For the first time in 10 years, I completely changed my website design. At the beginning, these were experiments for some users, but recently the design changed completely for everyone.

On the one hand, it’s quite “decorous and noble”, in a word, the guys did a great job, many users even liked this innovation, but not everyone. People who have been accustomed to the familiar look of the site for many years, and suddenly change something radically? Many people do not agree with such changes. Previously, when all these changes were just beginning, there was a “Return to old design", however, the developers removed it completely.

What should those who are accustomed to the old style of VKontakte do?

Fortunately for many, there are two ways to bring back the old social network design.

1 way.

You can return the old VK design using one very simple but useful extension for browsers, and. The Stylish extension allows you to apply different styles to some sites, including VKontakte.

Detailed instructions:

Let's figure out how to return the old VKontakte style, using the Google Chrome browser as an example?

  • Download the Stylish extension for Chrome (see above for where to download).
    • Fig.1

    2. Now, when the extension is installed (Fig. 2), the following icon will appear.


    Fig.2
    Fig.3

    4. Click and download the ““ style itself. (Fig.3)

    5. There, click on the “Install with Stylish” button. (Fig.4)


    Fig.4
    Fig.5

    Confirm (Fig. 5) and reload the browser. (Completely close and reopen the browser)

    Fig.6

    Now we see that it is installed. All we have to do is check the box to switch to the old style (Fig. 7) or uncheck the box to return the new one (Fig. 8), as you wish.


    Fig.7 (Old style)
    Fig. 8 (New style) 2nd method. How to return to the old VK design

    Well, this proposed method is even simpler, but is only suitable for the browser. If in the first method we considered we could switch between the new and old VK style, then in this example, only the old style remains.

    So! Go to this tab - Return old VK design.
    We go to the page with the extension, download, install and use the old and familiar version.


    Fig.9 (Extension “Return old VK design”)

    In principle, such simple actions will help us return to the familiar, old style in our VK.

  • Disable auto-update of the VKontakte application in Google Play;
  • Delete new version of VK;
  • Restore the old VKontakte client.
    • Disabling VK auto-update on Google Play:
  • Run Play Store, go to “Options” by clicking on the corresponding icon (Alternatively, the icon with three horizontal stripes next to the inscription “Google Play”);
  • Select "Settings" and uncheck "Auto-update apps" (in some versions of the application you need to check the box "Never").


    • After these steps, the VK application installed from Google Play will no longer be able to update automatically, and you will be able to use the usual old version VK for Android, without worrying that the client interface may change at any time due to the next program update. Removing a new version of VK:
    • Go to "Settings", then to "Applications", then select the new VKontakte application that disappointed you and delete it from your Android device.

    Restoring the old VK client for Android: Download and install the previous version of the official VK social network client for Android (you can find it by going to).


    All. You have returned to your smartphone or tablet the familiar version of the VK application with an interface convenient for you, and it will not go anywhere again without your consent. Automatic updates There is no need to be afraid of the client of the VKontakte social network - you have blocked this opportunity.

    The new version of the VKontakte application allowed us to once again verify that not all changes intended to improve and increase the usability of the application lead to these improvements. The tastes, habits and needs of users are purely individual. Fortunately, you can almost always find a way to return to the old, proven version of the program and continue communicating on a social network (in this case) under familiar conditions.

    Information from 10/04/2017: As a result of changes in the VKontakte policy, audio recordings are no longer available in older versions of the client. Official response from VKontakte technical support on this matter.

    After transferring 100% of users of the social network VK to new design, many were unhappy with the changes. The previous option, according to most, was more convenient. There are several ways to return the old VK style. They will only work for computer owners; there are no options for Andriod and iOS software yet.

    How to return the old VKontakte design through the VK menu

    There were a certain number of users on the social network who became voluntary taxi drivers of all those aspects that the developers wanted to change. They were the first to switch to the new version of the site; they were able to evaluate the changed layout of pages, comments and video sections. The developers left them the opportunity to return to previous view with one click of a button:

    • in the left menu you had to go to the very bottom;
    • on a gray background, find the gray inscription “Return to the old version...”;
    • click this link.

    This was the easiest way to make the old interface in VK. The first wave of changes began for all computer owners in April 2016, but by August everyone began to switch to the “fresh version” forcibly without the opportunity to refuse. The line with the option to switch to the old version has disappeared, and no one else has such a function.

