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Does anyone know how to change the background color, font size, and other appearance-based settings in Notepad++? The default is white but I am trying to change it into a dark gray or something else.

informatik01
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xzibit
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5 Answers5

404

Go to Settings -> Style Configurator

Select Theme: Choose whichever you like best (the top two are easiest to read by most people's preference)

triforceofcourage
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    Recent versions require themes to be placed in [NPP-INSTALL-FOLDER]\themes or %APPDATA%\Notepad++\themes. If you use the [NPP-INSTALL-FOLDER] location, and NPP is installed by default to %ProgramFiles%, ensure Notepad++ runs with Administrator privileges to make changes to the theme. – AlainD Mar 02 '20 at 12:56
  • There are 4 dark themes near the top of the list in 2nd to 5th place and more below. No installation needed for these. v7.9.5 – JohnC May 16 '21 at 08:04
  • An update changed the theme folder from the Notepad++ install folder to AppData. See [my answer](https://stackoverflow.com/a/58431500) for more info. – Martin May 24 '21 at 17:50
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You may need admin access to do it on your system.

  1. Create a folder 'themes' in the Notepad++ installation folder i.e. C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++
  2. Search or visit pages like http://timtrott.co.uk/notepad-colour-schemes/ to download the favourite theme. It will be an SML file.
    • Note: I prefer Neon any day.
  3. Download the themes from the site and drag them to the themes folder.
    • Note: I was unable to copy-paste or create new files in 'themes' folder so I used drag and that worked.
  4. Follow the steps provided by @triforceofcourage to select the new theme in Notepad++ preferences.
jwpfox
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Amit-IO
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    why does no theme support JSON? damn I just want to invert the normal one or something to keep syntax highlighting for ALL languages... – Xerus Sep 11 '17 at 18:05
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There seems to have been an update some time in the past 3 years which changes the location of where to place themes in order to get them working.

Previosuly, themes were located in the Notepad++ installation folder. Now they are located in AppData:

C:\Users\YOUR_USER\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\themes

My answer is an update to @Amit-IO's answer about manually copying the themes.

  1. In Explorer, browse to: %AppData%\Notepad++.
  2. If a folder called themes does not exist, create it.
  3. Download your favourite theme from wherever (see Amit-IO's answer for a good list) and save it to %AppData%\Notepad++\themes.
  4. Restart Notepad++ and then use Settings -> Style Configurator. The new theme(s) will appear in the list.
Martin
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    plus 1 to your answer for making others life easier – Dsw Wds Nov 19 '19 at 02:43
  • Not quite right. In the latest version (7.8.4, early 2020), you can place themes in either [NPP-INSTALL-FOLDER]\themes or %APPDATA%\Notepad++\themes. Not sure which is "better"... – AlainD Mar 02 '20 at 12:54
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    @AlainD %AppData% folder for local user only, Install folder for all users. Not everyone has access to the install folder, therefor you can always use the %Appdata% folder – Nawed Nabi Zada Sep 17 '20 at 07:53
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If anyone wants to enable dark mode, you may follow the below steps

  • Open your Notepad++, and select “Settings” on the menu bar, and choose “Style configurator”.
  • Select theme “Obsidian” (you can choose other dark themes)
  • Click on Save&Colse

enter image description here

Mahi Uddin
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2

Notepad++ changed in the past couple of years, and it requires a few extra steps to set up a dark theme.

The answer by Amit-IO is good, but the example theme that is needed has stopped being maintained. The DraculaTheme is active. Just download the XML and put it in a themes folder. You may need Admin access in Windows.

C:\Users\YOUR_USER\AppData\Roaming\Notepad++\themes

https://draculatheme.com/notepad-plus-plus

ckrugo
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