Standard themes for GNU Emacs

November 9, 2025 · View on GitHub

The standard-themes are a collection of light and dark themes for GNU Emacs. The standard-light and standard-dark emulate the out-of-the-box looks of Emacs (which technically do NOT constitute a theme) while bringing to them thematic consistency, customizability, and extensibility. Other themes are stylistic variations of those.

Why call them "standard"? Obviously because: Standard Themes Are Not Derivatives but the Affectionately Reimagined Default ... themes.

Starting with version 3.0.0, the standard-themes are built on top of the modus-themes. This means that all customisation options of the Modus themes apply to the Standard themes. Same for all Modus commands that load a theme. Enable standard-themes-take-over-modus-themes-mode to set up this arrangement (or enable modus-themes-include-derivatives-mode instead to blend Standard and Modus into one collection).

Package name (GNU ELPA): standard-themes
Official manual: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/standard-themes
Change log: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/standard-themes-changelog
Sample pictures: https://protesilaos.com/emacs/standard-themes-pictures
Git repositories:
- GitHub: https://github.com/protesilaos/standard-themes
- GitLab: https://gitlab.com/protesilaos/standard-themes
Backronym: Standard Themes Are Not Derivatives but the Affectionately Reimagined Default ... themes.

(use-package standard-themes
  :ensure t
  :init
  ;; This makes the Modus commands listed below consider only the Ef
  ;; themes.  For an alternative that includes Modus and all
  ;; derivative themes (like Ef), enable the
  ;; `modus-themes-include-derivatives-mode' instead.  The manual of
  ;; the Ef themes has a section that explains all the possibilities:
  ;;
  ;; - Evaluate `(info "(standard-themes) Working with other Modus themes or taking over Modus")'
  ;; - Visit <https://protesilaos.com/emacs/standard-themes#h:d8ebe175-cd61-4e0b-9b84-7a4f5c7e09cd>
  (standard-themes-take-over-modus-themes-mode 1)
  :bind
  (("<f5>" . modus-themes-rotate)
   ("C-<f5>" . modus-themes-select)
   ("M-<f5>" . modus-themes-load-random))
  :config
  ;; All customisations here.
  (setq modus-themes-mixed-fonts t)
  (setq modus-themes-italic-constructs t)

  ;; Finally, load your theme of choice (or a random one with
  ;; `modus-themes-load-random', `modus-themes-load-random-dark',
  ;; `modus-themes-load-random-light').
  (modus-themes-load-theme 'standard-light-tinted))