Dark blue text on black background unreadable

[oliversalzburg]

It seems some output of the bash is usually in dark blue on black background. This is impossible to read.

Changing the background color of the window to a different color is pointless, because the blue output actually defines a black background.

• Expected results
  There would either be a default color scheme that makes more sense or the option to change it.
• Actual results (with terminal output if applicable)
  See above
• Your Windows build number
  14393.51

[LFBernardo]

cd ~
vim ~/.bashrc
paste this at bottom of file
LS_COLORS=$LS_COLORS:'di=0;36' ; export LS_COLORS
PS1='[\033[1;36m]\u[\033[1;31m]@[\033[1;32m]\h:[\033[1;35m]\w[\033[1;31m]$[\033[0m] '
save exit
. .bashrc (note the space between the two dots)

[ConnorVG]

Did you restart your console after applying the background colour @oliversalzburg? A full restart of the console is required.

annoyingly

[oliversalzburg]

@ConnorVG Very interesting. That does change the outcome indeed. However, not fully.

blkid.tab still has the wrong background color, but this definitely helps.

I also realized that when you adjust the RGB values for black, that takes effect immediately.

I also now realized something else. It is possible to adjust all colors, it's just cumbersome af. You can click any of the colors on the palette, which selects it as the default background color, then you can adjust that palette index's RGB values and switch the background back to the palette index you had before. Then you repeat that for every single color you want to adjust and hope that you don't kill yourself in the process.

[ConnorVG]

@oliversalzburg yeah - it's a bit brutal. It took me way too long to achieve this:

[oliversalzburg]

@LFBernardo Those additions to my .bashrc have no effect. Only when I start another bash from bash, then they're applied. No idea why that is.

[oliversalzburg]

@ConnorVG Looking good. I would assume this information is stored somewhere, but I couldn't find anything in the registry so far. :\

[ericblade]

I have to say that the default dark red looks terrible on 3 of my 4 monitors as well, the only one that it looks ok on has really broken color settings anyway.

The dark blue is also a problem in vi .. so maybe remapping the color is the better option :|

oliver: that should take effect after you exit your bash and open a new one .. of course you can just past the command to your bash for it to take effect in the current one

[LFBernardo]

@oliversalzburg that is very weird, but then again there seems to be subtle difference between the three machines I am running now as well that reach beyond appearance. Copy and paste for example, works on one but not the other two, have to select the Ubuntu icon at the top to do that..... But that is why it isn't a full release yet so that we can help them iron out the bugs. The blue definitely has to go, not just in WSL but also in other versions of linux, it's never properly visible and has been a pain in the butt for many years. I suggest googling LS_COLORS and seeing the other configuration options?

[oliversalzburg]

@LFBernardo The funny thing is that I have already set LS_COLORS. I'm actually running dircolors, but none of this has any effect unless I start bash again from within the first bash.

[ni554n]

@ConnorVG Your console is looking awesome. How do I customize console colors like that?

[rodrymbo]

@oliversalzburg - How are you starting dircolors or whatever?

The default Bash.exe doesn't do a login shell yet. (It just reads .bashrc.) If you do su - <username> or bash -l (after starting Bash.exe), you'll get both .bashrc and .bash_profile, etc. Maybe that is why you aren't getting the right colors until you start a new bash from within Bash.exe? (My dircolors is in .bashrc at present, but maybe yours is in .bash_profile?)

I definitely agree that the default WSL install should come with default coloring in the Console that is readable, without the user making changes, whether with ls or vim or whatever. On the other hand, maybe it is possible for the user to make changes in Console defaults that then clash with changes made to bash's terminal settings (LS_COLORS, dircolors, whatever.)

[oliversalzburg]

@rodrymbo I think I reverted most of my initial attempts, but AFAIR, I used /etc/bash.bashrc. But I guess what you're saying is something to take into consideration.

As it always was, using a different console emulator is the way to go as it seems:

[rodrymbo]

@oliversalzburg - may we ask which terminal emulator you selected? Looks like it might be ConEmu.

