What VSCode theme are you using?

Publish Date: Jul 2 '19

61 124

The IDE and Visual Studio Code in particular is the one tool developers use most.
Since most of us spend many hours a day in Visual Studio code, it's a terrific feature that you can choose your own theme.

At the moment I use Shades of Purple, before that I used Dracula Official for a long time but I want my IDE a bit more colorful 🎨

A great resource for finding your next theme is vscodethemes.com (I'm not related to this website 😉).

What theme are you using?

If you like my content, you might want to follow me on Twitter?! @fullstack_to

Comments 124 total

GeorgeJul 2, 2019

SynthWave '84 with full glowyness (and accompanying VSCode warnings) enabled!
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  Thats pretty cool! Even more colorful than my current theme!
Damian BeroJul 2, 2019

I've recently been using panda.siamak.work/ It's full of happy colors that I like to see during spring and summer months
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  I will bookmark that for later. It has some colors but is not as extreme as mine.
Christopher KadeJul 2, 2019

My own (sorry for the shameless plug but I honestly enjoy it 😄)
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  Your theme looks really nice! Is it complicated to create one?
  - Christopher KadeJul 2, 2019
    
    It's not complicated at all, it just requires some patience. 😄
    
    Check out this awesome article on CSS tricks: css-tricks.com/creating-a-vs-code-...
    - Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
      
      Thank you for sharing that! Bookmarked ✅
PhilJul 2, 2019

marketplace.visualstudio.com/items...

"One Dark Pro Vivid" and these Fonts "'Menlo for Powerline', Monaco, 'Courier New', monospace".
After installing the theme you have to set the "Vivid" theme separately. I really like the brighter colors.
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  "One Dark Pro" looks familiar - is that the Atom default theme?
  - PhilJul 2, 2019
    
    Yep. This is based on atom default theme.
SpacieJul 2, 2019

I've been using and loving Ayu ever since I found it! I personally switch between the two dark variants pretty often, can't pick a favorite....
Nick TaylorJul 2, 2019
Currently using Night Owl with the Dank Mono font.
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  I like that font. Looks like the Operator Mono but for free!
  
  BTW: You are the first person I see who has the activity bar on the right 😁
  - Nick TaylorJul 2, 2019
    
    Dank Mono isn't free, but I really like the font and it is way more affordable than Operator Mono.
    
    Nick Taylor
    
    @nickytonline
    
    @shanselman Was/still am a big fan of Fira Code. I'm also a big fan of ligatures. More recently though, I switched it up and did something I thought I'd never do. I bought a font. Dank Mono. It's 🔥 twitter.com/nickytonline/s…
    
    06:03 AM - 20 Sep 2018
    
    Nick Taylor @nickytonline
    @kylewelch Night Owl/Dank Mono font for me. I was on Cobalt 2 and Dracula before that. All great themes. Deets here, https://t.co/eNGbsq5Ccu
    
    0 2
    
    I do things like moving toolbars to keep my brain sharp. Same with my mouse. I'm right handed, but use the mouse with my left hand. I started doing stuff like this in high school as I was big into basketball and was doing anything to get better with my left hand. Because of that, I still brush my teeth with my left hand. 🙃
    - Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
      
      Dank Mono isn't free, but I really like the font and it is way more affordable than Operator Mono.
      
      Ah okay, I only had a quick look at their website.
      
      I'm right handed, but use the mouse with my left hand.
      
      Just tried that. Wow, thats a hard one!
      - Sergey KislyakovJul 2, 2019
        
        I'm right handed, but use the mouse with my left hand
        
        I'm left handed and the only thing I do with my right hand is moving the mouse. 😁
        
        Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
        
        Is it hard for you to use your right hand for moving the mouse?
        Are there special mice for left handers?
        
