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I have a dark query editing environment, but the object explorer and other elements default to the white background. I really like VS 2012 dark theme, and was hoping someone knew of a way to get SSMS 2012 UI elements darker.
I've googled to no avail. There doesn't seem to be much documentation on SSMS and themes. I guess all SQL folks just like it plain and simple.
How do I darken the UI elements on SSMS 2012?
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Reopen SSMS and navigate to the 'Color theme' dropdown as we did earlier. Now, we will see a fourth option for Dark Mode. Unfortunately, it only changes the Ribbon and the Query Window.
Once you restart SSMS go to Menu >> Tools >> Options >> Environment >> General and see the color theme, you will notice that it will have an option for the dark theme. Select this option and click on Save. Next, you will see that your SSMS's theme will be switched to the dark theme.
Click Options on the Tools menu. Click Environment, and then click Fonts and Colors. In the Show settings for list, select Text Editor. Change the font, size, display item, foreground and background colors.
SSMS 2012 is based on VS 2010. There is an extension for VS 2010 called Color Themes Extension, but SSMS does not have an Extensions menu item, so you have to copy the extension manually to {$SqlServerPath}/Tools/Binn/ManagementStudio/Extensions.
You can then install a theme called Expression, which is a dark theme based on Microsoft Expression product line and it works for SSMS, but unfortunately some controls like Object Explorer's background will stay white.
It's described in detail on this blog.
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