Customizing your VS Code

Introduction

Visual Studio Code (VS Code) is one of the most popular code editors in the tech industry, as it offers robust features and a lightweight design that have made it the code editor of choice for developers worldwide. Its popularity can be attributed, in part, to its customizable appearance, which allows us to create fancy and eye-catching coding spaces. In this article, we will explore how to customize your vs code appearance for your preferences, including code editor themes, icon themes, and toolbar color changes.

Icon Themes

Even though Visual Studio Code's default icons are fine, why limit yourself to them when you can have a visual feast? You can change the appearance of your file explorer with icon themes, which improve both its visual appeal and usability.

One of the most popular choices among developers is the Material Icon Theme extension. With this extension, your file explorer will have a colorful and well-organized collection of icons, modeled after Google's Material Design. Every kind of file has its own distinctive and instantly identifiable icon, which makes your workspace look better overall.

To install the Material Icon Theme extension, follow these steps:

1. Open Visual Studio Code.

2. Go to the Extensions view by clicking on the Extensions icon in the toolbar on the left side of the window.

3. Search for "Material Icon Theme" and click install.

After installation, click the gear icon in the lower left corner and select "File Icon Theme" to choose the Material Icon Theme.

Code Editor Themes

Now that your file explorer looks good, let's focus on the code editor itself. Although VS Code's default light and dark themes are great, there are occasions when you'd like something a little more personalized and stylish.

One good option as a theme, especially for those who would rather code in the dark, is the Night Owl theme extension. Night Owl, which was created with contrast and readability in mind, has a calming color scheme that helps to relieve eye strain during extended coding sessions.

To install the Night Owl theme extension:

Navigate to the Extensions view.

Search for "Night Owl" and click install.

After installation, choose Night Owl as your theme by opening the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows/Linux, Cmd+Shift+P on macOS), selecting "Color Theme," and choosing Night Owl from the list of installed themes in your code editor.

Toolbar Color

Now that the appearance and feel of your code editor are perfect, let's customize the toolbar color to put the icing on top. Here is where the peacock extension comes into play.

Thanks to the Peacock extension, you can customize your workspace by changing the color of the toolbar on the side of your code editor. Not only is this aesthetically pleasing, but if you have multiple instances of VS Code open, it can also aid in helping you distinguish between them.

To install the Peacock extension:

1. Go to the Extensions view.

2. Search for "Peacock" and click install.

After installation, you can customize the toolbar color by opening the command palette, searching for “Peacock: Enter a color," and then putting the hex value of the color you want to set for your vs code toolbar.

Conclusion

Customizing Visual Studio code is more than just changing colors. You also need to create a coding environment that matches your style and increases productivity. So feel free to play around and create a coding area that stimulates your imagination in terms of appearance as well as exploring other fancy features of the amazing VS Code. Happy coding!