A few days ago social network VKontakte turned 10 years old, of course, in honor of such an event, the developers could not sit still and a couple of months ago they organized a new design for VKontakte, which, unfortunately, many did not like.
In the month of August 2016, the design of VK was transformed and began to be shown to absolutely everyone, and not just to users who participated in testing. Those, in turn, could still click on the treasured “Return to old design", but now she's gone. So what should I do? How to return the old VK design?
For this case, I found several options that will allow you to return the design. I think that such a feature will not work for a long time and sooner or later you will have to switch to a new design.
Attention! After searching the Internet, I discovered various scripts, shortcuts, etc. that supposedly would help switch to the old design. Indeed, this was the case before, but now these methods are already outdated and do not work 100%, so you don’t even have to try. The method I have given below is a little crude, but it allows us to some extent use the old design that we once loved.
Old VK design, how to switch to it?
So, one very good developer created a browser plugin that allows you to switch to the old design. To install this extension follow this link.
When you are on the site, click on the link "Install Stylish", after which you will be prompted to install the Stylish extension.
Enable the extension in the browser panel and go to the VKontakte website.
Click on the plugin icon and select the option there "Find other styles for this website", you will be redirected to the same site where you need to select the first link "Old VK design".
You will be redirected to a page where you need to click on the green button "Install With Stylish". Confirm the installation of the add-on for the extension.
Go to the VK website and click on the extension icon and check the box "Old VK design". Bottom tick “Turn off all styles, remove”. We update the page and voila, we have the old VK design.
Conclusion
For me, the new design was to my taste, although it was not familiar, for some it was terrible. On this moment This is the only way to switch to the old design, since no scripts or shortcuts no longer work. The disadvantage of this extension is that it is not yet finalized. You will see many shortcomings, but overall VKontakte will be similar to what it was before. Good luck with your transition.
- I'm not kidding. Since the transition to such an interface is obviously inevitable for everyone, the question is: how to return the old VKontakte design has only a temporary solution. But because albeit temporarily, but disable the new VKontakte design and it’s still possible to continue working with the usual sane interface, then that’s what we’ll do.
This question is relevant, perhaps, for all VKontakte users who, over 10 years, have become accustomed to the simplicity and convenience of the old design and use its functionality to the fullest. In particular, this applies to those who created and administer communities and groups - the developers of the new VK.com have certainly made their lives difficult with their innovations.
By the way, for this category of VK users I would like to give a practical recommendation: in order not to waste precious time on independent public promotion both on VKontakte and in all other popular social networks, and to fully concentrate on quality content for your community, you should contact the service Soclike. Judging by the numerous positive reviews, this PR team knows their business and will be able to quickly provide your group with the required number quality subscribers.
Let's return to the main question. Let's make a reservation right away - we will talk about browser version social network. Android and iOS applications, alas, will not be considered in this article.
Upd. 08/17/2016. Dear Reader, in order not to waste your precious time, I would like to immediately inform you: “The uprising has been suppressed, Skynet has won.” Well, jokes aside, the inevitable happened: despite all the protest sentiments of VKontakte users, the developers, after several “waves” of transferring users to the new design, decided that enough wasted time: on 08/17/16 ALL users of the social network were transferred to the new design... Accordingly, the addresses are new .vk.com simply does not exist at the moment, and recommendations using its return do not work...
This does not mean that there are now no ways to return the old VKontakte design: especially for those who do not give up, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the ““ block located below in the text. There you will find a method that will probably be able to extinguish the flame of righteous anger in you.
Well, before this block there will be information that has more historical than practical significance: the chronology of the fight against the disease called “ New design of Vk.com". Getting acquainted with this information will not take you, dear Readers, much time, and probably someone will be interested in knowing “how it all began,” so all previously working methods remain in the article. So let's begin.
