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I really don't like the "Light" theme of VS 2012. I've managed to change a few things to make it better but one thing is still annoying me - the fact that the solution explorer background is a light grey colour. Is there a way to change this back to white? I can't see an entry for Solution Explorer in Options > Environment > Fonts and Colors, so how can I change this? Is it stored in a theme file somewhere?

(Please note I'm not looking to do this programmatically, so this is not a dupe of the existing similar-sounding questions)

NickG
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4 Answers4

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I've found that easiest solution is to use this Microsoft-developed Visual Studio 2012 Color Theme Editor and just select the Blue theme to effectively get the VS 2010 colours back:

http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/366ad100-0003-4c9a-81a8-337d4e7ace05

Saves digging around for hours in long lists of UI elements. You just select another preset theme and you're done :)

EDIT : Here are steps using the VS2012 Color Theme Editor:

  1. Tools --> Customize Colors
  2. New Theme --> create a new theme from one of the ready made themes, hit Create
  3. Hover over your new Custom Theme, hit Edit Theme
  4. Magical Step: Directly under the theme tab, click the 5th button "Show All Elements", here you can find what you're looking for
  5. TreeView --> Background, this changes the color of the Solution Explorer
  6. Environment --> ToolWindowBackground, color for background of Team Explorer (my pet peeve, since the contrast on this UI usually needs tweaking between controls and window)

UPDATE

Visual Studio 2012 Update 3 now includes the old "Blue" theme by default, so if you update to this version you can easily select the old blue theme without jumping throught he hoops above, if that's all you wanted to achieve.

NickG
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  • @Chris O Thanks for the edit, but this answer is now effectively obsolete. VS 2012 Update 3 includes the Blue theme by default, so these steps aren't necessary as long as you've updated to the current version. Here's a link to Update 3: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2835600 – NickG Jul 24 '13 at 08:54
  • That's certainly true, but I use a modified Tan theme, and so must "fix" the two above-mentioned colors to make those UI easier to see. – Chris O Jul 24 '13 at 19:59
  • +1 for Magical Step #4; I had thought the configurablility in this plug-in had been dead since the new shell of 2012 and I've been suffering with a low-contrast grey UI ever since! Just one thing to note though: if you've made separate colour changes to the editor via "Tools" -> "Options" -> "Environment" -> "Fonts and Colors" these will be undone when you switch themes so it's worth using "Import and Export Settings..." before and after you switch themes export and re-import your "Fonts and Colors" settings. – Sphynx Aug 19 '18 at 22:40
  • Just to add to what I previously said about "Fonts and Colors" - once you've re-imported your colours, click the colour palette icon in the theme editor window (the furthest right icon) to get your fonts and colours back into the theme. – Sphynx Sep 23 '18 at 11:44
5

Program Manager Cathy Sullivan is wrong

Use this Utility

http://bchavez.bitarmory.com/archive/2012/08/27/modify-visual-studio-2012-dark-and-light-themes.aspx

Use Category TreeView

Brian
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UPDATE: There is now a theme editor which should give you the exact control you are looking for (which I've noticed is what @Nick G has suggested, so +1 to him, will leave this to acknowledge that.

http://visualstudiogallery.msdn.microsoft.com/366ad100-0003-4c9a-81a8-337d4e7ace05

(further details in hanselman blog)

==================================================================================

Preface: I know you specifically said white but after a little adjustment I find the dark really quite good, especially if you have a dark theme. I've switched my previous dark theme (wekeroad) for the rather brashly named but subtle looking Super awesome fun time one.

Tools | Options | General | then change Color theme to Dark.

enter image description here

You can see solution explorer in background above. I would imagine these options might expand or extend in the future.

dove
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  • Thanks, but I really do want to only just change the grey to white.. I cannot stand the black colour scheme :( – NickG Aug 23 '12 at 21:20
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Unfortunately at this time you cannot change the background color of Solution Explorer beyond what the Light and Dark themes offer.

Thanks, Cathy Sullivan

Program Manager, Visual Studio

Amal Dev
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Cathy Sullivan - MFST
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    That's very disappointing. I cannot stand the dated look of VS 2012 and the fact that everything is grey makes the application hard to use :( The look and feel of 2010 is vastly superior. – NickG Aug 28 '12 at 09:32