Different themes per window instance

[ghost]

I sometimes have more than one project open in different windows. I'd like to be able to select different themes for them. Right now if I go into File/Preferences/Color Theme and change the theme, all open Visual Code instances/windows change theme. I only want to affect the current window/instance. I don't know if this is a bug or the intended behaviour.

[vscodebot]

(Experimental duplicate detection)
Thanks for submitting this issue. Please also check if it is already covered by an existing one, like:

• Installed theme only available in one window (#35585)

[RMacfarlane]

It's by design that all windows respond to a theme change, but perhaps we could add a setting for this.

[ghost]

That would be great if you could. I'm switching back and forth between windows containing similar code and having distinct colours would make it less likely I forget which is which :-)

[praveenpuglia]

This is already possible via workspace settings. For each workspace you can go to Workspace Settings from command palette and add the theme of your choice. Example :

WORKSPACE-1

{
    "workbench.colorTheme": "Quiet Light"
}

WORKSPACE-2

{
    "workbench.colorTheme": "Monokai"
}

[ghost]

Thanks @praveenpuglia . How do you switch though? It seems as they I'd be forced to use workspaces, which currently I do not. I tried to do the same with source folder settings but it did not work. I was hoping for an easy to access theme switcher from the menu.... like we have now but for it to be applied to the current window instance only.

[praveenpuglia]

I think workspaces are built for that purpose. Switching will be the same as switching between two windows of same application.

It would definitely be nice if the command palette had an option like "Workspace Color Theme" which would work exactly like the default color theme picker but add that setting in workspace settings instead of user settings.

[deadcoder0904]

Would love Themes per instance 😍

I currently use Peacock Extension which adds unique colors in the status bar, title bar & activity bar.

Maybe if not on Global level, then it might be a good idea for that extension :)

[JoeEarly]

Would love Themes per instance 😍

I currently use Peacock Extension which adds unique colors in the status bar, title bar & activity bar.

Maybe if not on Global level, then it might be a good idea for that extension :)

peacock looks great, thanks for sharing

[chpxu]

Also, when I debug my theme extension, and I want to change theme in the extension-dev window, it keeps changing my normal instance instead of the debugging version (my extension supplies 2 themes)

[vscodebot]

We try to keep VS Code lean and we think the functionality you're asking for is great for a VS Code extension. Maybe you can already find one that suits you in the VS Code Marketplace. Just in case, in a few simple steps you can get started writing your own extension. See also our issue reporting guidelines.

Happy Coding!