How to disable syntax highlighting in Atom.io

Question

Is there a way to disable syntax highlighting in Atom.io?

I have searched a bit and ended up creating my own syntax package (https://atom.io/themes/no-syntax-highlighting-syntax), but maybe there is a better way.

NB: I just want to disable syntax highlighting (ideally keeping only comments and code in a different color), but I still want the other language-related features of Atom.io working. Like language completions, language snippets, language closure/bloc detections, auto-indent, etc.

(Some people argues against syntax highlighting, stating it might be actually harmful to developer productivity. I wanted to try that. Ie. http://www.linusakesson.net/programming/syntaxhighlighting/ and https://www.robertmelton.com/2016/03/21/syntax-highlighting-off/)

Answer 1

You can use Ctrl+Shift+L (or press button bottom right) to select proper language. In your case it would be Plain Text.

Second option is install package https://atom.io/packages/file-types and add in config.cson:

'file-types':
  'YOURS EXTENSION': 'text.plain'

Answer 2

Haven't found a better solution yet.

If you are trying to do the same thing as I was - disabling syntax highlighting in Atom.io while keeping comments differentiated, language completions, language snippets, language closure/bloc detections and auto-indent - I would just recommend to install the theme I've created: https://atom.io/themes/no-syntax-highlighting-syntax

Answer 3

Set the file syntax to plain text. You can do this with control alt L or something like that.