize. Sometimes a useful tool can be installed on your computer for months without you discovering everything it can do.

That is one of the reasons I wanted to create this series. Instead of simply telling you that Turn Off the Lights can dim a web page, I want to demonstrate what it can do more so you get the best video and web experience, and in a practical way.

Follow Along in 2026

I created this new YouTube series because I want to make the features of Turn Off the Lights easier to discover and understand. Sometimes the most useful feature is the one you did not know existed.

So throughout 2026, I will share practical tutorials, feature demonstrations, tips, and updates to help you get the best possible experience from Turn Off the Lights. If you use Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or another supported browser, I invite you to follow along.

Subscribe to my YouTube channel and join me in 2026 as we explore Turn Off the Lights together.

Thank you for being part of the Turn Off the Lights community. Your feedback and support continue to help us improve this Open-Source project and build a better web experience for everyone.