
⚠️ This extension may not work on mac os and some linux systems
⚠️ IMPORTANT NOTE :
- AFTER INSTALLING TABSCOLOR AND RESTARTING VSCODE, YOU WILL GET THE POPUP "YOUR CODE INSTALLATION IS CORRUPT...".
- CLICK ON THE GEAR ICON AND CHOOSE "DON'T SHOW AGAIN"
- PLEASE REFER TO THE NOTES AND UNINSTALL SECTION FOR MORE INFORMATION
About tabscolor

This extension lets you color the background/text of your tabs either by right click, by filetype or by directory. Useful when working with many tabs.
⚠️ The extension is still in an experimental phase!
Quickstart
Install the extension, RESTART your vscode (not just reload), right click on any tab and select from the color menu.
You can also use settings for coloring based on path or filetype.
🎨 Tab Color Customization
This extension allows you to customize the appearance of your VS Code tabs based on file types, directory paths, and the active tab.
Go to the extension page > manage (gear icon) > settings or add these lines to your VS Code user settings.json
Customize VSCode tab color by file types
example:
"tabsColor.byFileType": {
"js": {
"backgroundColor": "yellow",
"fontColor": "black"
}
}
Customize VSCode tab color by directory path
example:
"tabsColor.byDirectory": {
"C:\\wamp\\www\\my_project\\css": {
"backgroundColor": "#00efff",
"fontColor": "#ffffff"
}
}
example 2 (partial path):
"tabsColor.byDirectory": {
"\\my_project\\": {
"backgroundColor": "#00efff",
"fontColor": "#ffffff"
}
}
Set the active tab color
example:
"tabsColor.activeTab": {
"backgroundColor": "yellow",
"fontColor": "black"
}
Notes :
Uninstall :
- You MUST use the "remove patch" command before uninstalling to avoid "Your code installation is corrupt..." message in the future
This extension can :
- change the background/text color of any tab header using the contextual menu
- automatically change the background/text color of tabs based on filetypes
- automatically change the background/text color of tabs based on directories (absolute or partial)
- change the background/text color of the active tab
This extension can't (yet) :
- change the whole background of the tab page
- change the background color of tabs based on regex (but partial exact paths are possible)
Available commands:
press Ctrl+Shift+P (or Cmd+Shift+P on macOS) to open the Command Palette
- clear all tabs colors
- clear all open tab colors
- set tab random color
- set tab specific color (from a list of colors)
- add/delete custom color
- reapply patch
- remove patch (required for uninstalling)
Recent changes
- v0.2.14: Fixed tooltip issue when hovering tabs by using custom data attribute instead of title attribute
Contributors Welcome
Don't hesitate to contribute to this extension!
TODO
- [x] Allow custom color options (done by ✓ntkhang03)
- [x] New command: clear the color of all open tabs (done by ✓kobilee)
- [x] Allow partial paths when coloring based on directory
- [ ] Add color icons to color options in the contextual menu
- [ ] New command: set random colors to all open tabs
- [ ] New command: sort open tabs by color
- [ ] Add a new item to the explorer contextual menu to quickly set colors based on to the target folder
- [ ] New feature: toggle color of a tab using a keyboard (or mouse combined) shortcut
- [ ] New setting: tab opacity when a tab is inactive
- [ ] New setting: ignore active tab color when the tab has already a color