Transform Your IntelliJ IDEA: 7 Powerful UI Customization Tips

Theme Selection

IntelliJ IDEA includes only a light and a dark theme. To install additional themes, open Settings → Plugins and search for /tag:Theme. Two widely used theme plugins are:

Gradianto

Material Theme UI

Gradianto

Gradianto provides four dark‑mode color schemes that are easy on the eyes:

Nature Green

Deep Ocean

Dark Fuchsia

Midnight Blue

Material Theme UI

After installing, the plugin opens a configuration window where you can select a theme (e.g., Atom One Dark ). If the window is closed, reopen it via Settings → Search "Material" and adjust the theme and other UI options.

Tab Appearance

To customize editor tabs:

Open Settings → Editor → General → Editor Tabs.

Adjust Tab size and Tab height to your preference.

Set a highlight color for the selected tab.

Enable the Compact option to reduce overall UI height.

Explore the Components section for additional fine‑tuning.

Icon Customization

Install the Atom Material Icons plugin to add file‑type, directory, and UI icons.

Open Settings → Plugins, search for "Atom Material Icons" and install.

After installation, go to Settings → Atom Material Icons.

Enable File Icons , Directory Icons , and UI Icons .

Leave Enable PSI Icons disabled, as it makes Java file icons indistinguishable.

Font Settings

Two programmer‑friendly fonts are recommended:

Fira Code – https://github.com/tonsky/FiraCode JetBrains Mono – bundled with recent IDEA releases.

Both support programming ligatures (e.g., "!=" displayed as "≠"). To enable:

Open Settings → Editor → Font.

Select the desired font.

Check Enable ligatures .

Increase the font size if the Material Theme UI default appears too small.

Background Image

Replace the solid background with a custom image:

Open Settings → Appearance & Behavior → Appearance.

Click the Background Image button.

In the dialog, choose an image file and apply.

Additional Plugin

The Rainbow Brackets plugin colors matching brackets with distinct hues, making it easier to track nested structures.