        Nick TaylorJul 3, 2019
        
        I use a track pad at and at work, I have a magic mouse, both which work the same whichever hand you use.
AvalanderJul 2, 2019

I've recently switched to Dracula from default dark.
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  I used Dracula before! Still using it in iTerm2 💜
NephilimJul 2, 2019

I am using slick and clean meterial design theme!
github.com/equinusocio/vsc-materia...
Munaib HussainJul 2, 2019

marketplace.visualstudio.com/items... . Because I thought it was funny and I was told I wouldn't last a day using it. Once I'm through with the mistake, I'll go back to my trusty Material Theme (marketplace.visualstudio.com/items...)
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  Wow! The Hot Dog Stand theme is really extraordinary 😂
  - laduranJul 2, 2019
    
    I just barfed in my mouth a little
  - Munaib HussainJul 4, 2019
    
    It truly is a thing of nightmares!
Álvaro CamachoJul 2, 2019

I've recently been using seti-monokai because it have a high contrast Seti-Monokai
Prashant ChaudhariJul 2, 2019

I use Monokai Pro from the original creator of Monokai Theme. It is free for some period but after the trial there will be annoying popups. I really loved it so i bought the license.
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  I did not know that there are extensions for VSCode that are not free.
  - Prashant ChaudhariJul 2, 2019
    
    So far i only know this one...
Priyanka KoreJul 2, 2019

I was using Night Owl for a very long time. It's just so easy on the eyes. But I was craving a bit of change. I tried a bunch of themes, but none of them were as easy on eyes as Night Owl. But then I found Noctis .. Noctis Uva is my favorite from the Noctis family.
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  I think I will try the Noctis theme and its variations too.
Florimond MancaJul 2, 2019

I’ve been using Palenight for some time now. It’s a dark theme with a smooth and soothing feel, I really enjoy it!
- Mattia AstorinoJul 9, 2019
  
  Palenight is just an unofficial porting of the Material Theme palenight variant
  - Matthias 🤖Jul 9, 2019
    
    Looks very calm ❤️
Quintus CardozoJul 2, 2019

Was using Material Theme for the longest time. Just switched to Horizon today and I'm loving it so far
Antonio RadovcicJul 2, 2019

Verdandi

With project-specific title-bar-color.

Loving the black & white syntax. Wouldn't go back to colored anymore.

The font is CamingoCode
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  With project-specific title-bar-color.
  
  Sounds like good idea! I will add that to my workspaces too! Thank you 🙏
  - Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
    
    Just tried the colorized title-bar thing. If find it pretty handy, do you know if it is possible to increase the title bar height?
    - Antonio RadovcicJul 3, 2019
      
      Highly doubt it. It's not part of the web-app, but of the native OS-windowing Electron uses.
      What I tried was to shrink the side-tool-bar, but also to no success.
      - Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
        
        Such a shame. For now I solved it by increasing the zoom level and shrinking the font size:
        
        "window.zoomLevel": 0.3, "editor.fontSize": 16
        
        Antonio RadovcicJul 3, 2019
        
        I need to look up if it's somehow possible to have a user-stylesheet which just overrides things. It's a website after all.
- zoltanJul 3, 2019
  
  That's my favourite theme as well! I don't use VSCode anymore, but your post just reminded me that I miss this theme :) Time for me to attempt port it to vim sometime I guess. Was playing around with monochrome themes in there but none of them clicks the same way for me as Verdandi did.
Kleber SilvaJul 2, 2019

I'm a fan of smooth and dimmed themes and I love those ones from base16 . So I did one myself too and use it since :)
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  Nice work 👌
CayeJul 2, 2019

I'm using Dracula with the font Source Code Pro ♥️
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  My previous setup 💜
Ashlee (she/her)Jul 2, 2019

I'm using Noctis Uva. 😊
Marek MelnyčokJul 2, 2019

Noctis Lux
Mike BellJul 2, 2019

If anyone is looking for something new, I recently created a theme as a little side project. It's called Supernova, any and all feedback is welcome!

Supernova Theme
- Adam Romig 🇵🇭Jul 5, 2019
  
  Ooh, that looks nice! I’m going to give your theme a try.
Mitch McClellanJul 2, 2019

Cyberpunk!
- Shane DowlingJul 3, 2019
  
  I never knew how much I needed this in my life! Might as well kick off some synthwave while I'm at it.
BjoernJul 2, 2019

I use city lights with the font Fira Code
Alex LabJul 2, 2019

Shameless plug, I use my own theme: "Save-Eyes-Light": marketplace.visualstudio.com/items...