    How to make an old VK on a PC by changing the address in the browser

    In some cases, for some reason, testers did not display the button that helped them change the interface version. However, observant visitors were able to find a way to make the old VK design. When trying to log into their page at the old address, a person might notice the prefix “new” before the id of the account owner. It turned out that the user was redirected to a different address upon login. To disable this interface and work as usual, you just had to remove the word new from the line and press the enter button.

    IN this moment this method does not work, because when you enter your profile, you are no longer redirected to another page, you remain on yours and the word new is not in the address. This happened due to the implementation of this version of the design on a full-fledged basis and the interface was changed immediately for all users of the site. The opportunity to refuse the innovation was not provided.

    How to return to the old VK design using plugins

    The developers of the social network did not leave their clients a single built-in opportunity to return old Contact. In their opinion, all the changes made help open the resource from the other side and there should be no way to undo them. Third-party programmers do not agree with this and offered their own option on how to return the old VKontakte design - install plugins.

    Applications are just starting to appear, so in some cases they may not work correctly. They help disable the new VK, but do not always ensure the functionality of the resource’s functional elements. There is an option available to disable VK updates exclusively for computer users, and at the moment it only works with Google Chrome.

    How to return old look VK using Stylish

    This was the very first way to return the old VKontakte design. The plugin is available in the official Chrome browser store for downloading for free. Since its release, the creators have been constantly improving the utility, but there are still shortcomings in its work. You can turn it on and try this decision, and if you don’t like it, just remove it from the list of applications. Installation process:

  • Go to the official Chrome App Store.
  • Find the Stylish plugin through the search.
  • Install the extension by clicking on the blue “Install” button.
  • Go to the plugin website using the link from the extension.
  • Find the inscription “Old VK design”.
  • Install extensions by clicking the green button.
    • Old VKontakte interface for Google Chrome

    Another popular extension on how to return the old VKontakte design can be found in the Chrome browser store called “Vkold”. If you enter it in the search, the extension page will appear in front of you. Click on the “Install” button and confirm your decision. In automatic mode, the application will install and turn on. For now, you can only remove the new version of the VKontakte interface in the Google browser.

    According to user reviews of this plugin, this is the most similar version of the old design at this stage, but many people complain about a large number of defects. The site becomes old only in appearance, but the functionality is still displayed in the new style. Owners of wide-format monitors have encountered problems: when scrolling, the page does not expand, remains narrow, and the font is small. This plugin needs serious improvement, but you can use it if you wish.

    Video: how to return to the old VK design

    Two versions of pages: old and new

    If you noticed, with the transition to the new design, the address of your page has also changed - the postscript “new” has appeared in it. Now it looks like this: “https://new.vk.com /user_ID”, and before it looked like this: “https://vk.com /user_ID”. Essentially, the address with a postscript opens a duplicate of your profile with a new design. But the old profile has not disappeared anywhere, at least until now. However, if earlier to return it it was enough to remove the postscript from the address bar and refresh the page, now this trick does not work. The option of replacing “new” with “0” (zero) does not help either, although it worked recently. Switch to mobile version VK (https://m .vk.com/user_ID) is also useless - it opens with a new design by default.

    But, to our joy, while user pages exist in two versions, the ability to download them of your choice remains. Today there are at least 3 working methods that will help us do this.

    Magic link

    This option is perhaps the simplest of all: to open your VK page with the old interface, just click on. You will be taken to the news feed, and from there you can go anywhere.

    The method is good, but it has a drawback - the action is limited to one session. If you reload your browser, you will have to click this link again. For convenience, you can add it to your bookmarks.

    Magic shortcut

    There is another option for implementing the previous method - creating a kind of shortcut, more precisely, a file with the .html extension, which will immediately redirect you “where you should” - to the same news feed with the old design.

    To create a shortcut, open Notepad (or a program that replaces it) and copy the following code into it:

    document.ReDir.submit();

    The Russian “Christmas tree quotes” will have to be changed to regular ones; the script will not work with them.

    Now, to open a VKontakte page with the previous design, just double-click on this “shortcut”.

    Miraculous script

    This method will appeal to those who don’t want to bother with links and shortcuts, but prefer to make all the settings once and use them constantly. In order for VK to open with the old design always and on any page, it is enough to install the “Old Design VKontakte” script (author Nikolay Isaev) in the browser.

    The script itself is located. But to make it work, you first need to install an extension in your browser to run custom scripts.

    • For Opera this extension is called . To install it, go to the page using the link and click “Add to Opera”.