For those who became a “guinea pig” for VKontakte designers involuntarily (i.e., they simply encountered a new interface at a certain moment), there should be a link “Return to old version...", located at the bottom of the left column with menus and advertising. In truth, the designers clearly tried to make the tool for how to return the old version of VKontakte as inconspicuous as possible: gray letters on a gray background - this is difficult to notice.
Those who voluntarily joined the “ranks of testers” of the new interface (by clicking on the ill-fated “Join testing” button) may not find a link to return to the old version.
And how to disable the new VKontakte design in this case?
pay attention to address bar browser:
Attention to the address bar! As you can see, before vk.com “ new" Those. in fact, it is another user profile page. To return the usual vk.com/page_id, and with it to return the old version of VKontakte, we simply “edit” the address: you need to erase “ new." And, of course, press Enter (or the input confirmation key on a touch device).
The result will be like this:
We removed “new.” from the address and got what we needed! Sound familiar? Probably to the point of pain :) Yes, yes, this is the good old vk.com interface, which everyone has gotten used to over the 10 years of its existence. Well, now it’s a small matter: all that remains is to bookmark this page in the browser, so as not to edit the address every time, and call up this page after logging in to the social network.
It is not yet known when exactly the redesign of VKontakte will “cover” everyone, so there is hope that the old version of vk.com will be able to be used for a long time.
Upd. 06/09/2016. It seems that the “old believers” did not rejoice for long: the VK.com team began a forced transfer to a new design without the possibility of returning to the previous version.
Upd. No. 2 - joyful (not so joyful anymore - has lost its relevance...)
It turns out that there is still a workable method to return the old VKontakte interface even to those who seem to have been left with no options (at least for this method, VK has repeatedly thanked the “prompter”). However, we warn you right away - you will have to perform all actions at your own peril and risk, and there may be a risk. The method of returning the old vk.com design is associated with running scripts, and Netobserver does not guarantee that the body of the script does not contain code capable of stealing user login and password.
Let's consider a really working method suitable for Google browser Chrome and its “brothers”, like Yandex.Browser (browsers on the Chromium platform):
So, the method is as follows: find it on Google Playmarket
Install the first plugin in the list:
After installation, the activity of the plugin can be checked by the icon in the right top corner browser:
In the tab that opens, click on the “Install this script” button: 
Next, a warning from Tampermonkey will appear stating that only reliable scripts should be run (i.e., it once again warns - you act at your own peril and risk), and the installed script will be displayed:
That's all - the script immediately starts working. All you have to do is go to VKontakte (or refresh the page if you are already there) and make sure for yourself that the good old vk.com is back!
Moreover, the effect will persist both when moving between elements of the VKontakte menu and when logging in again.
This is more convenient than the method that was proposed in the comments to this article (however, I would like to say “Thank you” for this option for solving the question “How to return the old VKontakte design”).
There are also extensions similar to Tampermonkey for other browsers:
- For Ognelis: ;
- for Opera: ;
- at Safari - .
Well, after installing the extension for your browser, return to the step of downloading the user script - and then in order :)
Upd. 3 - for the most persistent.
Dear readers, you have 2 options: accept it and start getting used to the new design (this is difficult, but possible - I say from my own experience), or fight to the end :) The remaining way to fight is to use custom styles. There are several of them currently being developed, and all of them are still very crude. But, as they say, in the absence of fish and...
For enthusiasts who do not give up and are ready to get confused, we have prepared the following recommendations:
- Using a custom script via Tampermonkey;
- Using the Stylish browser plugin with style loading(most popular option) .
For those who have already learned to work with Tampermonkey (see description in Upd.2- above in the text), an alternative script is proposed (though very crude), returning some semblance of the old version. There’s probably little point in using it for now, but you can track the changes being made—I’m sure that after a while this custom style will work much better.
https://userstyles.org/styles/userjs/128986/%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8B%D0%B9%20%D0%B4%D0%B8%D0 %B7%D0%B0%D0%B9%D0%BD%20%D0%92%D0%9A.user.js
The script will need to be edited. Specifically interested in the following lines (from 7 to 10):
// @include http://new.vk.com/*
// @include https://new.vk.com/*
// @include http://*.new.vk.com/*
// @include https://*.new.vk.com/*
You need to remove "new." on lines 7 and 8, ".new" on lines 9 and 10.
