🔧 How to Change Syntax Color in Visual Studio Code – A Step-by-Step Guide

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is one of the most powerful and customizable code editors out there. One of its standout features is the ability to change syntax highlighting to suit your personal preference or improve readability.

In this guide, you'll learn how to change syntax color in Visual Studio Code using built-in themes, extensions, and manual customizations.

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🎨 Why Change Syntax Colors?

• Improve code readability

• Reduce eye strain during long coding sessions

• Match your editor’s look with your personal style

• Highlight important syntax elements for faster debugging

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🔌 Method 1: Use Pre-Built Themes

Steps:

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + P (or Cmd + Shift + P on Mac) to open the Command Palette

2. Search and select: Preferences: Color Theme

3. Choose from the available themes (like Dark+, Light+, Monokai, One Dark Pro, etc.)

To explore more themes:

• Go to the Extensions Marketplace

• Search for “Color Theme”

• Install and try out different ones

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🧑‍🎨 Method 2: Customize Syntax Colors Manually

If you want full control over syntax colors, you can edit your settings.json file.

Steps:

1. Open Command Palette → Preferences: Open Settings (JSON)

2. Add or modify the following configuration:

jsonCopyEdit"editor.tokenColorCustomizations": {
  "textMateRules": [
    {
      "scope": "keyword",
      "settings": {
        "foreground": "#FF007F"
      }
    },
    {
      "scope": "string",
      "settings": {
        "foreground": "#00FF00"
      }
    }
  ]
}

This example changes keywords to pink and strings to green.

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🧠 How to Identify Scopes

Not sure what to target?

1. Press Ctrl + Shift + P

2. Select: Developer: Inspect Editor Tokens and Scopes

3. Click on any code element to view its scope name

Use this to create custom rules for specific language elements.

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📦 Bonus: Customize Icons & Fonts

For a complete aesthetic makeover:

• Use icon themes like Material Icon Theme

• Try fonts like Fira Code for beautiful ligatures

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✅ Final Thoughts

Customizing syntax colors in Visual Studio Code helps you code more comfortably and efficiently. Whether you're using a theme or creating your own color rules, VS Code gives you the tools to craft the perfect developer environment.