1---
  2title: Appearance and Visual Customization - Zed
  3description: Customize Zed's themes, fonts, icons, UI density, and other visual settings to match your preferences.
  4---
  5
  6# Appearance
  7
  8Customize Zed's visual appearance to match your preferences. This guide covers themes, fonts, icons, and other visual settings.
  9
 10For information on how the settings system works, see [All Settings](./reference/all-settings.md).
 11
 12## Customize Zed in 5 Minutes
 13
 14Here's how to make Zed feel like home:
 15
 161. **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.
 17
 182. **Choose an icon theme**: Run `icon theme selector: toggle` from the command palette to browse icon themes.
 19
 203. **Set your font**: Open the Settings Editor with {#kb zed::OpenSettings} and search for `buffer_font_family`. Set it to your preferred coding font.
 21
 224. **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.
 23
 24That's it. You now have a personalized Zed setup.
 25
 26## Themes
 27
 28Install themes from the Extensions page ({#action zed::Extensions}), then switch between them with the Theme Selector ({#kb theme_selector::Toggle}).
 29
 30Zed supports separate themes for light and dark mode with automatic switching based on your system preference:
 31
 32```json [settings]
 33{
 34  "theme": {
 35    "mode": "system",
 36    "light": "One Light",
 37    "dark": "One Dark"
 38  }
 39}
 40```
 41
 42You can also override specific theme attributes for fine-grained control.
 43
 44→ [Themes documentation](./themes.md)
 45
 46## Icon Themes
 47
 48Customize 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).
 49
 50Like color themes, icon themes support separate light and dark variants:
 51
 52```json [settings]
 53{
 54  "icon_theme": {
 55    "mode": "system",
 56    "light": "Zed (Default)",
 57    "dark": "Zed (Default)"
 58  }
 59}
 60```
 61
 62→ [Icon Themes documentation](./icon-themes.md)
 63
 64## Fonts
 65
 66Zed uses three font settings for different contexts:
 67
 68| Setting                | Used for                  |
 69| ---------------------- | ------------------------- |
 70| `buffer_font_family`   | Editor text               |
 71| `ui_font_family`       | Interface elements        |
 72| `terminal.font_family` | [Terminal](./terminal.md) |
 73
 74Example configuration:
 75
 76```json [settings]
 77{
 78  "buffer_font_family": "JetBrains Mono",
 79  "buffer_font_size": 14,
 80  "ui_font_family": "Inter",
 81  "ui_font_size": 16,
 82  "terminal": {
 83    "font_family": "JetBrains Mono",
 84    "font_size": 14
 85  }
 86}
 87```
 88
 89### Font Ligatures
 90
 91To disable font ligatures:
 92
 93```json [settings]
 94{
 95  "buffer_font_features": {
 96    "calt": false
 97  }
 98}
 99```
100
101### Line Height
102
103Adjust line spacing with `buffer_line_height`:
104
105- `"comfortable"` — 1.618 ratio (default)
106- `"standard"` — 1.3 ratio
107- `{ "custom": 1.5 }` — Custom ratio
108
109## UI Elements
110
111Zed provides extensive control over UI elements including:
112
113- **Tab bar** — Show/hide, navigation buttons, file icons, git status
114- **Status bar** — Language selector, cursor position, line endings
115- **Scrollbar** — Visibility, git diff indicators, search results
116- **Minimap** — Code overview display
117- **Gutter** — Line numbers, fold indicators, breakpoints
118- **Panels** — Project Panel, Terminal, Agent Panel sizing and docking
119
120→ [Visual Customization documentation](./visual-customization.md) for all UI element settings
121
122## What's Next
123
124- [All Settings](./reference/all-settings.md) — Complete settings reference
125- [Key bindings](./key-bindings.md) — Customize keyboard shortcuts
126- [Vim Mode](./vim.md) — Enable modal editing