[SOLVED] Which preference setting changes compilation-message font&colour?

Been googling this for an hour, searched this forum, and I've tried changing a dozen obscurely-named settings in the Preferences:OpenSettings(UI) tab but I'm getting nowhere. And there must be another thousand settings in there. So...

... please-desperately-please which setting do I change to get a readable font/colour for the compilation error messages in the 2.0.2 IDE 'Output' window? Currently they're non-bold dim-orange (on the black background). Which is B-all good for my 60-year-old eyes.

Hi @MechanicalCat.

The font can be changed in the IDE's advanced settings:

  1. Open the Command Palette by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P (Command+Shift+P for macOS users).
  2. Select the "Preferences: Open Settings (UI)" command.
  3. A "Preferences" tab will now open in the Arduino IDE main panel. In the "Search Settings" field, type font family
  4. You can now set the fonts by entering a font name in the fields of the settings you are interested in customizing. The font used in the "Output" panel is set by the "Editor: Font Family" setting.
    This field is a comma-separated lists of font names. The first installed font on the list is used, so a list of multiple fonts provides fallback fonts to use in case the previous ones don't happen to be installed on the system the IDE is running on.
  5. Click the X icon on the "Preferences" tab once you are finished.

The font change will take effect immediately.

Please let me know if you have any questions or problems while customizing the font.


As for the color, it is set via the theme. You can select from any of the pre-installed themes by following these instructions:

  1. Select File > Preferences... from the Arduino IDE menus.
  2. Select a theme from the "Theme" menu.
    The Arduino IDE user interface will immediately show a preview of the theme.
  3. Once you have found the theme you like, click the OK button.

In case none of the pre-installed themes are to you liking, you might be interested in this information about installing 3rd party themes or even making your own custom theme:


The Arduino IDE developers are tracking the need to use a more readable color for the warning/error text in the" "Output" panel here:

If you have a GitHub account, you can subscribe to that issue to get notifications of any new developments related to this subject.

Thank you :slight_smile: Hadn't crossed my mind to try the simple thing of changing themes (d'oh!)
At first glance, the output window of the theme Light-Theia is vastly more useable. So I'll use that until I can find time to make a personal theme. For some reason (distant memories of flickering low-res green-screen monitors???) I prefer black backgrounds but only for development. Perhaps I should just get with the times :slight_smile:

You are welcome. I'm glad if I was able to be of assistance.

Regards,
Per

This topic was automatically closed 180 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.