I wrote an article about it if you're interested :) dev.to/brainlulz/vscode-frustratio...
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  Thanks for sharing!
Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019

Here you go 😉
Mike 🐈‍⬛Jul 2, 2019

New Moon

It's really excellent. Also with Fira Code.
- Matthias 🤖Jul 2, 2019
  
  Do you use ligatures?
  - Mike 🐈‍⬛Jul 2, 2019
    
    Yep! That's the main selling point of Fira Code :)
MikeJul 2, 2019

I'm using Monokai Pro. Font family is Couriew New. Font size is 18. It's nice for me.
thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i...
David KistauriJul 2, 2019

Using Ayu Mirage
TengZJul 2, 2019

I'm using my own VS Theme as well: marketplace.visualstudio.com/items...
Give it a try, you'll definitely fall in love with it!!!
- Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
  
  Nice work 👍
Shanise BaronaJul 2, 2019

Currently using Dracula. I really want to find a dark theme with purple-y, blue-y font to use. Can't seem to find one I love though.
- Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
  
  I was looking for the same, right now I stick with Shades of Purple. Maybe you'll like that too.
  
  If you find a suiting one for you - please tell me 🤗
  - Shanise BaronaJul 3, 2019
    
    I've seen that one, yeah, a bit too bright for me :)
    
    Some nice ones I've seen is Palenight and Night Rider. There've been some good ones mentioned in this discussion!
Tim SmithJul 3, 2019

I tend to go back and forth between palenight and nord.
J3ffJessieJul 3, 2019

Was using Material a Theme, but recently switched to Synthwave ‘84. Amazing theme. Need to work out the glow but I’ll get there eventually.

marketplace.visualstudio.com/items...
- Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
  
  Is the glow effect more cpu intense?
  - J3ffJessieJul 3, 2019
    
    Probably, it uses another package to handle the glow. It has the instructions in the docs but I haven’t messed with it. It will probably take more cpu but not 100% sure.
    - Robb OwenJul 3, 2019
      
      Hey! Thanks for suggesting Synthwave '84!
      
      The glow effect is handled by loading an external CSS file, but despite the neon looks, it's all done with CSS text-shadow so the CPU performance impact is minimal
      - J3ffJessieJul 3, 2019
        
        Nice. I hadn’t played with it for the glow yet. Hoping to have time this weekend to mess with it. Hopefully it’s fairly simple.
Tolga AVCIJul 3, 2019

Noctis - Viola theme is great...
- Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
  
  I like that too.
dsanchezsecoJul 3, 2019

NVIM solarized dark
- Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
  
  Are you doing all your coding work in Vim?
  - dsanchezsecoJul 3, 2019
    
    yup
Ɩʍrʌɴ ʜossʌıɴ Jul 3, 2019

I use my personalized theme
- Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
  
  Did you published it?
  - Ɩʍrʌɴ ʜossʌıɴ Jul 3, 2019
    
    Yes
  - Ɩʍrʌɴ ʜossʌıɴ Jul 3, 2019
    
    Here's the link....
    dev.to/imran_hossain_7/my-vs-code-...
    - Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
      
      Thanks for sharing 👍
yozhikvtumaneJul 3, 2019

Monokai
Ɩʍrʌɴ ʜossʌıɴ Jul 3, 2019

Check out my customizations......

thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i...
- Matthias 🤖Jul 4, 2019
  
  Did you create the theme by your own?
Mike 🐈‍⬛Jul 3, 2019

I love it! My only complaint is that there's a whole lot of yellow and orange in a lot of my JS, and I typically prefer slightly cooler colors to be more common.
Julián DuqueJul 3, 2019

I always used Dracula, but recently changed it to 1984!
- Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
  
  1984 looks very promising to me! Installed it ✅
Orkhan FarmanliJul 3, 2019
Horizon theme with Operator Mono Fonts (Ligature version)
- Matthias 🤖Jul 3, 2019
  I really like the Operator Mono font, but it is very expensive.
  
  nickytonline recommended Dank Mono which looks very similar but is cheaper.
  - Orkhan FarmanliJul 3, 2019
    
    I just discovered from a comment on this post and switched to Victor Mono font. It's sharp and stylish, gotta give it a try.
  - Vikram Sahu Jan 19, 2021
    I can share you the operator mono font : github.com/KayodeOgidan/Operator-M...
Stephen ChiangJul 3, 2019

