ISE Color Theme Cmdlets

Jeff Pollock

June 13, 2025

ISEColorTheme.Cmdlets is a PowerShell module that brings modern, customizable theme management to the PowerShell ISE. With functions to export, import, adjust, apply, and manage themes (including GUI support), it’s ideal for those who still use ISE and want greater visual control over their environment.

✨ Features

Import/export PowerShell ISE themes in .StorableColorTheme.ps1xml format
Modify themes (darker, lighter, warmer, cooler, greener)
Save/load themes to/from the registry
Apply themes directly from file, registry, or object
GUI-based theme selector
Add-on menu for easy access in ISE
Keyboard shortcut support
Includes 25+ pre-built themes with preview images
Lightweight, module-first design (no external dependencies)

📦 Installation

Install-Module -Name ISEColorTheme.Cmdlets -Scope CurrentUser

🚀 Getting Started

Add the custom theme menu:

Add-ISEThemeMenu

Export the current theme:

Export-ISEThemeFile -Name 'MyTheme' -Directory 'C:\Themes'

Import and apply a theme:

Import-ISEThemeFile -FilePath 'C:\Themes\MyTheme.ps1xml' -ApplyTheme

Modify your theme:

Set-ISEColor -Cooler

Launch the GUI theme picker:

Select-ISETheme

🧠 Cmdlet Overview

Cmdlet	Description
`Add-ISEThemeMenu`	Adds a theme manager menu to the ISE Add-Ons menu.
`Export-GroupISETheme`	Exports all registry-stored themes to files.
`Export-ISEThemeFile`	Saves a theme to a `.ps1xml` file.
`Get-CurrentISETheme`	Returns the currently active theme as structured data.
`Get-ImportedISETheme`	Lists all imported themes from the registry.
`Get-ISETheme`	Loads a theme from file or registry.
`Import-GroupISETheme`	Imports all `.ps1xml` themes from a folder.
`Import-ISEThemeFile`	Imports a theme file into the registry and optionally applies it.
`Remove-ISETheme`	Deletes a theme from the registry.
`Select-ISETheme`	Opens a GUI to select a theme.
`Set-ISEColor`	Adjusts the current theme (lighter, darker, warmer, etc.).
`Set-ISETheme`	Applies a theme from file, registry, or object.
`Set-ISEThemeColors`	Applies raw theme color and font data to ISE.

📘 Documentation

Each function includes full comment-based help. You can access it with:

Get-Help <FunctionName> -Detailed

Example:

Get-Help Set-ISETheme -Detailed

🎨 Included Themes

This module comes bundled with over 25 professionally styled PowerShell ISE color themes, ready to import and use immediately. Each theme is stored in .StorableColorTheme.ps1xml format and includes a preview image so you can browse before applying.

📁 Theme Directory

You’ll find the themes organized under the ISEThemes/ directory:

ISEThemes/
├── Ambients/
│   ├── Ambients.StorableColorTheme.ps1xml
│   └── Ambients_Example.PNG
├── Monokai/
│   ├── Monokai.StorableColorTheme.ps1xml
│   └── Monokai_Example.PNG
...

🖼️ Preview the Themes

Each theme folder contains a .PNG preview to help you choose your look before applying it.

🚀 Importing a Theme

To import and apply a theme, just run:

Import-ISEThemeFile -FilePath 'ISEThemes\Monokai\Monokai.StorableColorTheme.ps1xml'

🧩 Add Menu to Your ISE Profile

To always have quick access to theme selection, add the Add-ISEThemeMenu cmdlet to your PowerShell ISE profile script.

First, check the profile path and create it if it doesn’t exist:

if (-not (Test-Path $PROFILE)) {
    New-Item -ItemType File -Path $PROFILE -Force
}

Then edit your profile file, which is typically located at:

$PROFILE
# For example: C:\Users\<YourUserName>\Documents\WindowsPowerShell\Microsoft.PowerShellISE_profile.ps1

Add the following:

Import-Module ISEColorTheme.Cmdlets
if (Get-Command Add-ISEThemeMenu -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue) {
    Add-ISEThemeMenu -AddShortcuts
}

You can omit -AddShortcuts if you don’t want the theme adjustment hotkeys mapped:

Add-ISEThemeMenu

📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0. Feel free to modify, share, and contribute!

🙏 Credits

Built by Jeff Pollock at pXLabs
🌐 https://pxlabs.info
🐙 GitHub – @phriendx

Special thanks to the open community for theme inspiration—especially https://github.com/mortenya/PowerShell_ISE_Themes.

PXLabs