VS Code Window Color Rotator

Rotate to use a different color for VS Code window in different projects.

Mar-20-2026 18-01-12

When you have multiple VS Code windows open for different projects, it can be hard to distinguish them at a glance. Colorizing the window can help.

Installation

Install
Search Window Color Rotator in the VS Code extension marketplace and install it.

Uninstall
Uninstall the extension from the VS Code extension marketplace.
Remove the workbench.colorCustomizations field in the project's .vscode/settings.json file.
(optional) Remove the cache files in the extension's global storage:
~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/gcc3.vscode-color-rotator.

Quick Start

Status bar button
Click the Rotate Color button in the status bar to rotate the color for the current project window.
It can remember a color for each project (path).

Command palette
Press Ctrl + Shift + P, then type Window Color Rotator to trigger the command.
Support commands:
Window Color Rotator: Rotate to rotate the color for the current project window.
Window Color Rotator: Clear to clear the color for the current project window.
Window Color Rotator: Reset All to clear the colors for all projects.
Window Color Rotator: Customize Colors to customize the colors in the color configuration file.

How It Works

Basically it writes a custom color into .vscode/.settings.json file workbench.colorCustomizations field in the project folder.

When rotating color, it will choose a color from the color configuration file (colors.json), and write the color to .vscode/settings.json file.
It will save the project path to color configuration file (colors.json).

Everytime when user opens a project, it will check the project path in the color configuration file (colors.json), if there is a color associated with the project path, it will load the color to .vscode/settings.json file.

Functions:

Rotate color
To rotate the color for the current project window.
Use command:
Window Color Rotator: Rotate.
It will rotate and choose a color for the current project window from the colors.json, and write the color to .vscode/settings.json file. It will save the project path to color configuration file (colors.json).

Clear color
Clear the color for the current project window, both in .vscode/settings.json and in color configuration file (colors.json).
Use command:
Window Color Rotator: Clear.

Reset all
Clear the colors for all projects, for both in current project .vscode/settings.json and in color configuration file (colors.json).
It will re-initialize the color configuration file from example file (colors.json.example or colors.dark.json.example).
All the colors and project paths will be cleared.
Use command:
Window Color Rotator: Reset All.

Customize Colors

You can edit colors configuration file (colors.json) to add your customized colors.
Use command:
Window Color Rotator: Customize Colors to open the color configuration file.

File location
The color configuration file is in the extension's global storage:
~/Library/Application Support/Code/User/globalStorage/gcc3.vscode-color-rotator/colors.json.
Manually open the file and edit it to customize the colors will also work.

File structure and fields
colors.json stores the colors and the project paths, one color can be associated with multiple projects.
Field workbench.colorCustomizations is the color setting, it will be copied to the .vscode/settings.json.
Filed projectPath is an array of project paths that are associated with the color.

Color example with fields description:

{
    "colorName": "pink",  // color name, just for reference
    "color": "#ffeaea",  // primary color, just for reference
    "workbench.colorCustomizations": {
        "titleBar.activeBackground": "#ffeaea",  // title bar active background color
        "titleBar.inactiveBackground": "#ffeaea",  // title bar inactive background color
        "titleBar.activeForeground": "#1e1e1e",  // title bar active foreground color
        "titleBar.inactiveForeground": "#6d6c6f",  // title bar inactive foreground color
        "statusBar.background": "#ffeaea",  // status bar background color
        "statusBar.foreground": "#1e1e1e",  // status bar foreground color
    },
    "projectPath": []  // array of project paths that are associated with the color
}

Local Execution

Clone the source code into the project's .vscode folder.
Run setup.sh to install dependencies.
For local execution, colors.json file is in the cloned folder.

Scripts:
rotate.sh to rotate window color.
clear.sh to clear window color.
load.sh to load the color from colors.json for current project.
resetall.sh [light|dark] to reset all window colors.

Window Color Rotator