I mostly just use PuTTY, since I'm used to it.

It'll be good to get the Console working as a terminal emulator for Bash.exe...

[oliversalzburg]

@rodrymbo Yes, that is ConEmu. Sorry for not mentioning it.

[zadjii-msft]

First off, this is kind of a dupe of #366, but I'm going to mark that one as a dupe as this one has WAY more discussion.

MSFT:8661767 is our internal number for updating the color palette. I'm not sure if we'll have time to do it in this particular round of updates, but we've definitely got our eye on it. Bother @bitcrazed on twitter (his work handle is @richturn-ms) if you want to see it done sooner :P.

Moreso, which I've definitely mentioned before but bears repeating because it came up on this thread - I'm very aware of how hard it is to work with the colors dialog currently. It's personally high on my list of priorities, but not necessarily so high on our overall priorities.

[laktak]

One workaround (or the only one that really worked for me) is to install the solarized-dark theme from https://github.com/neilpa/cmd-colors-solarized (close/open the console window to activate)

[Trainmaster]

@zadjii-msft I can't understand why this has such low priority. After enabling the WSL you just want to work with the bash. If I first have to fiddle around to have a color scheme one can actually work with - that's really bad in terms of usability.

[JimAmuro]

Since now 24-bit color only works with default shell (without open API), we don't have other choices (like ComEmu), hence I think MS is responsible for the user experience of the default shell, especially the appearance and editing experience (I wish something like Cmder, but maybe that's too much, at least it should be usable).

[aseering]

@Trainmaster -- I agree for what it's worth that this is important. But I can see why it wouldn't be top priority: I personally have no desire to reconfigure the defaults for the Windows console. In fact, I often go out of my way to configure other shells on other platforms to more-closely match what the default Windows shell does, because for my eyes it is more readable. (I didn't start off using this color scheme; I've settled on it after some experimentation.) Perhaps some people on the WSL team happen to have eyes whose color responsiveness is closer to mine than to yours?

[Po-wei]

I have a problem here
I use @LFBernardo 's solution to adjust ls color, and it works pretty well
However, when I use zsh's tab-auto-complete, it turns out the same color as before.
Anyone has idea?

I type cd and hit tab

[akorb]

This is still a problem

[zadjii-msft]

@akorb Don't you know it. The default palette is just terrible. We've been having a lot of discussions related to this recently. We should have an update for you later this week on this very topic. Stay tuned :)

[evandrocoan]

I applied this registry entries microsoft/vscode#7556 (comment) from:

1. Bash for Windows colors are unreadable with default terminal theme vscode#7556 Bash for Windows colors are unreadable with default terminal theme

And fixed my colors problems. They said we need to set the:

default console colors to be the same as the default XTerm colors

[zadjii-msft]

@evandrocoan I disagree that they need to be the same as xterm's defaults - every terminal in the world has it's own defaults - but it does need improvement.

I may have jumped the gun when I said "this week" - but it will be Soon^TM

[zadjii-msft]

I can finally comment on this!

https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/2017/08/02/updating-the-windows-console-colors/

Should be fixed in 16257

[mhchu]

@zadjii-msft It sounds like they aren't updating people who already have Windows 10... so we have to wait to get that new tool they hinted at? Trying to decide to wait or go ahead and change my registry (never to remember to change them back if the tool comes out eventually).

[zadjii-msft]

@mhchu It's very likely that if you've ever changed your colors before, you will probably not see the change, just from the nature of how console properties are loaded.

You're always free to set the table to whatever you'd like, this is just a new default experience, so hopefully people like myself won't be so frustrated with the defaults.

We should have more news about the tool in the next week, stay tuned.

[erichiller]

I'm using dircolors just fine in Linux directories, the problem is under /mnt every file is marked EXECUTABLE and every directory as OTHER_WRITEABLE - and I can't seem to filter out the actual executables with *.exe 00;32 or whatever. Shouldn't the individual file types take precedence?