It should look like this:
The Stylish plugin is the most popular option for returning the old VKontakte design
In principle, the algorithm of Stylish is similar to the method of Tampermonkey, with the only difference being that Stylish, unlike the latter, works with styles, not scripts.
Attention: Do not run Tampermonkey with Stylish! Although both plugins are designed to do, in principle, the same thing, it is not a fact that using them together will lead to twice the better result(it’s more likely a fact that it won’t 🙂).
So, if you have already tested the first method and decide to move on to the second, first deactivate the Tampermonkey plugin.
After installing the extension, you need to make sure that it is activated. For Chrome, the picture will be as follows: an icon with the letter “S” will appear in the upper right corner of the browser:
The next step is to download the style from the developer's website: .
On the page that opens, you will need to use the big green button - it’s hard to miss:
Judging by the speed of releases, the author is trying very hard to eliminate all the currently existing shortcomings. Therefore, I recommend that you bookmark this page so that after a few days (weeks) you can download the modified style for Vkontakte, which will no longer be so crude.
In the meantime, let everything be the same for you as the lucky person who left this review:
Dear readers, if you have alternative methods for solving a return to the old VKontakte design, do not hesitate to leave them in the comments! We are also waiting for feedback from those who were helped by the recommendations presented.
Everyone Have a good mood!
Article How to return the old VKontakte design - disable it new version was modified: May 4, 2017 by Netobserver
A new version (new design, appearance, layout) of VKontakte appeared in April 2016. The old one existed for a very long time and is outdated. At first, during the trial period, each user could turn on the new version for himself, and if he didn’t like something, then return to the old one.
How did you turn on the new version of VK?
At first it was like this: the person who wanted to open it himself opened the news on the VK blog and at the very end of the page clicked "Join testing."
You could also enable the new version using the link “Use the new version of the site as default” in the left column of the site, at the bottom (if you open VK on a computer and not on a phone).
How did you enable the old version?
You could return the old one back there, at the very bottom of the narrow left column of the site, a pale gray link. It was called “Return to the old version of the site.” Then not everyone had it, and even later it disappeared completely. Read on:
Why did the new version turn on by itself and how to get back?
Since June 9, 2016, some VK users (approximately 10 percent) received the new version forcibly, that is, it turned on itself, and they could no longer return to the old one. You could also be one of these users. There was nothing you could do about it, you could only get used to it, because a person gets used to everything. The best option- take changes calmly. Some time will pass, and the old version will already seem inconvenient to you. And in any case, the developers of the VK site would not be able to support the old version for a long time.
This was the beginning of a mass transfer of all VK users to the new version. Here is the official news about it. Those who did not fall into the mentioned 10% could still switch to the new version and back to the old one for some time, but from August 17, VKontakte completely switched to a new version, it turned on itself for everyone without the possibility of returning to the old one.
Since then, due to numerous requests from users, some changes have been made (changed the font, left the ability to use dialogs similar to those in the old version, etc.). But in general, there will never be a return to the old version. Most likely it no longer exists.
How to return the old version of dialogues?
Go to “Messages” and find the gear icon at the bottom - . Click on it and select "Go to classic interface." After this you will have dialogues like in the old version. To go back to the new version, click on the gear in the same way and select "Go to the new interface."
New version on the phone too?
By new version we mean full version site that people use on computers and tablets. This does not apply to the VK application for phones, which is developed and updated separately (see How to download VK to your phone). Is there some more mobile version the VK website, which also exists separately, but it gradually borrowed many elements from the new “full” version.
How to return the old version of the VK mobile application on your phone?