Theme: Night Owl
Font: Dank Mono
Matching HyperJS Night Owl Theme
Custom Powershell / GitPosh Settings

Although I sometimes still switch back to Material Ocean or Noctis Obscuro

Dark for indoors

Light for under the sun

HyperJS
- Matthias 🤖Jul 4, 2019
  
  Good idea to have an option for working under the sun!
- Matthias 🤖Jul 5, 2019
  
  Does the Dank Mono font support different font weights?
  - Stephen ChiangJul 5, 2019
    
    Not exactly sure, but on Noctis, the import is bold so I think so.
Michael JolleyJul 3, 2019

Used Dracula for a long time but recently been using Panda.
Fredrik SiesingJul 3, 2019

Using Dracula with the Hasklig font and ligatures. I do sometimes cheat on Dracula with Night Owl 😉
Ken SimeonJul 4, 2019

Theme: Hybrid
Fonts: Input Mono or Source Code Pro for Powerline

I use this same combination for iTerm, Vim
- Ken SimeonJul 4, 2019
  
  For a muted look I use Nord
Ryan SmithJul 4, 2019

I created a theme to my liking - Kaia Theme. It was inspired by Monokai but I tried to make things easier to read and identify.
- Matthias 🤖Jul 4, 2019
  
  Nice work 👍
- Akshay Kadam (A2K)Jul 15, 2019
  
  This looks rad & is really easy on eyes. Good job Ryan.
Oliver FuJul 4, 2019

Lei Light
Adam Romig 🇵🇭Jul 4, 2019

I'm currently using Dark++ Italic with the Victor Mono (Medium) font. Previously was using other dark themes like Panda Syntax and Monokai Vibrant. And my Code theme will probably change again - people make such great themes that I can't just stay with one.
- Matthias 🤖Jul 4, 2019
  
  You‘re right! There are plenty of lovely crafted themes in the wild! Big thanks to all of you who design and create themes ❤️
Matthias 🤖Jul 4, 2019

Is it also hard for you to switch to a new theme? I have had some hard time when I switched themes from Dracula to Shades of Purple. It seems that my brain is to lazy to adapt new colors 😂
Peyton McGinnisJul 5, 2019

Horizon. I absolutely love the color combinations and I even configured Hyper to be the exact same. :D
Alexey KunitskyJul 5, 2019

I was a big fan of One Dark Theme and it's variations. But after Visual Studio 2019 release I looked in a new way at Dark+ and gave it a chance.

And now it's my favorite theme. I'm using it in VS2019, VSCode, PHPStorm and have same visual experience :)
Mattia AstorinoJul 9, 2019

Moxer Theme and Material Design
- Matthias 🤖Jul 9, 2019
  
  That looks pretty dark to me 😅
  I cannot really read the text in the explorer, is that on purpose?
Stavros KefaleasJul 17, 2019

I am using Dainty - Night Owl but I have a problem.
It overrides some of my Operator Mono Lig fonts.
Any ideas?

Here's what I mean :

i.ibb.co/vzZRS89/Screenshot-2019-0...

i.ibb.co/NFhK4H8/Screenshot-2019-0...
- Matthias 🤖Jul 17, 2019
  
  To be honest, I don't know what you mean?
  How should it look like? I don't use ligatures.
  - Stavros KefaleasJul 17, 2019
    
    The first image is a compatible theme and the second image is Dainty - Night Owl.
Stavros KefaleasJul 17, 2019

I am using Dainty - Night Owl

!(i.ibb.co/NFhK4H8/Screenshot-2019-0...)
Kat MarchánSep 3, 2019

I swear by fairy-floss
Saurabh Daware 🌻Sep 3, 2019

Material Ocean High Contrast
Mustafa YıldızNov 20, 2019

My own theme Blackie
Bhanu SunkaJun 9, 2023
I personally use "jellyfish-x-retro" vscode theme! A wonderful gradient looking with crazy animations looks very futuristic 🚀💖
Pranjal KumarJun 8, 2024
Try this Minimal Kiwi Theme, you will love it. BTW I created this theme and my colleagues loved it.

Add comment

Matthias 🤖 @matthias

What VSCode theme are you using?

Comments 124 total

Dark for indoors

Light for under the sun

HyperJS