184

Is it possible to open 2 Visual Studio Code sessions with different themes? Maybe like this:

  • Window 1: light theme → live system
  • Window 2: dark theme → development system
Gama11
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user2470323
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  • Possible duplicate of [Visual Studio Code: different color themes for different projects](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/51571748/visual-studio-code-different-color-themes-for-different-projects) – Mark Mar 01 '19 at 22:50
  • related feature-request issue ticket, which suggests the user to find an extension that does it: https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/44268 – starball Jul 05 '23 at 10:10
  • The question is ambiguous. The answers are about different themes for different workspaces etc. What I want to ask: can I have different themes for different *windows*, so that the theme in a window is readable on the monitor I'm looking at (e.g. with an auxiliary e-ink monitor). – lukstafi Aug 10 '23 at 10:27

5 Answers5

379

You can have a different theme per workspace/folder by adjusting the workbench.colorTheme in the workspace settings.

  1. Open a new VSCode window.
  2. Open the project folder where you would like to have a different color theme.
  3. Navigate to File > Preferences > Settings.
  4. Select the "Workspace Settings" tab at the top of the settings screen. Anything you edit in here will now be specific to this workspace.
  5. Search for "colorTheme" and select the color theme you would like for this specific workspace.

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Now, whenever you reopen that folder, the color theme will match what you set in the workspace settings.

Alex Myers
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    I wish I could give you +10 for this answer.. I've been searching for a plugin with this functionality for ages, but apparently was not clever enough to just check the built-in settings. Thanks!!! – dr_barto Apr 18 '19 at 07:52
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    Note that it only changes when you open a new window. It doesn't dynamically change the theme, within the same window, based on the open file. That's what I wanted and it seems like it's not implemented by anyone yet. The idea is here for whomever has time: https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode/issues/50157#issuecomment-390933621 – Aidin Jun 08 '19 at 17:55
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    @Aidin There's an extension called [Theme by Language](https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=jsaulou.theme-by-language) that will change the theme based on the currently open file type. However, I've used this in the past and found it only worked about 95% of the time, which could get a little annoying. – Alex Myers Jun 08 '19 at 18:12
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    This will be saved to the workspace's setting file which is version controlled. I don't want to force all the devs using this repo use my theme. Anyway I can set this setting without putting it in the repo? – HarryHao Oct 02 '19 at 18:55
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    I have two different windows open and when I change the settings on one window, it changes the other window's setting as well. – aerin Apr 05 '20 at 22:19
  • @Aerin Did you open the same workspace in both windows? This solution won't help with that. – Alex Myers Apr 06 '20 at 13:54
  • @AlexMyers hi thanks for your comment! How do I open different workspaces in different windows then? – aerin Apr 06 '20 at 20:47
  • @HarryHao: Perhaps consider not having the workspace settings file be version controlled. If that settings file has less to do with how the application actually works and has more to do with the tooling that developers use around the edges of the application, then it has less reason to be version-controlled. Or "control" it through some other system, e.g. keep a "golden copy" somewhere that new developers start with but rarely contribute back to, so that you don't pick up developer's quirky local changes like color choice. – mlibby Apr 12 '21 at 09:47
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    Awesome! This allows me to have a WSL Linux workspace with a different theme and window title prefix from my Windows workspace – mpowrie May 30 '21 at 02:29
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    Specially logged in to say thankyou to guy man. You are a savior. – Noshairwan Farooq Dec 29 '21 at 16:05
  • I noticed that I needed to actually set up a workspace for this change to only apply to one folder. File > Save Workspace As... – darkmnemic Mar 01 '23 at 14:51
46

Check out the Window Colors extension which:

Automatically adds a unique color to each window's activityBar and titleBar.

Heinrich Filter
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    This is perfect. I want to quickly identity which project I'm working on, but don't want to change the text editor color theme. This does exactly what I needed. Thanks! – Sergey Apr 03 '20 at 20:57
  • This is the best solution! I have to have 3 projects open at the same time to run our app and it was killing me that they were all the same window colors. – Kris Boyd Sep 28 '22 at 17:03
  • To use it. ctrl-shift-p -> workspace settings -> extensions -> Window Color configurations and read what to do there. – SpiRail Nov 02 '22 at 09:59
  • The idea is good but the colour change is just to subtle to notice in Alt-tab etc – Matthew May 24 '23 at 07:32
23

Maybe : Peacock

Subtly change the color of your Visual Studio Code workspace. Ideal when you have multiple VS Code instances, use VS Live Share, or use VS Code's Remote features, and you want to quickly identify your editor.

And this theme combine perfect ! my 10 cents

Tokyo Hack

Cristián Vargas Acevedo
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  • my doubt is if possible agroup worspace by color in same windows ??? – Cristián Vargas Acevedo Mar 19 '20 at 16:42
  • Not sure why this mentions Tokyo Hack specifically, but the Peacock extension, written by John Papa (of [Angular style guide fame](https://github.com/johnpapa/angular-styleguide)? Yes, [yes it is](https://github.com/johnpapa/vscode-peacock)), is pretty straightforward. `F1`, type `Peacock: change to a favorite color`, choose a scheme from the dropdown, and profit. – ruffin Mar 16 '21 at 14:14
4
  • Press ctrl + , from the keyboard.
  • This will take you to the settings tab.
  • Click on the Workspace Tab
  • Type Theme in the search field.
  • Your will see - Workbench: Color Theme
  • Select the theme you want. And that's all

or

  • make a folder in your project with .vscode

  • make a file with the name of settings.json inside the folder.

  • simply copy paste or write the following code. with the theme name

    { "workbench.colorTheme": "GitHub Dark" }

johir Haque Dipok
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3

In root folder, you can create a folder .vscode, then create a settings.json file.

Insert the follow setting in your settings.json file.

{
    "workbench.colorTheme": "Default Dark+"
}

Then you can set different theme according your project.

coderkk
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