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I have been trying to change the background color of Eclipse's windows to black and customize the font colors. There doesn't seem to be a way to do this, at least not in an obvious way. I am using version 3.3.

How do I do this or are there any plugin's that might be able to assist in doing this?

Peter Mortensen
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abarax
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    Changed the background, applied and hit done, but nothing happened. Also, restarted eclipse to see if thats what it needed but nothing happened. – androidWorkerTheEighth Aug 11 '11 at 14:07
  • Related (changing font ***size***): *[How can I change font size in Eclipse for Java text editors?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4922305)* – Peter Mortensen Jan 01 '17 at 15:28

11 Answers11

298

To change background colour

  1. Open menu *Windows → Preferences → General → Editors → Text Editors
    • Browse Appearance color options
    • Select background color options, uncheck default, change to black
    • Select background color options, uncheck default, change to colour of choice

To change text colours

  1. Open Java → Editor → Syntax Colouring
    • Select element from Java
    • Change colour
    • List item

To change Java editor font

  1. Open menu Windows → Preferences → General → Appearance → Colors and Fonts
    • Select Java → Java Editor Text font from list
    • Click on change and select font
Peter Mortensen
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Craig Angus
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    Thankyou, this works well for the java editor. I was looking for more of a blanket change though, to everything. – abarax Oct 09 '08 at 23:14
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    To make this a blanket change, you'll want to select `Basic>Text Font` instead of `Java>Java Editor Text`. Then you'll want to restart Eclipse. Also, make sure to reset `Java>Java Editor Text` so that it will use the new default. – Chris Sep 23 '10 at 13:11
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    But how can I change the color of a autocomplete selection, see [screenshot](http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/3539/autocomplete.jpg) – JJD May 23 '11 at 19:57
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    Having a dark background makes my whole experience of Eclipse so much better. Thank you---it is hard to wade thru all of Eclipse's options! +1 – Keith Pinson Jul 29 '11 at 13:59
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    It's actually Windows>Preferences>General>Editors>Text Editors – ptikobj Sep 01 '11 at 07:37
  • The perfect for me was just to change the Windows>Preferences>General>Editors>Text Editors to grey, so you don't need to change nothing more and its almost the same that having the blackground black – Gustavo Mar 28 '14 at 12:17
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    Unfortunately, this does not override the selected theme's options. As soon as I apply my selection, the themes just override whatever selection I had made and I'm back on square one. I have a dark theme that does *not* set the editor's background to black (it's gray-ish). If I set the background color to black, as soon as the editors are re-opened, they're back to whatever the theme was. Very frustrating... – code_dredd Feb 25 '17 at 02:59
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    If you are having trouble with Eclipse 2019 and dark theme and setting the background and having it not change: There seems to be a recent [Eclipse bug](https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=558782). I suggest you look [here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59599251/eclipse-2019-black-background) or [here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/60450156/eclipse-4-14-0-changing-the-editor-background-colour) for workarounds. – Some Guy Apr 02 '20 at 19:30
160

I just came across this: Eclipse Colour Themes

Install the plugin and choose from a selection of pre-defined themes, or write your own. Just what I needed!

Community
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electricSunny
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  • Just installed, downloaded, and applied a theme in like 10 mins :-) – rabs Aug 10 '11 at 23:37
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    I couldn't get the plugin itself to work, but they provide a preferences import file for each style as well, do you can install the theme without ever installing the plugin. – Herms Sep 04 '12 at 20:27
  • it's nice, but only works for java colors.. does not work on javascript/dltk/vjet – Kokizzu Nov 28 '12 at 03:38
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    Wow, this rocks! Is there any way to get the plug-in to modify the background of the other windows (i.e., Package Explorer, LogCat, etc.)? – gonzobrains May 15 '13 at 22:23
  • @any, I have installed this through eclipse market place but theme is not showing up under General->Apprnce->Theme. I have tried choosing default but no hope. I am using Eclipse IDE for C/C++ developers Version: Kepler Release Build id: 20130614-0229 – uss Dec 12 '15 at 10:13
15

Under Windows → Preferences → General → Apperance you can find a dark theme.

Patricia
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12

Background color of views (navigator, console, tasks etc) is set according to the desktop (system) settings. On Linux/GNome I changed System/Preferences/Appeareance to change this color.

Editor colors are set chaotically by different editors, search for background in eclipse preferences to find different options. One easy way to get beautiful dark (and not only dark) themes is to install Afae plugin, and then pick theme within its preferences (twilight theme is beautiful, for example) - again, eclipse prefs, Afae group. Of course this applies only when you edit with Afae.

5

If you are having trouble with Eclipse 2019 and using a dark theme and setting the background and having it not change: There seems to be a recent Eclipse bug. I suggest you look here or here for workarounds.

Some Guy
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You can install eclipse theme plugin then select default. Please visit here: http://eclipsecolorthemes.org/?view=plugin

cowboybkit
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2

If you go to Windows, Preferences then select General, Editors, Text editors, you can set colors on that property page (and there's a link for setting MORE colors - General, Appearance, Colors and fonts).

That's with an Eclipse 3.3 build anyway.

paxdiablo
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2

The easiest way is to install the plugin is from the Eclipse Marketplace. Go to Help→Eclipse Marketplace, then search for Eclipse Color Theme and install it.

Anirudh Jadhav
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0

... on a Mac, Preferences' is under the main 'Aptana Studio 3' menu rather than the 'Windows' menu as mentioned above.

jacanterbury
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On Windows or Mac, you can find this setting under the General → Editors → Text Editors menu.

Peter Mortensen
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Paul Wicks
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0

Switch to Theme... is also an option

enter image description here

prashant.kr.mod
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