How to set a Custom Theme in Windows Terminal

In this post, we will show you how to set a custom theme in Windows Terminal app on a Windows 11/10 computer. This is a new feature of Windows Terminal that helps to create multiple custom themes and then you can apply any of those themes with a few mouse clicks. In the custom theme, you can set the tab background color or color for the focused tab, color for the tab row of the active window, unfocused tabs (or background tabs), and color for the tab row for the background window. You can see the same in the screenshot added below.

Earlier, there were only three options present to use as a theme (Dark, Light, and Windows theme) in Windows Terminal. Now you can create and set a custom theme with any of your favorite colors. The best part is you can use a custom theme with the color scheme feature of Windows Terminal.

Before you proceed, do note that this custom theme feature has come with version 1.16 of Windows Terminal. Currently, it can be accessed in the Preview release, but it will be a part of the stable version of Windows Terminal soon.

How to set a Custom Theme in Windows Terminal

In order to set a custom theme in Windows Terminal on your Windows 11/10 computer, you need to edit the JSON settings file of Windows Terminal. There you can add theme content and then save the JSON file. After that, the custom theme can be set. Editing that file is quite easy. Even if something goes wrong, you can always reset Windows Terminal settings to default very easily. Now let’s check the steps:

1. Open the Windows Terminal app
2. Access the Settings tab
3. Open the JSON settings file
4. Add the theme contents in the required place
5. Save the JSON file
6. Access the Appearance section
7. Select your custom theme
8. Save the changes.

Let’s have a look at all these steps in detail.

First, you need to open the Windows Terminal app which can be done using the Start menu, Search box, etc., on your Windows 11/10 computer.

Use the Ctrl+, hotkey to open the Settings tab. In that tab, click on the Open JSON file option (present in the bottom left corner) and open that settings file in Notepad.

Scroll down the settings content to look for the “themes”: [] line. This is where you need to add the content for your custom theme. You must enter the content under the square brackets or closed brackets only. Here is a sample theme content that will give you a good idea:

"themes":
[
  {
    "name": "The Windows Club",
    "tab":
    {
        "background": "#FFA500FF",
        "showCloseButton": "always",
        "unfocusedBackground": "#FFFF00FF"
    },
    "tabRow":
    {
        "background": "#00FFFFFF",
        "unfocusedBackground": "#FF0000FF"
    },
    "window":
    {
        "applicationTheme": "light"
    }
  }
]

The theme content has the following important items:

1. Theme Name: You can give any name to your theme and it will appear in settings. As in the above example, you can change The Windows Club with any other name
2. Tab background color: You can enter the Hex color code of your choice to show that color for the focused or active tab
3. Set a background color for the unfocused tabs. Again, you need to enter a Hex color code
4. Background color for tab row
5. Background color for tab row for the unfocused window
6. Application theme: It can be set to dark, light, or system only. It doesn’t let you select a custom color.

Once the theme content is added, use the File menu of Notepad to save the JSON file.

Related: How to enable Transparent Background in Windows Terminal

In the same way, you can add content for other themes. Just remember to close the content of one theme with a comma(,), and enter the content of another theme in a separate line. Keep the theme contents in the square brackets.

Now come back to the Settings tab of Windows Terminal. After that, access the Appearance section available on the left part of Settings. Open the drop-down menu available for the Theme option and there you will see the name of your custom theme.

Select that theme and press the Save button.

That’s it! It will immediately change the theme and the custom theme will be applied in all the opened instances of Windows Terminal.

Hope it is helpful.

How do I customize Windows Terminal?

If you want to customize Windows Terminal, then you can do that either using the JSON file or the Settings page of Windows Terminal. In the JSON file, you need to add the content for customization and on the Settings page, there are preset options present to change cursor shape for a profile in Windows Terminal, change font size and font weight for a profile, and lots more.

How do I add a custom color scheme to Windows Terminal?

If want to add a custom color scheme for a Windows Terminal profile, then you need to access the Color schemes section present in Windows Terminal Settings. There you can use the Add new button and then Edit the new scheme to set cursor color, selection background, profile background color, etc. After that, you can change the color scheme for a Windows Terminal profile.

Read next: Windows Terminal Tips and Tricks to work like a Pro.