How to change the active tab header's color in IntelliJ 14.1.4?
Intellij IdeaColor SchemeIntellij 14Intellij Idea Problem Overview
I'm using a dark theme in IntelliJ 14, the problem is that I have difficulties in distinguish the active tab, because its header's background is not different than the other tabs I have opened (or it is, but very little). I looked all over the place for a method to change the color of the active tab header's background, no luck so far. Please help?
Intellij Idea Solutions
Solution 1 - Intellij Idea
- Please note that this setting has worked for IntelliJ 14 back then, but is no longer applicable for newer versions
- Find the comments below for plugins as a great alternative (Material Theme UI, Active IntelliJ Tab Highlighter)
Although, if you are still using IntelliJ 14:
> Under File \ Settings \ Appearance & Behavior \ File Colors,
>
> turn off "Use in Editor Tabs", as test tabs background are
> dark-green by default, which is similar to the dark-grey non-selected
> tabs.
>
> After that, optionally you can set the colors under:
>
> File \ Settings \ Editor \ Colors & Fonts \ File Status
>
> and change the Foreground color of "Modified" status.
>
> Now it will highlight the modified files (in version control).
Solution 2 - Intellij Idea
To me, the solution turned out to be a plugin implementation:
https://github.com/tobszarny/ActiveTabHighlighterPlugin
Feel free to fork it for alteration, or use as is. Now with color customization and with IntelliJ platform IDE's support, such as PhpStorm or RubyMine.
Now also in the plugins repository, for auto update whenever new version is made.
Solution 3 - Intellij Idea
If you are using the latest intellij you can make this customisation through the menu, see the screenshot for the breadcrumb. This is from version: 2020.1.1 Ultimate Edition
Solution 4 - Intellij Idea
The Material Theme UI allows additional settings
like color and thickness of the line below the active tab (pink in the screenshot)
Solution 5 - Intellij Idea
Whilst this solution does not change the colour between tabs, it does change all tab colours so that you can distinguish it from the background tab bar, which in my case was enough. It may still help others.
I used File Colors. The image below shows what I did. Set scope to All and choose the Custom colour (white):
Solution 6 - Intellij Idea
I am using Darcula theme with a background image (simple plain black image). I tried the excellent plugin suggested by Tomasz O. <https://stackoverflow.com/users/2479048/tomasz-o>;, but it did not work. Later on, I realized that when I decreased the opacity of background image, I was actually able to distinguish the color change made by the plugin. I wonder why Android Studio does not provide a convenient setting for changing active tab header color. I'm on AS 3.4.2 already!
Solution 7 - Intellij Idea
Intellij 2019.1 has options for customization. Besides, it has new themes for different shades of color you can choose from.