[8ivek]

@markeissler : thanks

Following code appended to my .bashrc as per @markeissler worked for me:

LS_COLORS='rs=0:di=1;35:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41
:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:.tar=01;31:.tgz=01;31:.arj=01;31:.taz=01;31:.lzh=01;31:.lzma=01;31:.tlz=01;31:.txz=
01;31:.zip=01;31:.z=01;31:.Z=01;31:.dz=01;31:.gz=01;31:.lz=01;31:.xz=01;31:.bz2=01;31:.bz=01;31:.tbz=01;31:.tbz2=01;3
1:.tz=01;31:.deb=01;31:.rpm=01;31:.jar=01;31:.war=01;31:.ear=01;31:.sar=01;31:.rar=01;31:.ace=01;31:.zoo=01;31:.cpio=
01;31:.7z=01;31:.rz=01;31:.jpg=01;35:.jpeg=01;35:.gif=01;35:.bmp=01;35:.pbm=01;35:.pgm=01;35:.ppm=01;35:.tga=01;35:.x
bm=01;35:.xpm=01;35:.tif=01;35:.tiff=01;35:.png=01;35:.svg=01;35:.svgz=01;35:.mng=01;35:.pcx=01;35:.mov=01;35:.mpg=01;
35:.mpeg=01;35:.m2v=01;35:.mkv=01;35:.webm=01;35:.ogm=01;35:.mp4=01;35:.m4v=01;35:.mp4v=01;35:.vob=01;35:.qt=01;35:.n
uv=01;35:.wmv=01;35:.asf=01;35:.rm=01;35:.rmvb=01;35:.flc=01;35:.avi=01;35:.fli=01;35:.flv=01;35:.gl=01;35:.dl=01;35:*
.xcf=01;35:.xwd=01;35:.yuv=01;35:.cgm=01;35:.emf=01;35:.axv=01;35:.anx=01;35:.ogv=01;35:.ogx=01;35:.aac=00;36:.au=00;3
6:.flac=00;36:.mid=00;36:.midi=00;36:.mka=00;36:.mp3=00;36:.mpc=00;36:.ogg=00;36:.ra=00;36:.wav=00;36:.axa=00;36:.oga
=00;36:.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:';
export LS_COLORS

PS1='\e[37;1m\u@\e[35m\W\e[0m$ ' # this will change your prompt format

[rm-bergmann]

I'm using Powershell + ZSH. I have configured powershell so the normal text is bright pink on black background and I changed my LS_COLORS in my .zshrc file to Cyan which is great!

My current config in .zshrc / .bashrc
#Change ls colours
LS_COLORS="ow=01;36;40" && export LS_COLORS

#Make cd use the ls colours
zstyle ':completion:*' list-colors "${(@s.:.)LS_COLORS}"
autoload -Uz compinit
compinit

However, I still have a problem with dark blue text on black background. I don't think this text is part of LS_COLORS. Anyone know how or where to update those 2 dark blue colours? I have no idea where they come from? Is it something in the windows registry?

[bitcrazed]

This issue is now closed as it has been fixed in Win10 Fall Creators Update

Please file Console related issues in the Windows Console Issues Repo: https://github.com/microsoft/console/issues

Thanks.

[bitcrazed]

@rm-bergmann If Fall Creators Update (FCU), we updated the Console's default color palette: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/2017/08/02/updating-the-windows-console-colors/

Alas, for a variety of reasons, if you've upgraded your machine to FCU from a previous release, you won't see the new default Console color palette unless you use the ColorTool to modify the default Console colors: https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/commandline/2017/08/11/introducing-the-windows-console-colortool/

If you've clean-installed FCU, you should see the updated palette being used if you launch a distro from Cmd, from the start menu distro tile, or from a shortcut you pin to your taskbar.

However, if you launch a distro from PowerShell, the Console you're using will have a different palette defined by PowerShell, which still includes the default dark blue == RGB(0, 0, 128) which is very dark.

