Editors Note: As of January 24, 2017, the old Google+ site has been deprecated and is no longer available.
Yesterday we saw all the hype around the new Google+ website and upcoming Android apps. For some, this change has been welcomed while others have found it not so great. The verdict is still out but as a die hard Google+ user, I like what I see so far. That said, I’m a realist and this new version of the social site is very much a work in progress (Google’s words, not mine). There are things that don’t quite work the way that you would expect and some of the overall user experiences need to be smoothed out.
For now, you have a way to get back to the Google+ of old with a simple click within the site. I’ll show you how to do this if you haven’t found it already and give you some thoughts on why you may want to go back – and why you may want to stick with it.
First, to go back to the old Google+ is easy. While you are on the site, navigate to the very bottom of the page and you will see link “Back to classic G+”. Click on that link and you are taken back to
Reverting Back to Old Google+
the social site that you know and love. You will remain on that version until you opt back in through settings or until the company rolls out the new site to the masses. It isn’t clear when that will happen but I suspect it’ll be a few months at least.
Why Would I Want To Change Back?
It’s a fair question and one to consider. If you are running into bugs with posts, your timeline or other features in the new Google+, reverting back will obviously get you away from those issues. Eventually you will have to move over to the new site but that will be whenever the company completes the design and features.
A point to consider however is the task of bug reporting. We as a community are quick to complain about a bug but slow to fill out a bug report. Any developer big or small will tell you that bug reports are critical to the success of any software launch or upgrade. Google is no exception. If you decided to stick with the new layout, be sure to file bug reports. All you need to do is use the Send Feedback button in the menu and you can send your report straight away.
Thank you, this helped!
But, it isn’t for me in the mobile…
This post refers to the site only, not the mobile apps.
I had a hard time finding this so I signed in with a different browser and was already in classic mode. I was then able to make the changes I needed without a 500 error.