VSCode: editor.background, per user, per workspace

Question

I often work on multiple projects with multiple instances of VSCode open simultaneously. It would be nice to have a different background color in each instance so I can differentiate them easily.

I can add:

"workbench.colorCustomizations": {
   "editor.background": "#xxxxxxx"
 }

in my user settings, but then it changes the background color for all instances of VSCode. Or, I can add that to the workspace settings. Unfortunately the workspace setting file is under source code control (for other workspace-relevant settings), so that changes it for everyone else on my team, annoying them.

Is there a way to configure a per-user, per-workspace setting, or perhaps an extension?

Answer 1

From workspace and user settings

VS Code provides two different scopes for settings:

User These settings apply globally to any instance of VS Code you open

Workspace These settings are stored inside your workspace in a .vscode folder and only apply when the workspace is opened. Settings defined on this scope override the user scope.

So in your root folder for each workspace within a .vscode folder you can add a settings.json with

// Place your settings in this file to overwrite default and user settings.

{

  "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
      "editor.background": "#f00"
  }
}