    • For Google Chrome this is . To add, follow the link and click “Install”.

    • For Mozilla Firefox – . Open it and click “Add to Firefox”.

    • For the Yandex browser - or . To install, follow the link and click “Add to Yandex.Browser”.

    • For Safari - also. Open the add-on page and click “Download”.

    Next, go to the script download page and click “Install”.

    After that, we go to our favorite “VKontakte” and rejoice at the return of the previous interface.

    Please note: the “Old VKontakte Design” script is updated regularly, so if you encounter problems with displaying elements of site pages, downloading attachments, playback, etc., try reinstalling it. To do this, click on the Tampermonkey (or its analogues) icon in the browser panel and select “Check for script updates” from the menu.

    To delete the script (if you decide to switch to a new design), in the same menu, click on the “Panel” item. A table of all installed user scripts will open. Select the one you don’t need and in the “Actions” column, click on the trash can icon.

    Or simply remove the extension itself from the browser.

    Also on the site:

    How to return the old VKontakte design: three working methods updated: August 4, 2016 by Johnny Mnemonic

    Despite the fact that developers strive for perfection, a new update to a familiar application does not always bring pleasure to the user. Although this is more a matter of habit. However, many people want to leave the application as it was before the changes were made and are looking for information about .

    It is worth noting that VKontakte completely updated its mobile app. This is one of the most noticeable changes that the program interface has undergone over the years. Lately, before this, a similar upgrade was presented by the developers in April last year. Almost everything has changed, from new user capabilities to the general organization of the workspace. And even “likes” are now red.

    Despite the fact that the optimization is quite good and the application itself has become more convenient, many (like last time) want to continue using the old, more familiar version.

    All Android users are well aware of the PlayMarket service for downloading and installing new applications. Depending on the settings configured in this application, programs installed on the user’s device will be updated in two available modes:

    • Manual – when PlayMarket simply offers and recommends available updates, and the owner of the gadget independently decides which of them to install and which to ignore.
    • Automatic – as soon as a new update appears in the device Market, the installed program automatically accepts it and updates itself. In this case, the user enters the application and sees a new design and interface (as happens with VKontakte).

    In this connection, the first action that a follower of the old software for VKontakte should take is to disable automatic application updates and switch it to manual mode.

    To do this, you need to go to the PlayMarket application menu, to do this, click on the “sandwich” in the upper left corner, in the menu that appears, go down and find the “Settings” section. In the group of general settings we find the item “auto-update applications” and select “Never” for the three proposed settings options.

    At this stage, the settings are complete. This was the first step in solving the question of how to return the old version of VK to Android. Now PlayMarket will not update automatically installed programs, and the user will be able to safely use the old-style program without fear of autocorrect. If you need to get a new version of the program, just go to the installed applications section yourself and check for updates, and also, if necessary, start the upgrade.

    After the external settings that affect the version update have been installed, you can start working with the program on the device itself. , if the Market no longer updates applications automatically? In this case, the process is quite simply divided into two steps, which involve uninstalling the updated program and installing the desired version.

    Uninstalling the updated application

    This step is extremely simple and straightforward, you just need to completely remove the existing . If you are an inexperienced user and are worried that you will lose information or access to your account, then these are groundless fears. The old version will contain everything that is on your page now, this does not depend on the use of the software.

    Delete installed application can be done in several ways:


    After the updated version, you can additionally clear the cache and delete unnecessary files on the phone. The procedure is not mandatory, but it won’t be superfluous.

    Install the required version

    After the smartphone's memory has been cleared of the remnants of the previous version of the program, it is time to take the final step in resolving the issue of how to return the old version of VK to Android.

    The main question at this stage is where to get the distribution kit of the previous version of VK. Today on the Internet you can find a lot of offers to download and install any program, not just VKontakte. Before turning to any source, you should first check its reliability. Installing software for mobile access to a personal VK page from a third-party resource can be fraught with unpleasant consequences, and VKontakte itself does not distribute previous versions of the application.

    Before downloading a package of files and installing them on your phone, you should look for reviews about the source. Today, old versions of VK can be found on TrashBox or UpToDown.

    Before downloading the distribution, you need to set the settings on the gadget. To ensure greater security, devices have default settings that prohibit downloading and installing applications from third-party resources. To install the old version you need to change these settings. Usually, when you try to install the desired program, a pop-up window pops up. A warning about unauthorized actions and a proposal to prohibit or allow the process.