Setting background color in gvim

Question

I use a terminal with white text on black background (I just like it better), so I wrote the following line in my .vimrc file:

set background=dark

However, gvim has black on white text. How do I do either of the following:

• Set the background of gvim to black
• Check in .vimrc if I'm using gvim

I tried this: I started up gvim, and typed echo &term. The answer was "builtin_gui". So I wrote the following into .vimrc:

if &term == "builtin_gui"
    set background=light
else
    set background=dark
endif

Somehow, it didn't work.

Solution 1

set background does not change the background; it tells vim whether your background is dark or bright (light).

You could use your .gvimrc file to set colors specific to gvim. I set my color scheme to slate, desert, or evening because I like light-on-dark color schemes:

colorscheme slate

Or you could add this to your .gvimrc or .vimrc to set the colors to white-on-black:

highlight Normal guifg=white guibg=black

Solution 2

I found below settings in .vimrc/.gvimrc are more easy and convenient for dark theme in gvim

" Dark mode settings
colors koehler
highlight LineNr guifg=DarkGray
highlight Search guibg='Purple' guifg=#FFFFFF
highlight String guifg=#FF5733
highlight Visual guibg=#000000
highlight Pmenu guifg=#000000 guibg=#808080

For gray theme instead of dark

colorscheme evening
set bg=light

Comments

[petersohn]

When I start gvim, does both .vimrc and .gvimrc run?

[Trey Hunner]

Yes. Anything in .gvimrc should run after .vimrc, so .gvimrc preferences will take precedence over .vimrc.