vscode: Dark mode doesn't switch on and off when the OS automatically switches

Type: Bug

Set macOS to automatically switch between light mode and dark mode.
Set VS Code to use different themes for light and dark mode.
Before sunset, ensure you are in light mode. Lock your screen and leave your computer.
Have a nice dinner, go for a bike ride, reconnect with friends and family, enjoy a beautiful sunset, and walk your dog.
Later that night, return to your computer. Note the computer has automatically set dark mode, but VS Code is still on light mode.

You’ll have to manually switch macOS back to light mode and back again to dark mode for Code to pick up teh dark mode.

VS Code version: Code 1.70.1 (Universal) (6d9b74a70ca9c7733b29f0456fd8195364076dda, 2022-08-10T06:09:06.916Z) OS version: Darwin arm64 21.6.0 Modes:

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	Apple M1 Ultra (20 x 24)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled canvas_oop_rasterization: disabled_off direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled metal: disabled_off multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_renderer: enabled_on video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled
Load (avg)	6, 6, 5
Memory (System)	128.00GB (2.24GB free)
Process Argv	–crash-reporter-id 04103f14-c8dc-42a8-b7b2-1ffef3657f3f
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

Extensions (30)

Extension	Author (truncated)	Version
vscode-zonefile	Com	0.0.4
systemd-unit-file	coo	1.0.6
doxdocgen	csc	1.4.0
copilot	Git	1.40.6471
vscode-pull-request-github	Git	0.48.1
vscode-graphql	Gra	0.7.3
vscode-graphql-syntax	Gra	1.0.4
better-cpp-syntax	jef	1.15.19
cmake-language-support-vscode	jos	0.0.4
ldif	jta	0.2.0
bash-ide-vscode	mad	1.14.0
vscode-docker	ms-	1.22.1
vscode-dotnet-runtime	ms-	1.5.0
python	ms-	2022.12.0
vscode-pylance	ms-	2022.8.20
jupyter	ms-	2022.7.1102252217
remote-containers	ms-	0.245.0
remote-ssh	ms-	0.84.0
remote-ssh-edit	ms-	0.80.0
remote-wsl	ms-	0.66.3
cmake-tools	ms-	1.11.26
cpptools	ms-	1.12.1
cpptools-extension-pack	ms-	1.2.0
vsliveshare	ms-	1.0.5683
vsliveshare-audio	ms-	0.1.91
sqltools	mtx	0.23.0
sqltools-driver-pg	mtx	0.2.0
vetur	oct	0.36.0
cmake	twx	0.0.17
vscode-arduino	vsc	0.4.12

(3 theme extensions excluded)

A/B Experiments

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pythonvs932:30410667
wslgetstarted:30449410
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pylanb8912cf:30529770
vsclangdf:30486550
c4g48928:30535728
hb751961:30541207
dsvsc012cf:30540253

About this issue

Original URL
State: closed
Created 2 years ago
Reactions: 6
Comments: 24 (7 by maintainers)

Most upvoted comments

What helped for me was to open up the settings.json manually and changing some lines. It was like this:

{
    "window.systemColorTheme": "auto",
    "window.autoDetectColorScheme": true,
}

I removed the systemColorTheme line, saved the file (Cmd+S) and then it did immediataly change colors correctly. It also changed the settings.json to this, though obviously that could also be Dark something if you run it in the evening.

{
    "window.autoDetectColorScheme": true,
    "workbench.colorTheme": "Default Light Modern",
}

gsimons-nzme on Feb 4, 2024

This is vey likely an Electron issue. VS Code listens to the OS color theme changes that come from Electron, and I suspect one is missing while the screen is locked.

I you have a chance (and have node and git installed on your machine), can you validate my theory by running this:

git clone https://github.com/aeschli/electron-theme-test.git
cd electron-theme-test, npm i && npm start
a simple electron window opens
enjoy your evening
when you come back, check the output of the command and paste it here There should be some messages showing that the event has been sent

aeschli on Dec 16, 2022

Marking as fixed. I made the following changes:

When window.autoDetectColorScheme is not enabled, we use workbench.colorTheme (as before)
When window.autoDetectColorScheme is enabled, we use workbench.preferredDarkColorTheme and workbench.preferredLightColorTheme. workbench.colorTheme is ignored, and also not changed
Caveat: window.autoDetectColorScheme is ignored it the system color is hardcoded by window.systemColorTheme

aeschli on Apr 22, 2024

Did you set "window.autoDetectColorScheme": true ?

Is there a reason that window.autoDetectColorScheme is not set to true out-of-the-box? Pretty much every other application on my Mac has this default, and toggles based on system preference (including Teams, Outlook and other MSFT apps).

247arjun on Mar 22, 2024

Seems like VSCode should remove the window.systemColorTheme setting when auto detect is turned on or at least warn a user about it. As it stands now if you set a color scheme and try to use auto, nothing will work unless you figure this bit out.

danawoodman on Mar 22, 2024