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Neovim from Scratch comes with two colorschemes pre-installed: Tokyo Night and Darkplus. This guide will show you how to switch between them and add new colorschemes.

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Current Colorscheme

The active colorscheme is configured in lua/user/colorscheme.lua: 
local colorscheme = "tokyonight"

local status_ok, _ = pcall(vim.cmd, "colorscheme " .. colorscheme)
if not status_ok then
  return
end

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Changing the Colorscheme

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Method 1: Edit Configuration File

Edit lua/user/colorscheme.lua: 
local colorscheme = "darkplus"  -- Change to darkplus

local status_ok, _ = pcall(vim.cmd, "colorscheme " .. colorscheme)
if not status_ok then
  return
end
Restart Neovim or reload the config: 
:source ~/.config/nvim/init.lua

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Method 2: Temporary Change

Test a colorscheme without saving: 
:colorscheme tokyonight
:colorscheme darkplus

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Method 3: Using Telescope

Browse and preview colorschemes interactively: 
<leader>sc
Or: 
:Telescope colorscheme
Use arrow keys to preview, press <Enter> to apply.

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Pre-installed Colorschemes

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Tokyo Night

local colorscheme = "tokyonight"
A clean, dark theme inspired by Tokyo’s night. Variants:
  • tokyonight - Default storm variant
  • tokyonight-night - Darker variant
  • tokyonight-day - Light variant

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Darkplus

local colorscheme = "darkplus"
A theme inspired by VS Code’s Dark+ theme.

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Adding New Colorschemes

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Step 1: Install the Colorscheme Plugin

Add the colorscheme plugin to lua/user/plugins.lua: 
return packer.startup(function(use)
  -- Existing plugins...
  
  -- Existing colorschemes
  use { "folke/tokyonight.nvim", commit = "66bfc2e8f754869c7b651f3f47a2ee56ae557764" }
  use { "lunarvim/darkplus.nvim", commit = "13ef9daad28d3cf6c5e793acfc16ddbf456e1c83" }
  
  -- Add new colorscheme
  use "catppuccin/nvim"
  
  -- Rest of plugins...
end)

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Step 2: Save and Sync

Save the file - Packer will auto-sync. Or manually sync: 
:PackerSync

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Step 3: Activate the Colorscheme

Edit lua/user/colorscheme.lua: 
local colorscheme = "catppuccin"

local status_ok, _ = pcall(vim.cmd, "colorscheme " .. colorscheme)
if not status_ok then
  return
end

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Step 4: Restart Neovim

nvim

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Catppuccin

use "catppuccin/nvim"

local colorscheme = "catppuccin"

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Gruvbox

use "ellisonleao/gruvbox.nvim"

local colorscheme = "gruvbox"

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Nord

use "shaunsingh/nord.nvim"

local colorscheme = "nord"

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Nightfox

use "EdenEast/nightfox.nvim"

local colorscheme = "nightfox"

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Kanagawa

use "rebelot/kanagawa.nvim"

local colorscheme = "kanagawa"

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Rose Pine

use "rose-pine/neovim"

local colorscheme = "rose-pine"

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Dracula

use "Mofiqul/dracula.nvim"

local colorscheme = "dracula"

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One Dark

use "navarasu/onedark.nvim"

local colorscheme = "onedark"

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Advanced Colorscheme Configuration

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Colorscheme with Custom Options

Some colorschemes support configuration options. Example: Catppuccin Configuration Create lua/user/catppuccin.lua: 
local status_ok, catppuccin = pcall(require, "catppuccin")
if not status_ok then
  return
end

catppuccin.setup({
  flavour = "mocha", -- latte, frappe, macchiato, mocha
  transparent_background = false,
  term_colors = true,
  integrations = {
    cmp = true,
    gitsigns = true,
    nvimtree = true,
    telescope = true,
    treesitter = true,
  },
})
Require it before setting the colorscheme in lua/user/colorscheme.lua: 
require("user.catppuccin")  -- Load configuration

local colorscheme = "catppuccin"

local status_ok, _ = pcall(vim.cmd, "colorscheme " .. colorscheme)
if not status_ok then
  return
end
Example: Gruvbox Configuration Create lua/user/gruvbox.lua: 
local status_ok, gruvbox = pcall(require, "gruvbox")
if not status_ok then
  return
end

gruvbox.setup({
  contrast = "hard", -- soft, medium, hard
  transparent_mode = false,
  italic = {
    strings = false,
    comments = true,
    operators = false,
    folds = true,
  },
})

