The only true dark theme you were looking for
Back to Black is a minimalist and elegant dark theme for Visual Studio Code, designed for developers seeking maximum contrast and focus during long coding sessions. With a true black background (#000000) and carefully calibrated typography, this theme reduces eye strain and provides a premium coding experience.
- 🖤 True Black: #000000 background for maximum contrast and battery saving on OLED screens
- 👁️ Reduced Eye Strain: Soft and balanced colors that don't hurt your eyes
- 🎨 Consistent Interface: All UI elements harmonized in black and gray tones
- 📏 Discrete Indentation Guides: Subtle vertical lines that don't distract
- 🔢 Smart Line Numbers: Active line highlighted for better navigation
- ⚡ Performance: Lightweight and optimized theme that doesn't affect editor performance
- Open Visual Studio Code
- Press
Ctrl+Shift+X(Windows/Linux) orCmd+Shift+X(Mac) to open the Extensions tab - Search for "Back to Black"
- Click Install
- Press
Ctrl+K Ctrl+Tand select Back to Black
- Download the
.vsixfile from the releases page - In VSCode, press
Ctrl+Shift+Pand type "Extensions: Install from VSIX" - Select the downloaded file
After installing the extension:
- Open the command palette with
Ctrl+Shift+P(Windows/Linux) orCmd+Shift+P(Mac) - Type "Color Theme" and select "Preferences: Color Theme"
- Choose Back to Black from the list
- Enjoy your new coding experience! 🎉
Or use the quick shortcut: Ctrl+K Ctrl+T → Back to Black
The theme uses a carefully selected palette:
- Main Background:
#000000- Pure black - Main Text:
#ffffff9f- White with 62% opacity - Active Elements:
#ffffff- Pure white for highlights - Borders and Separators:
#22222270- Subtle dark gray - Indentation Guides:
#ffffff15- Extremely discrete
For an even better experience, we recommend:
- Font: JetBrains Mono, Fira Code or Cascadia Code
- Icons: Material Icon Theme
- Display: OLED screens take full advantage of pure black, saving battery
Contributions are always welcome! If you found a bug or have suggestions for improvements:
- Fork the project
- Create a feature branch (
git checkout -b feature/MyFeature) - Commit your changes (
git commit -m 'Add MyFeature') - Push to the branch (
git push origin feature/MyFeature) - Open a Pull Request
Or simply open an issue with your suggestions!
- Adjustments to editor vertical lines
- Visual consistency improvements
- Documentation updates
- Initial release of Back to Black
This project is under the MIT license. See the LICENSE file for more details.
Thank you to everyone who uses and contributes to Back to Black!
If you like this theme, consider giving a ⭐ to the repository!
Made with 🖤 by GilbertoScript