If you want, you could modify your PowerShell settings to change the dark blue at index #1 (zero-based) to RGB(0, 55, 218) as per the Console's new default:

Also, try launching your distro from a cmd Window, or directly from your distro's start menu tile.

[rm-bergmann]

Thanks @bitcrazed!

I have the FCU update and I have the new color pallette, which is what I used to make the background black and the screen text pink.

I actually didn't realize that I could change those colors in the pallete inside the 'selected color values' section without selecting the color as the default!

I love the flexibility, and my issue is sorted now.
Thank You

[rfaile313]

LS_COLORS='rs=0:di=1;35:ln=01;36:mh=00:pi=40;33:so=01;35:do=01;35:bd=40;33;01:cd=40;33;01:or=40;31;01:su=37;41:sg=30;43:ca=30;41
:tw=30;42:ow=34;42:st=37;44:ex=01;32:.tar=01;31:.tgz=01;31:.arj=01;31:.taz=01;31:.lzh=01;31:.lzma=01;31:.tlz=01;31:.txz=
01;31:.zip=01;31:.z=01;31:.Z=01;31:.dz=01;31:.gz=01;31:.lz=01;31:.xz=01;31:.bz2=01;31:.bz=01;31:.tbz=01;31:.tbz2=01;3
1:.tz=01;31:.deb=01;31:.rpm=01;31:.jar=01;31:.war=01;31:.ear=01;31:.sar=01;31:.rar=01;31:.ace=01;31:.zoo=01;31:.cpio=
01;31:.7z=01;31:.rz=01;31:.jpg=01;35:.jpeg=01;35:.gif=01;35:.bmp=01;35:.pbm=01;35:.pgm=01;35:.ppm=01;35:.tga=01;35:.x
bm=01;35:.xpm=01;35:.tif=01;35:.tiff=01;35:.png=01;35:.svg=01;35:.svgz=01;35:.mng=01;35:.pcx=01;35:.mov=01;35:.mpg=01;
35:.mpeg=01;35:.m2v=01;35:.mkv=01;35:.webm=01;35:.ogm=01;35:.mp4=01;35:.m4v=01;35:.mp4v=01;35:.vob=01;35:.qt=01;35:.n
uv=01;35:.wmv=01;35:.asf=01;35:.rm=01;35:.rmvb=01;35:.flc=01;35:.avi=01;35:.fli=01;35:.flv=01;35:.gl=01;35:.dl=01;35:*
.xcf=01;35:.xwd=01;35:.yuv=01;35:.cgm=01;35:.emf=01;35:.axv=01;35:.anx=01;35:.ogv=01;35:.ogx=01;35:.aac=00;36:.au=00;3
6:.flac=00;36:.mid=00;36:.midi=00;36:.mka=00;36:.mp3=00;36:.mpc=00;36:.ogg=00;36:.ra=00;36:.wav=00;36:.axa=00;36:.oga
=00;36:.spx=00;36:*.xspf=00;36:';
export LS_COLORS

PS1='\e[37;1m\u@\e[35m\W\e[0m$ ' # this will change your prompt format

This works. Don't forget to restart the terminal. Thanks @markeissler

[spacemudd]

This works. Don't forget to restart the terminal. Thanks @markeissler

Or you can do source ~/.bashrc to load the settings w/o restart.

[rfaile313]

Or you can do source ~/.bashrc to load the settings w/o restart.

True true - you can invoke it for the current sesssion. For most folks I'd say a restart is simpler/easier 😄

[kent-hervey]

I have this problem...but only when in VIM. Any solution for me?

Incredibly, the below has text: #!/bin/sh

In blue on black

[LFBernardo]

I have this problem...but only when in VIM. Any solution for me?

Incredibly, the below has text: #!/bin/sh

In blue on black

vim ~/.vimrc
set background=dark
:wq

The above will resolve your issue

[kent-hervey]

That was helpful. I achieved relief by typing into the particular VIM instance as :set background=dark

[kent-hervey]

However, this is the newly edited .bashrc file:

So still not working. I found a page advising to make the change in vimrc, but I don't find that file on my system.

