{"id":1426,"date":"2017-08-02T10:00:02","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T18:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.msdn.microsoft.com\/commandline\/?p=1426"},"modified":"2019-03-14T13:55:26","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T20:55:26","slug":"updating-the-windows-console-colors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/updating-the-windows-console-colors\/","title":{"rendered":"Updating the Windows Console Colors"},"content":{"rendered":"

In another blockbuster post, our Summer 2017 Intern, @craigaloewen<\/a> unveils a subtle, but important improvement to the Console in Windows 10 build 16257. I know many of you have been asking for this<\/a>! O<\/span>ver to you Craig …<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

The Windows Console’s colors are getting their first overhaul in more than 20 years! Hurray!<\/p>\n

The default color values have been changed to improve legibility of darker colors on modern screens, and to give the Console a more modern look & feel<\/span>.<\/p>\n

For example, Windows Console’s legacy blue is very difficult to read on a modern high-contrast displays …<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

… and the improved blue is much more legible:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

What might not be immediately apparent from the above screenshots is that we didn’t just change the blue, we actually tweaked **all<\/em> **of the colors!<\/p>\n

Why Change the Entire Color Scheme?<\/h2>\n

During the past 20 years, screens & display technology, contrast ratio, and resolution have changed significantly, from CRT’s through TFT LCD’s to modern-day nano-scale 4K displays.<\/p>\n

The legacy default scheme was not built for modern displays and does not render as well on newer high-contrast LCD displays. This\u00a0is particularly apparent with deeply saturated darker colors like blue.<\/p>\n

The new default colors will modernize the look of the Windows Console and make it more congruent with other terminal experiences, such as the integrated terminal in VSCode.<\/p>\n

Where Will I See these Changes?<\/h2>\n

If you clean-install a new build of Windows 10 >= 16257<\/strong><\/span>, you’ll get the new colors as the default Console scheme.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you upgraded to this new build of Windows, you will still see the original legacy colors, not the new defaults! This is because we do <\/span>NOT<\/em><\/strong> want to* *overwrite any of your existing custom color settings. To better understand how color settings are stored, <\/span>please <\/span>read this blog post<\/a> on Windows Console settings.<\/span><\/p>\n

So how will you see the new color scheme if you have upgraded from a previous build? We’ve also released a ColorTool<\/a> with which you can apply this and a selection of alternative color schemes to your Windows Console.<\/p>\n

The New Default Scheme Details<\/h2>\n

Here is the legacy color scheme (top), and the new default scheme (below):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Additionally, the following table describes the color scheme change in terms of RGB values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
\n Color Name\n <\/td>\n\n Console\u00a0Legacy RGB Values\n <\/td>\n\n New Default RGB Values\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n BLACK\n <\/td>\n\n 0,0,0\n <\/td>\n\n 12,12,12\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n DARK_BLUE\n <\/td>\n\n 0,0,128\n <\/td>\n\n 0,55,218\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n DARK_GREEN\n <\/td>\n\n 0,128,0\n <\/td>\n\n 19,161,14\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n DARK_CYAN\n <\/td>\n\n 0,128,128\n <\/td>\n\n 58,150,221\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n DARK_RED\n <\/td>\n\n 128,0,0\n <\/td>\n\n 197,15,31\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n DARK_MAGENTA\n <\/td>\n\n 128,0,128\n <\/td>\n\n 136,23,152\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n DARK_YELLOW\n <\/td>\n\n 128,128,0\n <\/td>\n\n 193,156,0\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n DARK_WHITE\n <\/td>\n\n 192,192,192\n <\/td>\n\n 204,204,204\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n BRIGHT_BLACK\n <\/td>\n\n 128,128,128\n <\/td>\n\n 118,118,118\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n BRIGHT_BLUE\n <\/td>\n\n 0,0,255\n <\/td>\n\n 59,120,255\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n BRIGHT_GREEN\n <\/td>\n\n 0,255,0\n <\/td>\n\n 22,198,12\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n BRIGHT_CYAN\n <\/td>\n\n 0,255,255\n <\/td>\n\n 97,214,214\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n BRIGHT_RED\n <\/td>\n\n 255,0,0\n <\/td>\n\n 231,72,86\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n BRIGHT_MAGENTA\n <\/td>\n\n 255,0,255\n <\/td>\n\n 180,0,158\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n BRIGHT_YELLOW\n <\/td>\n\n 255,255,0\n <\/td>\n\n 249,241,165\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
\n WHITE\n <\/td>\n\n 255,255,255\n <\/td>\n\n 242,242,242\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In another blockbuster post, our Summer 2017 Intern, @craigaloewen unveils a subtle, but important improvement to the Console in Windows 10 build 16257. I know many of you have been asking for this! Over to you Craig … The Windows Console’s colors are getting their first overhaul in more than 20 years! Hurray! The default […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2191,"featured_media":4530,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5,6,9],"tags":[17,28,31],"class_list":["post-1426","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-command-line","category-windows-10","category-windows-console","category-bash-on-ubuntu-on-windows","tag-accessibility","tag-color","tag-console"],"acf":[],"blog_post_summary":"

In another blockbuster post, our Summer 2017 Intern, @craigaloewen unveils a subtle, but important improvement to the Console in Windows 10 build 16257. I know many of you have been asking for this! Over to you Craig … The Windows Console’s colors are getting their first overhaul in more than 20 years! Hurray! The default […]<\/p>\n","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1426\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4530"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1426"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1426"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devblogs.microsoft.com\/commandline\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}