How to change PyCharm code editor background color?

Question

I would like to change the background color for the PyCharm source code editor. How can I do that?

I am running it under Ubuntu.

Here is a pretty good description: jetbrains.com/help/pycharm/2016.1/… — znurgl
– znurgl, Commented May 15, 2016 at 14:49
I am sorry, but I could not find the specific setting to change the background color of the editor, neither in the settings dialogue nor in the documentation linked above. — Fanta
– Fanta, Commented May 15, 2016 at 17:45
Editor > Colors & Fonts > General: Expand Text, select Default text, you'll find Backgroud color setting on the right. — Guoliang
– Guoliang, Commented May 16, 2016 at 6:36
So good a question to get back healthy default light theme instead of ever night. — WebComer
– WebComer, Commented Jun 28, 2022 at 13:51

davidA · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-02 03:58:22Z

45

Providing @Guoliang's helpful comment as a formal answer, as the accepted answer does not answer the question:

Go to Settings > Editor > Colors & Fonts > General

On the right side, expand Text and select Default text

Modify Background as desired.

answered Dec 2, 2016 at 3:58

davidA

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Comments

Andreas Bergström · Accepted Answer · 2019-04-16 06:16:57Z

28

In PyCharm 2017/2018/2019+ it is:

Settings > Editor > Color Scheme > General

And then simply expand Text, choose Default text and set the background color on the right.

Another tip on the topic: if you want the selected background color to also be used in all tree views(Project, Structure, etc.) you can use the Color IDE plugin.

And if you want ta completely black IDE (great for OLED-displays), instead of Darcula-gray, have a look at the new high contrast theme included in 2018.3: https://blog.jetbrains.com/idea/2018/10/intellij-idea-2018-3-eap-high-contrast-theme-and-more-accessibility-improvements/

edited Apr 16, 2019 at 6:16

answered Mar 10, 2018 at 20:36

Andreas Bergström

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2 Comments

Dominik Over a year ago

I keep having to look this up, can never find the setting in the UI.

WebComer Over a year ago

@Dominik Just use search field, otherwise it's mostly tricky.

Justin · Accepted Answer · 2018-07-27 13:52:18Z

6

A shortcut to bring up the style menu is CTRL+` (that's the backtick key usually under Esc).

It brings up the Switch menu, with options for Color Scheme and Look and Feel.

The Color Scheme setting controls the colors of the main code editor pane. The Look and Feel setting controls the color for the entire interface (including the code editor if the Color Scheme is Default).

answered Jul 27, 2018 at 13:52

Justin

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Comments

Anp · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-22 19:32:36Z

2

Go to File > Settings > Editor > Color Scheme Under Schemes, select Dracula (it's a dark background). One can select others as well based on your likings.

edited Jun 22, 2018 at 19:32

answered Jun 19, 2018 at 18:00

Anp

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1 Comment

Jamie Over a year ago

There were far too many ways to configure individual settings above but switch to a theme was the better way to go. Thanks for this. Everything was black when I started to look at it. The default theme was just what I needed.

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