Configuring a light colored theme
The default colors for both PowerShell and PSReadLine are selected for a dark background terminal. However, some users may choose to use a light background with dark text. Since most of the default colors don't set the background, using light foreground colors on a light background produces unreadable text.
PSReadLine allows you to define colors for 18 different syntax elements. You can view the
current settings using the Get-PSReadLineOption cmdlet.
EditMode : Windows
AddToHistoryHandler : System.Func`2[System.String,System.Object]
HistoryNoDuplicates : True
HistorySavePath : C:\Users\user1\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Wind...
HistorySaveStyle : SaveIncrementally
HistorySearchCaseSensitive : False
HistorySearchCursorMovesToEnd : False
MaximumHistoryCount : 4096
ContinuationPrompt : >>
ExtraPromptLineCount : 0
PromptText : {> }
BellStyle : Audible
DingDuration : 50
DingTone : 1221
CommandsToValidateScriptBlockArguments : {ForEach-Object, %, Invoke-Command, icm...}
CommandValidationHandler :
CompletionQueryItems : 100
MaximumKillRingCount : 10
ShowToolTips : True
ViModeIndicator : None
WordDelimiters : ;:,.[]{}()/\|^&*-=+'"-—―
AnsiEscapeTimeout : 100
PredictionSource : HistoryAndPlugin
PredictionViewStyle : InlineView
CommandColor : "`e[93m"
CommentColor : "`e[32m"
ContinuationPromptColor : "`e[37m"
DefaultTokenColor : "`e[37m"
EmphasisColor : "`e[96m"
ErrorColor : "`e[91m"
InlinePredictionColor : "`e[38;5;238m"
KeywordColor : "`e[92m"
ListPredictionColor : "`e[33m"
ListPredictionSelectedColor : "`e[48;5;238m"
MemberColor : "`e[97m"
NumberColor : "`e[97m"
OperatorColor : "`e[90m"
ParameterColor : "`e[90m"
SelectionColor : "`e[30;47m"
StringColor : "`e[36m"
TypeColor : "`e[37m"
VariableColor : "`e[92m"
The color settings are stored as strings containing ANSI escape sequences that change the color in
your terminal. Using the Set-PSReadLineOption cmdlet you can change the colors to values that work
better for a light-colored background.
Defining colors for a light theme
The PowerShell ISE can be configured to use a light theme for both the editor and console panes. You can also view and change the colors that the ISE uses for various syntax and output types. You can use these color choices to define a similar theme for PSReadLine.
The following hashtable defines colors for PSReadLine that mimic the colors in the PowerShell ISE.
$ISETheme = @{
Command = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x0000FF)
Comment = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x006400)
ContinuationPrompt = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x0000FF)
Default = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x0000FF)
Emphasis = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x287BF0)
Error = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0xE50000)
InlinePrediction = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x93A1A1)
Keyword = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x00008b)
ListPrediction = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x06DE00)
Member = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x000000)
Number = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x800080)
Operator = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x757575)
Parameter = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x000080)
String = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x8b0000)
Type = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0x008080)
Variable = $PSStyle.Foreground.FromRGB(0xff4500)
ListPredictionSelected = $PSStyle.Background.FromRGB(0x93A1A1)
Selection = $PSStyle.Background.FromRGB(0x00BFFF)
}
Note
In PowerShell 7.2 and higher you can use the FromRGB() method of $PSStyle to create the ANSI
escape sequences for the colors you want.
For more information about $PSStyle, see about_ANSI_Terminals.
For more information about ANSI escape sequences, see the ANSI escape code article in Wikipedia.
Setting the color theme in your profile
To have the color settings you want in every PowerShell session, you must add the configuration settings to your PowerShell profile script. For an example, see Customizing your shell environment
Add the $ISETheme variable and the following Set-PSReadLineOption command to your profile.
Set-PSReadLineOption -Colors $ISETheme
Beginning in PowerShell 7.2, PowerShell adds colorized output to the default console experience. The
colors used are defined in the $PSStyle variable and are designed for a dark background. The
following settings work better for a light background terminal.
$PSStyle.Formatting.FormatAccent = "`e[32m"
$PSStyle.Formatting.TableHeader = "`e[32m"
$PSStyle.Formatting.ErrorAccent = "`e[36m"
$PSStyle.Formatting.Error = "`e[31m"
$PSStyle.Formatting.Warning = "`e[33m"
$PSStyle.Formatting.Verbose = "`e[33m"
$PSStyle.Formatting.Debug = "`e[33m"
$PSStyle.Progress.Style = "`e[33m"
$PSStyle.FileInfo.Directory = $PSStyle.Background.FromRgb(0x2f6aff) +
$PSStyle.Foreground.BrightWhite
$PSStyle.FileInfo.SymbolicLink = "`e[36m"
$PSStyle.FileInfo.Executable = "`e[95m"
$PSStyle.FileInfo.Extension['.ps1'] = "`e[36m"
$PSStyle.FileInfo.Extension['.ps1xml'] = "`e[36m"
$PSStyle.FileInfo.Extension['.psd1'] = "`e[36m"
$PSStyle.FileInfo.Extension['.psm1'] = "`e[36m"
Choosing colors for accessibility
The ISE color theme may not work for users with color-blindness or other conditions that limit their ability to see colors.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has recommendations for using colors for accessibility. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 recommends that "visual presentation of text and images of text has a contrast ratio of at least 4.5:1." For more information, see Success Criterion 1.4.3 Contrast (Minimum).
The Contrast Ratio website provides a tool that lets you pick foreground and background colors and measure the contrast. You can use this tool to find color combinations that work best for you.
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