Regardless, you gave me what I needed to solve. Thank you.

[LFBernardo]

you need to edit the ~/.vimrc file and add set background=dark

[kent-hervey]

Thanks for the response. My messages/attempts yesterday may have been a bit confusing.

Before changing anything else this morning I have this which I think I created yesterday:

And the file contents look like this which looks like the image you sent:

but when I manually for that file type :set background=dark,

then the image changes to more what I am looking for:

I must be doing something wrong, but I don't know what.

There is also a vimrc file in /etc/vim which is read only and contains the below, could that be related?

" If using a dark background within the editing area and syntax highlighting
" turn on this option as well
"set background=dark

[LFBernardo]

in your folder (~) there is a .vimrc file, you will not always have this by default. When you edit it and save it it will become permanent. You must do this as your normal user and not sudo. If you do this in sudo you are exiting your user space. Copy and paste the following line by line into your editor (not the lines with : as they are commands for vim)

vim ~/.vimrc
set background=dark
:wq

and test it

[kent-hervey]

Thanks. Before I did not have the vim ~/.vimrc as I thought that was a command at the bash level

Now the file in the /home/khervey directory looks like this. I think it is the same as the (~).

This seems to match what you sent, but after doing so and navigating over another folder the output still looks like:

I don't know what I am doing wrong. For testing I just completely exited Powershell and then opened again with wsl.exe and proceeded to vim to check.

btw, same file after doing a vim command of set background=dark

[LFBernardo]

you added the command to edit with vim into the file that you were editing

Vim is the editor that you use to edit the files, please remove that first line and save it. Also I cannot guarantee that any of these settings will work when you activate wsl through powershell.

[kent-hervey]

That did it..works in command and powershell Somehow I was doing a file in another directory I reached using CD ~/ I thought that was the plan...go there then create/edit the file. Today I used the command vim ~/.vimrc then just edited the file from the directory where I happened to be.

I would rather delete all my messages (I don't want the posterity), but maybe others can learn from your help and my flailing.

[LFBernardo]

Happy to hear that worked. I would leave the messages, everything is new to someone at some time. The learning aspect is valuable.

[oliversalzburg]

I don't understand why it is apparently such a massive challenge to come up with a way to produce a usable appearance for a terminal. I reported this 4 years ago and this is what has been achieved in the meanwhile:

I'm baffled as to how this is considered shippable, given this is a directory listing of my home directory with default settings.

For anyone coming here, hoping to get some relief, you're going to want to remove all background colors from ls output:

eval "$(dircolors -p | \
    sed 's/ 4[0-9];/ 01;/; s/;4[0-9];/;01;/g; s/;4[0-9] /;01 /' | \
    dircolors /dev/stdin)"

That same garbage output will then look like this:

[zadjii-msft]

That's a totally different bug my dude - see microsoft/terminal#3848 for more details.

[pale2hall]

@rodrymbo I think I reverted most of my initial attempts, but AFAIR, I used /etc/bash.bashrc. But I guess what you're saying is something to take into consideration.

As it always was, using a different console emulator is the way to go as it seems:

No! That's not a solution to the original XY Question!

that being said, I'm going with it. Thank you. ConEmu is beautiful and I think I'll switch.

[zadjii-msft]

@pale2hall I mean, the Windows Terminal does have support for lots of user-defined color schemes that don't have the same problem as OP. In fact, since 2017 the console hasn't had that problem either. Is there a particular reason you're choosing ConEmu over the Terminal?

[ProfessorGram]

In PuTTY, change ANSI BLUE

To get to this setting, click upper left window corner icon of active PuTTY session

-> Change Settings -> Colors -> ANSI Blue

0
187
187

(the above is ANSI Cyan color, much easier to read)

Click on Apply

Don't forget to SAVE these settings in the profile, or they will be lost next time you log in.