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Is there any official method to use Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Studio with Dark Mode?
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(246.4, 36%, 33%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ETM%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
I found https://www.sqlshades.com/ on a reddit thread. Downloaded it, restarted SSMS, and now dark mode is enabled by default.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(297.6, 95%, 38%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EPV%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Still to adapt to https://www.sqlshades.com/, but works!
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![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(96, 26%, 19%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EYK%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Hi @Kıvanç ÖZDEMİR,
You can try a solution that outlined here: https://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/7218/dark-mode-ssms-configuration/
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(115.19999999999999, 17%, 21%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EJD%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
does not work for 19
It works perfectly well with both SSMS 19 and SSMS 20.
The difference is a location on the file system:
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(163.2, 24%, 25%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ETK%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
@Yitzhak Khabinsky It only changes the Ribbon and the Query Window. The Object Explorer and Results Grid aren't changed, so pretty much useless.
Please try SQL Shades: https://www.sqlshades.com/
It is free of charge, and much more complete solution.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(41.6, 90%, 14%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EHS%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Does work partially, by this I mean only the text Editor window appears in dark mode, everything else is same.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(131.20000000000002, 81%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ES%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
None of these solutions apply to SSMS v19+. You are on your own.
The world loves bright white light for some reason. Enjoy finding a way to obtain a Dark Mode in SSMS v19+.
In the past I have used the following:
Options
Environment
Fonts and Colors
You can experiment here and tame down the bright white light. Then after a while you WILL find something that works and be able to be productive. Maybe in the next 20 years, Dark Mode will catch on as users' eyes can't take it any longer!
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(41.6, 98%, 14%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ERS%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
I am currently using SSMS 20.1 and I did try changing the pkgundef Config file. Don't do that, trust me. It's horrible, only the query tab goes dark but along with it all the right click menus also go dark with black text, couldn't see anything.
Then I tried SQL shades, and it works somewhat but loads better than the config change.
Hi @Kıvanç ÖZDEMİR,
You may also refer to this blog step by step.
https://blog.rajanand.org/how-to-enable-dark-mode-in-ssms
Regards，
Zoe Hui
If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and upvote it.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(259.20000000000005, 44%, 35%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3ETC%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Thanks! This works for v20.2, just use the following path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 20\Common7\IDE
Hello
There is no native Dark Mode in any version of SSMS, there are few workarounds described in previous answers
Regards
Javier
None of these solutions apply to SSMS v19+. You are on your own.
The world loves bright white light for some reason. Enjoy finding a way to obtain a Dark Mode in SSMS v19+.
In the past I have used the following:- Options
Sorry about that formatting. The editor here needs some work too!
None of these solutions apply to SSMS v19+. You are on your own.
It is not a true statement. Everything stays the same, Just a location of the config file is slightly different:
c:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 19\Common7\IDE\ssms.pkgundef
@Yitzhak Khabinsky Not really a solution because Object Explorer and the Query Results windows don't honor the Dark theme.