Different color for error's and warning's

[ipadawan]

Searching here and there about this and trying to find where to put my own theme, my guess is that I have to ask it here.

macOS using IDE Version: 2.3.6
Date: 2025-04-09T11:22:51.016Z
CLI Version: 1.2.0

Trying and with the topics here.

How can I change the error and warning colors in the compiler output?

For example, I’d like to change the warning color to orange so I can better distinguish it from errors. Is that possible?

Additionally, where should I place downloaded themes?

Some websites say to put them in the themes folder inside Arduino.app/Contents/Java/, but there’s no Java folder in my installation.

Other pages mention a themes or plugins folder inside ~/.arduinoIDE/, but those don’t exist — and creating them manually doesn’t work either. Then there’s no option available in the “Theme” dropdown menu in the Preferences window.

[sonofcy]

@ipadawan

themes or plugins folder inside ~/.arduinoIDE/, but those don’t exist

I think you need to create the themes or plugins folder inside the hiddden ~/.arduinoIDE folder.
Perhaps if you posted a theme file the rest of us could experiment with it and update you if we have good luck.

[ptillisch]

Hi @ipadawan.

@ipadawan

Some websites say to put them in the themes folder inside Arduino.app/Contents/Java/, but there’s no Java folder in my installation.

That information is for Arduino IDE 1.x. Arduino IDE 2.x has a completely different theme system, so any information you find about Arduino IDE 1.x themes is not relevant.

A community member shared some information about using 3rd party themes, and creating custom themes for Arduino IDE 2.x here:

Personal themes

Hi @F6EEQ. Arduino IDE 2.x uses a completely different theme system than Arduino IDE 1.x, so none of the information about the 1.x theme system is applicable in any way to Arduino IDE 2.x. Arduino IDE 2.x is built on the Eclipse Theia IDE framework, which allows it to use VS Code themes. Table of Contents Install a Pre-Made Theme Find Theme Install Theme in Arduino IDE Make a Custom Theme Generate VS Code Extension Template Design Theme Manually VS Code Theme Studio Install Theme in A…

@ipadawan

Other pages mention a themes or plugins folder inside ~/.arduinoIDE/

You should install themes under a folder named plugins.

@ipadawan

Then there’s no option available in the “Theme” dropdown menu in the Preferences window.

It should definitely work if you follow the instructions provided in the post I linked above. If you follow those and still encounter a problem, provide a detailed description of what you did and what didn't work in a reply here on this forum topic and we'll try to help with that.

Please note that Arduino IDE 2.x does not support Arduino IDE 1.x themes, so if you installed an Arduino IDE 1.x theme, then it is normal and expected that Arduino IDE 2.x did not recognize it.