How to Customize Spotify With Spicetify Themes

Spotify is one of the best music streaming services around. Sure, some will disagree with that statement, but the numbers and longevity of the service don’t lie.

However, the Spotify desktop app isn’t great. The colors are dull, the user interface is clunky and slow to load, and it can sometimes take a while to find what you’re looking for.

Did you know that Spotify is customizable? With the help of Spicetify, you can change how Spotify looks with themes and even add custom apps for extra functionality.

So, here’s how you customize Spotify with Spicetify.

What Is Spicetify?

Spicetify is an open-source Spotify customization tool that you use through the command-line. Spicetify features include:

• Changing the Spotify user interface color scheme and theme
• Installing custom apps within Spotify
• Installing custom extensions within Spotify
• Remove bloat from the Spotify desktop app

Spicetify is a command-line only tool. That means you make edits using a series of commands and edits to configuration files. It sounds a little tricky, but with this tutorial, you’ll be able to customize Spotify exactly how you want.

A Spicetify theme consists of two configuration files. One configuration file controls the colors, and the other controls Spotify’s style and layout options (via a CSS file). If you’ve ever created a website, you have probably encountered a CSS (Cascading Style Sheet) file, as they are commonly used to alter the appearance of websites and other online document types.

You don’t need Spotify Premium to customize themes with Spicetify. Is Spotify Premium worth it? That depends on how frequently you want to hear adverts.

How to Customize Spotify With Spicetify

Getting up and running with Spicetify requires a few steps. Spicetify is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux, although the following steps only apply to Windows. You can find the instructions for macOS and Linux on the Spicetify GitHub page.

Before beginning the customization, here’s the default Spotify theme:

1. Installing Spicetify on Windows

Let’s install Spicetify on Windows.

In your Start Menu search bar, type powershell, then select Run as Administrator. Now, copy and paste the following command:

Invoke-WebRequest -UseBasicParsing "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/khanhas/spicetify-cli/master/install.ps1" | Invoke-Expression

After the installation completes, you can input spicetify –help to see the comprehensive list of commands. Alternatively, continue to the next step to begin customizing Spotify.

2. Backup Spicetify Configuration Files

Remaining within PowerShell, input spicetify, and press Enter to create the Spicetify configuration file.

Next up, enter the following command to create a backup of the standard Spicetify configuration:

spicetify backup apply enable-devtool

You’re now ready to begin customizing Spicetify. But keep PowerShell open.

At this point, Spotify will also update with the default Spicetify theme which looks like this:

3. Customizing Spotify With Spicetify

There are two ways you can customize Spicetify: creating your own color scheme or using someone else’s. Creating a copy of and then editing the standard Spicetify theme is an easy way to start customizing Spotify and learning how Spicetify works.

You’ll find the default Spicetify theme configuration in the following location:

C:\Users\[Your Name]\spicetify-cli\Themes\SpicetifyDefault

Hold CTRL and click each file to select both, then press CTRL + C to copy. Now, head to

C:\Users\[Your Name]\.spicetify\Themes\

Right-click and select New > Folder, then give your theme folder a name. Open the new folder and press CTRL + V to paste the default Spicetify configuration files. Your setup should look like this:

Open color.ini with a text editor, such as Notepad. Here you’ll see the hex color codes for the default theme. You’ll also note that there are two color sets, one for “Base” and one for “Dark.” You can add multiple color sets to a single color configuration file and switch between them using the main Spicetify configuration file (more on this in a moment).

Back to the colors. Spicetify uses hex color codes, which appear as a string of six characters (A-F, 0-6). From here, you can edit the color scheme.

Head to HTML Color Codes for help finding hex codes as well as complimentary colors. Press CTRL + S to save your color scheme.

If you are unsure which colors to change, check out the color.ini reference sheet at the bottom of the page.

Keep the default CSS configuration at the current time.

4. Updating Spotify With Your Custom Theme

Once you pick your Spotify theme colors, you can update Spicetify to import the theme. First, you need to specify your theme in the Spicetify configuration file.

Head back to C:\Users\[Your Name]\.spicetify and open configuration.ini.

Replace “SpicetifyDefault” with your custom Spotify theme name. Press CTRL + S to save the configuration.

You might also note the “color_scheme” option, beneath “current_theme.” If you create multiple color schemes within a single color.ini file, this is where you type the color scheme name.

