1# Appearance
  2
  3Customize Zed's visual appearance to match your preferences. This guide covers themes, fonts, icons, and other visual settings.
  4
  5For information on how the settings system works, see [Configuring Zed](./configuring-zed.md).
  6
  7## Customize Zed in 5 Minutes
  8
  9Here's how to make Zed feel like home:
 10
 111. **Pick a theme**: Press {#kb theme_selector::Toggle} to open the Theme Selector. Arrow through the list to preview themes in real time, and press Enter to apply.
 12
 132. **Choose an icon theme**: Run `icon theme selector: toggle` from the command palette to browse icon themes.
 14
 153. **Set your font**: Open the Settings Editor with {#kb zed::OpenSettings} and search for `buffer_font_family`. Set it to your preferred coding font.
 16
 174. **Adjust font size**: In the same Settings Editor, search for `buffer_font_size` and `ui_font_size` to tweak the editor and interface text sizes.
 18
 19That's it. You now have a personalized Zed setup.
 20
 21## Themes
 22
 23Install themes from the Extensions page ({#action zed::Extensions}), then switch between them with the Theme Selector ({#kb theme_selector::Toggle}).
 24
 25Zed supports separate themes for light and dark mode with automatic switching based on your system preference:
 26
 27```json [settings]
 28{
 29  "theme": {
 30    "mode": "system",
 31    "light": "One Light",
 32    "dark": "One Dark"
 33  }
 34}
 35```
 36
 37You can also override specific theme attributes for fine-grained control.
 38
 39→ [Themes documentation](./themes.md)
 40
 41## Icon Themes
 42
 43Customize file and folder icons in the Project Panel and tabs. Browse available icon themes with the Icon Theme Selector (`icon theme selector: toggle` in the command palette).
 44
 45Like color themes, icon themes support separate light and dark variants:
 46
 47```json [settings]
 48{
 49  "icon_theme": {
 50    "mode": "system",
 51    "light": "Zed (Default)",
 52    "dark": "Zed (Default)"
 53  }
 54}
 55```
 56
 57→ [Icon Themes documentation](./icon-themes.md)
 58
 59## Fonts
 60
 61Zed uses three font settings for different contexts:
 62
 63| Setting                | Used for           |
 64| ---------------------- | ------------------ |
 65| `buffer_font_family`   | Editor text        |
 66| `ui_font_family`       | Interface elements |
 67| `terminal.font_family` | Terminal           |
 68
 69Example configuration:
 70
 71```json [settings]
 72{
 73  "buffer_font_family": "JetBrains Mono",
 74  "buffer_font_size": 14,
 75  "ui_font_family": "Inter",
 76  "ui_font_size": 16,
 77  "terminal": {
 78    "font_family": "JetBrains Mono",
 79    "font_size": 14
 80  }
 81}
 82```
 83
 84### Font Ligatures
 85
 86To disable font ligatures:
 87
 88```json [settings]
 89{
 90  "buffer_font_features": {
 91    "calt": false
 92  }
 93}
 94```
 95
 96### Line Height
 97
 98Adjust line spacing with `buffer_line_height`:
 99
100- `"comfortable"` — 1.618 ratio (default)
101- `"standard"` — 1.3 ratio
102- `{ "custom": 1.5 }` — Custom ratio
103
104## UI Elements
105
106Zed provides extensive control over UI elements including:
107
108- **Tab bar** — Show/hide, navigation buttons, file icons, git status
109- **Status bar** — Language selector, cursor position, line endings
110- **Scrollbar** — Visibility, git diff indicators, search results
111- **Minimap** — Code overview display
112- **Gutter** — Line numbers, fold indicators, breakpoints
113- **Panels** — Project Panel, Terminal, Agent Panel sizing and docking
114
115→ [Visual Customization documentation](./visual-customization.md) for all UI element settings
116
117## What's Next
118
119- [Configuring Zed](./configuring-zed.md) — How the settings system works
120- [Key bindings](./key-bindings.md) — Customize keyboard shortcuts
121- [Vim Mode](./vim.md) — Enable modal editing
122- [All Settings](./reference/all-settings.md) — Complete settings reference