Blender theme: change the interface colours and install themes

Blender opens with a dark theme, in deep grey, designed to make the scene stand out. But the interface colours are fully adjustable: a light theme for a screen in daylight, more contrast to tell selections apart, or a whole theme downloaded in one click. This guide shows where these settings are and how to install a theme.

Changing the theme in a few seconds

1. Open Edit, then Preferences.
2. In the left column, choose Themes.
3. At the top of the section, open the list of presets and choose a theme: it applies straight away.
4. To go back to the original colours, use Reset.

Preferences are saved automatically by default, so the chosen theme stays active the next time you launch Blender. The same window also sets the interface language.

Installing a theme from the extensions platform

Since the arrival of the official extensions.blender.org platform, themes install like add-ons. On 20 October 2026, it listed 278 themes.

1. In Edit, Preferences, open the Get Extensions section.
2. Filter on themes (Only show themes) and search for a name, or browse the list.
3. Click Install: the theme is downloaded and added to your preferences.

From the website, you can also drag a theme's install link into the Blender window, or download its .zip package and drop it into Blender. The Blender add-ons guide covers the extensions platform in detail.

Installing a theme from an XML file

Older themes, shared on forums or code repositories, are often plain .xml files. In the Themes section, the Install button loads the file, applies the theme and adds it to the list of presets. A theme designed for an old version of Blender may leave some areas in the default colours, where interface elements have been added since.

Creating your own theme

The Themes section breaks the colours down editor by editor: 3D Viewport, Outliner, Shader Editor, Timeline, Graph Editor, and the common interface elements. It also sets details such as the size of points in the 3D Viewport or the Graph Editor. To create a theme:

1. Start from a theme close to what you want.
2. Change the colours in the subsections that bother you, for example the active selection in the 3D Viewport or the curves in the Graph Editor.
3. Save the result as a new preset, with the add button next to the list. Blender saves it as an XML file in the scripts/presets/interface_theme/ folder of your configuration directory: this is the file you can copy to another machine or share.

A few tips

• Keep contrast on the selection: it is the colour you look at most. A poorly distinguished active object wastes time on every click.
• Be wary of very saturated backgrounds in the 3D Viewport: they skew how you perceive the colours of materials. Always judge a material in Material Preview mode or in the render.
• To enlarge the interface, it is not the theme you need to change but the interface scale (Resolution Scale) in the Interface section of the preferences.
• To follow a tutorial, a theme close to the default one saves you hunting for elements on screen. The Blender shortcuts guide and the 3D Viewport entry (in French) help you find your way around.