How do I change the full background color of the console window in C#?

Question

In C#, the console has properties that can be used to change the background color of the console, and the foreground (text) color of the console.

Console.BackgroundColor // the background color
Console.ForegroundColor // the foreground/text color

The issue is that background color applies only where text is written, not to free space.

Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.White; // background color is white
Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Blue;  // text color is blue

Now, with the above code, it does indeed turn the text blue, but it only turns the background of the text white, instead of the entire console window's background.

Here's an example of what I mean:

As you can see, the white background only displays behind the text, and does not change the color of the entire console window.

How do I change the color of the entire console window?

Answer 1

You need to clear the console window AFTER setting the colors but BEFORE you write the text...

Console.ForegroundColor = ConsoleColor.Red;
Console.BackgroundColor = ConsoleColor.Green;

Console.Clear();

Console.WriteLine("Hello World");

Console.ReadLine();

Answer 2

Pardon the shameless self-promotion, but I've created a small plugin (available on NuGet) that allows you to add any (if supported by your terminal) color to your console output, without the limitations of the classic solutions.

It works by extending the String object, and the syntax is very simple:

"colorize me".Pastel("#1E90FF");