Get started with rstudiothemes • rstudiothemes

The rstudiothemes package provides tools to convert Visual Studio Code, Positron and TextMate theme files to RStudio .rstheme files and install them in your RStudio IDE. It also includes bundled RStudio themes.

library(rstudiothemes)

Install bundled themes

To install all bundled RStudio themes:

install_rstudiothemes()

#> ✔ Installed 38 themes
#> ℹ Use `rstudiothemes::list_rstudiothemes()` to list installed themes.
#> ℹ Use `rstudiothemes::try_rstudiothemes()` to preview installed themes.

This adds popular themes such as Tokyo Night, Nord, Winter is Coming and Dracula2025 to your RStudio themes directory.

To list the themes available in the package:

list_rstudiothemes(list_installed = FALSE)
#>  [1] "Andromeda"                  "ayu Dark"                  
#>  [3] "ayu Light"                  "Barbie Theme"              
#>  [5] "Bluloco Light"              "Catppuccin Latte"          
#>  [7] "Catppuccin Mocha"           "cobalt2"                   
#>  [9] "CRAN"                       "Dracula2025"               
#> [11] "GitHub Dark"                "GitHub Light"              
#> [13] "JellyFish Theme"            "Matcha"                    
#> [15] "Matrix"                     "Night Owl"                 
#> [17] "Night Owl Light"            "Nord"                      
#> [19] "OKSolar Dark"               "OKSolar Light"             
#> [21] "OKSolar Sky"                "One Dark Pro"              
#> [23] "Overflow Dark"              "Overflow Light"            
#> [25] "Panda Syntax"               "Positron Dark"             
#> [27] "Positron Light"             "Selenized Dark"            
#> [29] "Selenized Light"            "Skeletor Syntax"           
#> [31] "SynthWave 84"               "Tokyo Night Light"         
#> [33] "Tokyo Night Storm"          "Tokyo Night"               
#> [35] "VSCode Dark"                "VSCode Light"              
#> [37] "Winter is Coming Dark Blue" "Winter is Coming Light"

Preview themes

You can preview installed themes from an R session:

try_rstudiothemes()

Set style to "dark" or "light" to filter the preview. During the preview, press k to keep the current theme.

Apply a theme

After installing themes, apply one with the rstudioapi package:

rstudioapi::applyTheme("Winter is Coming Dark Blue")

RStudio screenshot with the Winter is Coming Dark Blue theme applied. The editor and surrounding panes have dark blue backgrounds, with R code highlighted in contrasting colors. — Figure 1: Screenshot of the Winter is Coming Dark Blue theme.

To apply an installed theme in RStudio, choose Tools > Global Options > Appearance and select it from the editor theme list.

Convert your own themes

You can convert a Visual Studio Code, Positron or TextMate theme file to an RStudio .rstheme file:

convert_to_rstudio_theme(
  "<path/to/vscode-theme.json>",
  apply = TRUE,
  force = TRUE
)

This function writes the .rstheme file, installs it and applies it when apply = TRUE.

Workflow example: from Visual Studio Code or Positron to RStudio

Choose a .json theme file from Visual Studio Code or Positron.
Convert and install it with convert_to_rstudio_theme().
Apply it with rstudioapi::applyTheme() or the RStudio interface.

This workflow brings your preferred editor theme to RStudio.

Tips and tricks

List installed themes with list_rstudiothemes(list_installed = TRUE).
Filter themes by "light" or "dark" style.
In RStudio, choose Tools > Global Options > Appearance > Add to install .rstheme files that you have created or converted.