System Registry Keys for IDE Visual Settings

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You can customize some of the visual settings of the IDE by adding or modifying system registry keys.

Note: Changes made to the Windows registry happen immediately, and no backup is automatically made. Do not edit the Windows registry unless you are confident about doing so.

Customizing the IDE Appearance

There are two ways to modify the system registry:

  1. Create a registry script file and execute it.
  2. Manually modify the system registry using regedit.

Creating a Registry Script File

  1. Create a new text document (you can use any text editor) and copy the following text into it:
    2. Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Embarcadero\BDS\23.0\Theme]
"FontName"="Segoe UI"
"FontSize"=dword:0000000a
    Note: See the table of customizable values for details about the specified values.
  2. Save the document with the .reg extension.
  3. Execute the registry script file that you created. A warning about changing the registry may appear. You must accept it in order to apply the changes.
    4. Note: You may need Administrator permissions to be able to execute registry script files. If the IDE is open when you set or change registry values, you must restart the IDE for the values to take effect.

Manually Modifying Registry Keys

  1. Open system registry (type regedit into the searchbar on the Windows Start menu)
  2. Create a new registry key Theme in HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Embarcadero\BDS\23.0\ (the complete path of the new key is: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Embarcadero\BDS\23.0\Theme).
  3. Create and specify any of the supported values inside the Theme key:
    Note: You may need Administrator permissions to be able to modify system registry. If the IDE is open when you set or change registry values, you must restart the IDE for the values to take effect.

Customizable Values

Font

Value Type Data
Enabled DWORD "1" or "0".
If "0" then the IDE will not be themed.
FontName String Specify the font name for the IDE font. The name is case sensitive and must not include the "subtype" such as Regular, Bold, Italic. For example, the name of the installed font is Lucida Console Regular. To choose it for the IDE, you must specify Lucida Console as the registry value. The default font of the IDE is Segoe UI.
Note: If you specify a wrong font name, the default font is loaded.
FontSize DWORD Specify the size of the font for the IDE. We recommend that you set it between 7 and 18 (values smaller or bigger can result in some IDE elements becoming unreadable). The default is 9.
Note: Do not forget to change the Base to Decimal when you modify the data of FontSize.
Warning:
  • Any font changes must be done from the registry.
  • The IDE must be closed before applying changes.
  • After a font change on the registry, it is strongly recommended to delete this entry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Embarcadero\BDS\n.n\Toolbars to allow the IDE recalculates the new bounds for the toolbars.

Theme

  • To disable IDE theming: in the Theme folder in the registry, find "Enabled" and set it to 0. (To re-enable, set to 1.)
  • To change the theme to any installed VCL style:
  • In the Theme folder in the registry, find the Theme string and change it to "Custom".
  • Create or edit the "VCLStyle" (note no spaces) string, and give it the name of an installed theme, eg "Carbon" or "Luna".
Note: The IDE does not validate the correctness of these settings. Incorrect settings or a theme that does not fully specify all system colors results in an IDE rendering very strangely.
Note: Neither of these settings is supported. If you experience crashes or other issues, return to supported visual styles and attempt to reproduce. We welcome bug reports for the unstyled or custom-styled IDE. Unofficially, we try to keep the IDE working - that is, AVs or other crashes fixed, but other visual issues are unlikely to be resolved. When unthemed especially, you will likely notice many alignment issues.

Reverting to Default Settings

To revert to the default settings, delete the Theme key from the registry. You can do it in either of the following ways: 

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Embarcadero\BDS\23.0\Theme]
  • Delete the registry key Theme manually:
  1. Open system registry (type regedit into the searchbar on the Windows Start menu)
  2. Find the registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Embarcadero\BDS\23.0\Theme and delete it.
Note: This key is intended for debug purposes only. The use of not themed IDE is not recommend or supported.

See Also

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