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Transparent Background

Many colorschemes support transparent backgrounds: 
require("colorscheme-name").setup({
  transparent_background = true,
})

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Tokyo Night Variants

Tokyo Night has multiple variants: 
vim.g.tokyonight_style = "storm"  -- storm, night, day
vim.g.tokyonight_transparent = false
vim.g.tokyonight_italic_functions = true
vim.g.tokyonight_sidebars = { "qf", "vista_kind", "terminal", "packer" }

local colorscheme = "tokyonight"

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Using Multiple Colorschemes

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Random Colorscheme on Startup

Create a function in lua/user/colorscheme.lua: 
local colorschemes = { "tokyonight", "darkplus", "catppuccin", "gruvbox" }

math.randomseed(os.time())
local colorscheme = colorschemes[math.random(#colorschemes)]

local status_ok, _ = pcall(vim.cmd, "colorscheme " .. colorscheme)
if not status_ok then
  return
end

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Time-Based Colorscheme

Switch based on time of day: 
local hour = tonumber(os.date("%H"))
local colorscheme

if hour >= 6 and hour < 18 then
  colorscheme = "tokyonight-day"  -- Light theme during day
else
  colorscheme = "tokyonight-night"  -- Dark theme at night
end

local status_ok, _ = pcall(vim.cmd, "colorscheme " .. colorscheme)
if not status_ok then
  return
end

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Keymap to Toggle Colorschemes

Add to lua/user/whichkey.lua: 
["sc"] = { "<cmd>Telescope colorscheme<cr>", "Colorscheme" },
["st"] = { "<cmd>colorscheme tokyonight<cr>", "Tokyo Night" },
["sd"] = { "<cmd>colorscheme darkplus<cr>", "Darkplus" },

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Customizing Colors

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Override Specific Highlight Groups

Customize individual colors in lua/user/colorscheme.lua: 
local colorscheme = "tokyonight"

local status_ok, _ = pcall(vim.cmd, "colorscheme " .. colorscheme)
if not status_ok then
  return
end

-- Custom highlight overrides
vim.cmd([[
  highlight Comment gui=italic
  highlight LineNr guifg=#5c6370
  highlight CursorLineNr guifg=#abb2bf
]])

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Using Lua Highlight API

vim.api.nvim_set_hl(0, "Comment", { italic = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_hl(0, "Function", { fg = "#61AFEF", bold = true })
vim.api.nvim_set_hl(0, "String", { fg = "#98C379" })

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Troubleshooting

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Colorscheme Not Found

Error: colorscheme not found
  1. Verify plugin is installed: 
    :PackerStatus
  2. Manually install: 
    :PackerSync
  3. Check plugin name in plugins.lua matches colorscheme name

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Colors Look Wrong

  1. Check terminal supports true colors
  2. Add to lua/user/options.lua: 
    vim.opt.termguicolors = true
  3. For tmux users, add to .tmux.conf: 
    set -g default-terminal "screen-256color"
set -ga terminal-overrides ",*256col*:Tc"

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Transparent Background Not Working

  1. Check terminal supports transparency
  2. Enable in colorscheme config: 
    transparent_background = true
  3. May need terminal-specific configuration

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Reverting to Default

If issues occur, revert to default: 
local colorscheme = "tokyonight"

local status_ok, _ = pcall(vim.cmd, "colorscheme " .. colorscheme)
if not status_ok then
  vim.cmd("colorscheme default")  -- Fallback to Vim default
  return
end

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Best Practices

  1. Use protected call - Prevents errors if colorscheme isn’t installed
  2. Pin plugin commits - Ensures consistency (optional for colorschemes)
  3. Test in terminal - Ensure your terminal supports the color scheme
  4. Match your workflow - Light themes for day, dark for night
  5. Consider eye strain - Choose comfortable colors for long sessions
  6. Integrate with plugins - Configure colorscheme to support your plugins

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Next Steps

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