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title Visual Studio Color Themes
description Browse all available Visual Studio color themes including Dark, Light, Cool Breeze, Spicy Red, Bubblegum, and more. See screenshots of each theme in action.
ms.date 02/26/2026
ms.topic reference
author ghogen
ms.author ghogen
ms.subservice general-ide
ai-usage ai-assisted
ms.custom awp-ai
monikerRange visualstudio

Visual Studio color themes

Visual Studio offers a variety of color themes to personalize your development environment. Choose a theme that matches your preference, reduces eye strain, or simply adds personality to your IDE.

Color themes are rooted in one of two base themes, Light and Dark. Specific color themes vary the colors of the borders and background areas which add tint to the basic Light or Dark theme.

The editor color setting is separate from the IDE color theme. By default, it matches the overall IDE color theme, but you can choose a light or dark background for the editor independently of the IDE color theme. Go to Tools > Editor Appearance to modfy the editor setting. In addition to Light or Dark, you can also try the Extra Contrast options (Light Extra Contrast or Dark Extra Constrast) which can improve text contrast in the editor.

To change your color theme:

  1. Select Tools > Options from the menu bar.
  2. Expand All Settings > Environment > Visual Experience.
  3. Select a theme from the Color theme dropdown.

Browse the sections below to preview each available theme.

Use system setting

Visual Studio follows your Windows light or dark mode preference automatically. When Windows switches between light and dark modes, Visual Studio switches to the corresponding configured theme. See Desktop Background and Themes Customizations.

To choose specific themes for each system mode, go to Tools > Options > Environment > Visual Experience and set System light theme and System dark theme. For details, see Configure Visual Experience options.

Dark

The dark theme reduces eye strain in low-light environments with a dark background and light text.

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-dark.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Dark theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-dark.png":::

Light

A brighter interface with a white background ideal for well-lit workspaces.

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-light.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Light theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-light.png":::

Color themes based on the Light theme

The following color themes are variations of the Light theme.

Cool Breeze

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-cool-breeze.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Cool Breeze theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-cool-breeze.png":::

Icy Mint

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-icy-mint.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Icy Mint theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-icy-mint.png":::

Mango Paradise

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-mango-paradise.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Mango Paradise theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-mango-paradise.png":::

Bubblegum

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-bubblegum.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Bubblegum theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-bubblegum.png":::

Sunny Day

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-sunny-day.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Sunny Day theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-sunny-day.png":::

Silky Pink

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-silky-pink.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Silky Pink theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-silky-pink.png":::

Color themes based on the Dark theme

The following color themes are variations of the Dark theme.

Moonlight Glow

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-moonlight-glow.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Moonlight Glow theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-moonlight-glow.png":::

Spicy Red

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-spicy-red.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Spicy Red theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-spicy-red.png":::

Mystical Forest

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-mystical-forest.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Mystical Forest theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-mystical-forest.png":::

Cool Slate

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-cool-slate.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Cool Slate theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-cool-slate.png":::

Juicy Plum

:::image type="content" source="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-juicy-plum.png" alt-text="Screenshot of Visual Studio IDE using the Juicy Plum theme." lightbox="media/visualstudio/visual-studio-color-themes/theme-juicy-plum.png":::

Download color themes

You can download more color themes at the Visual Studio Marketplace.

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