For example, the default Spicetify theme has two color schemes, Base and Dark. Inputting either option here switches between the two.

Okay, head back to PowerShell and enter the following:

spicetify apply

Now, watch as Spotify magically updates with your color scheme!

5. Restore the Default Spotify Theme

If you want to restore Spotify to its default theme and remove all customization, Spicetify includes a simple command:

spicetify restore

You enter the command in PowerShell, and it clears any Spicetify customization, restoring Spotify to its original configuration. The “restore” command is especially handy when you begin creating custom CSS configuration files, as you might break something in the process.

Importing More Spicetify Themes

If you want inspiration, or just want to switch through a bunch of new Spotify themes easily, you have two options.

The Spicetify Themes GitHub is a repository of custom Spotify themes. You can copy and paste the configuration for each theme you like the look, or you can clone the entire GitHub repository to your computer. The first option is slower, whereas the second option requires some extra technical steps but makes it easier to switch between themes.

Read on to see both.

Option 1: Copy and Paste Spicetify Theme

Let’s start with the copy and paste method.

Find the Spicetify theme you want to copy. Head to your Spicetify themes folder (found at C:\Users\[Your Name]\.spicetify\Themes) and create a new folder using the theme name.

Right-click and select New > Text Document.

Now, head back to the Spicetify theme you want to copy. The two files you want, color.ini and user.css, are here. Select color.ini to open the file contents, and you’ll see the theme color scheme.

Drag your mouse over the color scheme to select each item, then press CTRL + C to copy. Head back to your new text document and press CTRL + V to paste the color scheme.

Press CTRL + Shift + S to Save As. Save the file name as “color.ini.” In the dropdown menu underneath the file name, change the file type to All Files.

You can now complete the same process for the user.css file, which alters the Spotify layout. Create a new text document, then copy and paste the contents of the user.css file into the new text document.

Press CTRL + Shift + S to Save As. Save the file name as “user.css.” In the dropdown menu underneath the file name, change the file type to All Files.

Once you save the color scheme and CSS files, you can update the main configuration file to point at the new Spotify theme.

Head back to C:\Users\[Your Name]\.spicetify and open configuration.ini. Replace “SpicetifyDefault” with your custom Spotify theme name. Press CTRL + S to save the configuration.

Option 2: Import Spicetify Themes From GitHub

If copying and pasting individual files seems time-consuming, you can clone the entire Spicetify Themes GitHub repository to your local storage for easy access.

You need to download and configure GitHub Desktop, which only takes a moment. GitHub Desktop is a handy visual tool for interacting with GitHub, which you would normally do through the command line. Having a GUI makes using GitHub easier, especially if you have never used it before.

Download: GitHub Desktop for Windows or macOS (Free)

Double-click the file to install GitHub Desktop. Once the installation completes, open GitHub Desktop. You don’t need to create a GitHub account, but it does require you to add a username and email address to track any changes or comments you leave on GitHub projects.

Select Clone a repository from the internet from the GitHub Desktop menu, then open the URL tab.

Copy and paste the Spicetify Themes Github URL into the top box (https://github.com/morpheusthewhite/spicetify-themes).

Browse to the location of your Spicetify theme folder in the second box (C:\Users\[Your Name]\.spicetify\Themes).

Press Clone and wait for the process to complete.

You’ll now find the files from the GitHub repository in your Spicetify themes folder. Now, open the downloaded Spicetify Themes folder, press CTRL + A to select all, then press CTRL + X.

Go back to the existing Spicetify themes folder (not the folder you just downloaded, the folder you were using for themes previously), and press CTRL + V to paste.

You can now update your Spotify themes using the main Spicetify configuration file. Swap the “current_theme” for the theme you want, and change the “color_scheme” if you want (if available to the theme).

Save the configuration file, then run “spicetify apply” in PowerShell, and you’re good to go.

Spice-Up Your Spotify With Spicetify

Spicetify is a great way to breathe new life into Spotify desktop. You can add color, change fonts, overhaul the style, and much more. Then there are the Spicetify Extensions which you can use to change or extend the functionality of Spotify.

Now, as your Spotify looks amazing, it’s time to take a look at the mess of playlists in your sidebar. Check out the best tips and tricks for managing your Spotify playlists.

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