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Trick To Use Dark Theme In SQL Server Management Studio 2017

Customization Options for Dark Theme

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) has been the favorite tool of SQL Server users as it comes as an integrated tool for managing SQL Infrastructure as well as day-to-day tasks like deployment, monitoring, designing, managing, etc. SSMS 2017 has arrived with so many exciting features but is still lacking the DARK theme which is growing popular among developers and DBAs. Well, it’s in the development stage and there is a trick to enable it which we’ll see in this small post.

If you haven’t installed SSMS yet, try it. It’s FREE.

Download SSMS 2017 from here.

To change the current theme, there are two ways to open the Configuration window.

  1. Go to, Tools, Options
    Options
  2. Type the theme in the Quick Launch (CTRL+Q) textbox.
    Textbox

The Options window will pop up and if you click on the Color theme dropdown, you’ll be presented with just 2 themes – Blue & Light.

Blue

The dark theme is hidden from users as it is still in the development stage.

You can enable the dark theme using the following steps.

Step 1. Open Notepad as administrator.

Step 2. Click on File >> Open and navigate to the following path.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\140\Tools\Binn\ManagementStudio

Step 3. Open ssms.pkgundef file.

Step 4. Find the section “//Remove Dark theme”

Remove Dark theme

Step 5. Comment out the highlighted line and save changes to the file.

Restart the SSMS and you should now be able to see the Dark theme option.

SQL Server

Apply it and enjoy

Apply

Note. As this feature is still in the development stage, there is a possibility of some unexpected behavior for you to experience.

Hope you liked this small tip.


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