# File Colors

> **TL;DR**
> `File | Settings | Appearance and Behavior | File Colors` for Windows and Linux
>
>
>
> `IntelliJ IDEA | Settings | Appearance and Behavior | File Colors` for macOS
>
>
>
> `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Windows), `⌘ Comma` (macOS), `⌘ Comma` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ Comma` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (XWin), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (KDE), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Sublime Text), `⌘ Comma` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Visual Studio), `⌘ Comma` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+Alt+S` (Eclipse), `⌘ Comma` (Eclipse (macOS)) ![the Settings icon](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.settings.svg)

Use this page to set colors for [distinguishing project files of specific scopes](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html).

![Configuring file colors in Settings](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/settings-file-colors.png)

| Item | Description |
| --- | --- |
| Enable file colors | Select this checkbox to enable the feature. |
| Use in editor tabs | Enable colors in editor tabs. |
| Use in project view | Enable colors in the   Project tool window  (`Alt+1` (Windows), `⌘ 1` (macOS), `⌘ 1` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ 1` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Alt+1` (XWin), `Alt+1` (GNOME), `Alt+1` (KDE), `Alt+1` (Emacs), `Alt+1` (Sublime Text), `⌘ 1` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+1` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Alt+L` (Visual Studio), `⌘ ⌥ L` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Alt+1` (Eclipse), `Alt+1` (Eclipse (macOS)))  and in search results (for example, in the Find in Files dialog `Ctrl+Shift+F` (Windows), `⌘ ⇧ F` (macOS), `⌃ ⇧ F` (IntelliJ IDEA Classic (macOS)), `⌘ ⇧ F` (macOS System Shortcuts), `Ctrl+Shift+F` (XWin), `Ctrl+Shift+F` (GNOME), `Ctrl+Shift+F` (KDE), `Ctrl+Shift+F` (Emacs), `Ctrl+Shift+F` (Sublime Text), `⌘ ⇧ F` (Sublime Text (macOS)), `Ctrl+Shift+F` (NetBeans), `Ctrl+Shift+F` (Visual Studio), `⌘ ⇧ F` (Visual Studio (macOS)), `Ctrl+H` (Eclipse), `⌃ H` (Eclipse (macOS))). |
| Manage scopes… | Click this button to define the required scopes. |

## Configure colors

Similarly to scopes, color associations can be local and shared.

* Local colors are only visible to you and are not shared through VCS.

* Shared colors are placed under version control so that people who work on a project can use the same color associations. They are stored in the project folder under `.idea` in the `fileColors.xml` file (for example: `MyProject/.idea/fileColors.xml`).

| Item | Tooltip | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| ![the Add button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.add.svg)   | Add | Open a list with the available scopes. Click ![the right arrow button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.general.arrowRight.svg) next to the necessary scope in the list and select a color.  |
| ![the Remove button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.remove.svg) | Remove | Remove the selected color-scope association.  |
| ![the Move up button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.moveUp.svg) / ![the Move down button](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/app.expui.general.moveDown.svg)  | Up / Down |  Sort the color-scope associations and [change                         the order](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html#arrange-the-order-of-scopes) in which they are applied.  |
| Share through VCS |  | Share the selected local scope through VCS. |

Apply the changes and close the dialog.  After that you will see colors in the selected areas in the interface:

![Scope highlighting in the editor tabs and search results](https://resources.jetbrains.com.cn/help/img/idea/2026.2/ij_scope_highlighting.png)

> **Note:**
> This topic explains how to set colors distinguishing project files of specific scopes. If you need to set VCS file status colors, refer to [this page](adding-files-to-version-control.html#file_status).

## How it works

* [Scopes and file colors](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html)

## See also

### Procedures

[Search everywhere](searching-everywhere.html) [Scopes and file colors](configuring-scopes-and-file-colors.html)