How do you use a different theme in a remote VS Code window

Question

Using VS Code Remote Development (SSH, container, WSL) I want a different theme on my remote and local VS Code windows so that I can easily tell them apart.

Answer 1

You can set your theme in remote settings to use a different theme for that specific remote, open up the command palette (F1) and run the "Open Remote Settings" command:

Then add the following setting and save:

{
    "workbench.colorTheme": "<your theme of choice>"
}

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There is currently no way to do this all at once for all remotes, it must be configured per machine.

Answer 2

Alternatively to @DanielImms' answer, you can add the same setting to your .vscode/settings.json or your .code-workspace file to select a different color scheme for each (remote) folder or workspace.