Open Settings > Themes. The application keeps three independent selections:
| Category | Changes |
|---|---|
| Colors | Interface colors, editor and terminal appearance, supported layout settings and CSS. |
| File icons | Icons for files and folders. |
| Interface icons | Icons used by application controls. |
Choosing a file icon theme does not replace the color theme or interface icon theme. The built-in color theme is DeepMono; the built-in icons use Lucide.
Select a theme
Section titled “Select a theme”Choose a category and select a theme in its catalogue. The application notifies open windows and updates the current editor and terminal instances. Theme changes preserve editor history and do not restart terminal processes.
The application follows system appearance by default. An adaptive color theme uses the saved System, Light or Dark preference. A theme with appearance: "light" or "dark" forces that mode while selected; switching back to an adaptive theme restores the saved preference.
Import
Section titled “Import”- Import folder accepts a local theme package or a VS Code extension folder.
- Import VS Code accepts supported color/icon JSON or JSONC files, TextMate
.tmTheme, an extension’spackage.json, or a.vsixarchive. - Dropping one supported file or folder on the Themes page uses the corresponding import path.
Import adds themes to the library without selecting them. Select the imported entry to apply it. Local packages are copied into the application theme library; subsequent edits should target the installed copy, opened with Open theme folder.
VS Code extension code is not installed or executed. Read VS Code import and export for the supported mappings.
Edit or duplicate
Section titled “Edit or duplicate”Use Create theme for an adaptive theme that inherits DeepMono. Duplicate makes a local copy of an existing theme. Use Edit theme to change it through controls or the JSONC editor.
Themes supplied by plugins are immutable. Their View theme action is read-only; duplicate them before editing. To customize built-in icons, select their category and use Create icon theme or Duplicate.
Preview and save
Section titled “Preview and save”Preview changes only the Settings window where the editor is open. Canceling or closing the preview restores that window’s working appearance. Save theme validates the draft, checks that the source file has not changed and writes it atomically. Other windows are then notified.
A validation, resource, revision or disk error keeps the unsaved draft. Copy important edits before reopening a file that changed externally. If an applied theme cannot load, the application keeps the last working appearance and reports the error.
Start with Create a color theme for a complete JSONC example.
Find a theme in the library
Section titled “Find a theme in the library”Search matches the name, description, author, identifier and package owner. Filters include Active and Needs attention; sources are All sources, Built in, Local and Packages. Clear filters if an imported entry seems missing. The Active badge records the selection; check any error message to confirm that its resources loaded.
Open folder opens the whole theme library. Open theme folder opens one installed package. Use these actions to find the actual location instead of assuming a platform-specific path.
Find the right guide
Section titled “Find the right guide”| Goal | Guide |
|---|---|
| Make your first color theme | Create a theme |
| Understand every document field | Format reference |
| Look up a spacing, color or typography variable | All 226 tokens |
| Customize code and terminal output | Editor and terminal |
| Add images, fonts, CSS or plugin-specific colors | Resources and CSS |
| Style files and folders | File icons |
| Replace control symbols | Interface icons |
| Move a theme between editors | VS Code exchange |
| Check and distribute a package | Testing and sharing |
| Fix a broken theme | Troubleshooting |
Source: Themes screen, theme editor, theme application.