You can install the old version of the mobile application manually, this is described here:
The old version may not have music playing. No one guarantees that older versions of the application will work at all. The VK administration can disable them. You can turn it off in the future automatic update, and the application will not update.
A better option is to get used to the new version of the application. When something new comes out, there are always people who don't like it. This was the case with the new version of the VKontakte website - many promised to leave VK forever, but they are still sitting there just fine. It's all a matter of habit.
Who doesn't like the new version of VKontakte?
Not everyone likes the new version of VKontakte. Many people demand to return the previous version, which they consider more convenient. Some argue that the new design is too similar to Facebook and even Odnoklassniki. Users even created an online petition demanding that the old version be preserved and given the “right to choose” (this did not affect anything). Online petitions are often created for various reasons and thanks to them, information is disseminated very widely. But in reality, the petition has never helped anyone. When the noise subsides, everyone forgets about her.
VKontakte laughed at its users who promised to leave if they did not return the old version. A month after their promise, they still continued to use VK ().
It is known that some people always greet any major update with hostility, since changing old habits is too painful for them. But over time they calm down.
Our instructions will help you quickly navigate the new version of VKontakte: Where in the new version of VKontakte are the settings, my answers, music, birthdays, logout, statistics...?
Please write below in the comments what you think about the new version of VKontakte! Your opinion is important.
Why is it important? When you express your opinion, it will become easier, you will release your negativity. True, 92% of people will not read this, but will immediately look for where to write - they don’t care. Congratulations if you're reading this! If you really want to contact VKontakte employees and ask them to return the old version, try contacting their support service - but we don’t think this will affect anything.
What happened to VKontakte music? Why is it paid now?
There have long been rumors that VK will appear in the application paid subscription to music. At the end of April 2017, VK decided to transfer music listeners to the Boom application, which has a paid subscription. The application belongs to the partner Mail.ru Group, which includes VKontakte itself. The music section in VK has changed - playlists and advertising have appeared. In the VK application for Android, music caching has disappeared (you can no longer save music and listen to it without the Internet). Why did all this happen? The fact is that if everyone listens to music for free, musicians will have nothing to eat and they will have to leave for another job. Therefore, this could not continue indefinitely. You can express your outrage right here in the comments. Be sure to share this page with your friends!
This is how VKontakte representatives answer questions about free music in the application.
5 minutes to read. Views 2k. Published 10/26/2017
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 on how to.
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 recently; 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.
The whole problem is in PlayMarket
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 menu PlayMarket applications, 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 Group 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 resolving the issue,how to return the old version of VK on 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 external settings If the versions affecting the update are 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,how to return the old version of VK on 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 may be fraught with unpleasant consequences, and VKontakte itself previous versions does not distribute applications.
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 appears. A warning about unauthorized actions and a proposal to prohibit or allow the process. 
We allow the installation and wait for the process to complete. As a result, the userwill return the old version of VK to Androidand will continue to use the application in the old interface. If necessary, you can always update from PlayMarket. Still, updates often change the application for the better; you just need to get used to the changes.
Out of habit, many greeted the new design with rejection and began organizing solo online demonstrations on their pages demanding the return of the old VK. Even Pavel Durov expressed seven complaints about the redesign.
From our own experience, we note that addiction occurs after two weeks of using the new interface. After this, there was no desire to return to the previous design.
We tell all old-schoolers, neophobes and retro lovers how to turn on the previous view of “VK”.
How to return the old VK design
1. First, install the Stylish extension in your browser (with its help you can change the design of sites on your side):
- for Chrome and Yandex.Browser
- for Firefox
- for Safari
- for Opera
2. Now go to the page with the old design styles and click on the green “+Install with Stylish” button.
3. Go to the VKontakte website and see the familiar interface. Yes, the authors of the crutch style have not yet been able to recreate a neat copy of the old design, but this is the only working way to bring back the old “VK”.
You can switch between designs by checking/unchecking the box in the extension settings.