How to Customize Spotify With Spicetify Themes

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

What Is Spicetify?

Spicetify is an open-source Spotify customization tool you use through the command line or the Spicetify Marketplace in Spotify. Spicetify’s features include:

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

Spicetify was once a command-line-only tool. However, the Spicetify Marketplace is now built directly into the Spotify app. So outside of the initial Spicetify installation and any updates (or other customization you want to do), you can steer clear of the command line.

The updated Spicetify Marketplace makes customizing Spotify much easier than before. However, you can still make entirely custom Spotify themes using Spicetify; for that, you’ll use a series of commands and edits to configuration files. It sounds a little tricky, but with this tutorial, you can 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, which is 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 whether you can stand ads and need the extra features.

How to Install 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:

Let’s install Spicetify on Windows. First, make sure Spotify is closed. In your Start Menu search bar, type powershell, then select Run as Administrator. Now, copy and paste the following command:

 iwr -useb https:
 

You’ll encounter a warning, to which you can press N and Enter. The installation will now proceed.

Next, input the following command to install the Spicetify Marketplace in Spotify, where you can search and install themes, extensions, and snippets directly. If you just want to change Spotify themes without creating your own, you’ll definitely want to install this.

 iwr -useb https: 

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

Backup Spicetify Configuration Files

In the older versions of Spicetify, taking a backup before making any edits was imperative. However, if you installed the Spicetify Marketplace, a backup was taken during that process.

If you’re not using the Spicetify Marketplace and want to create custom themes, you’ll want to take a manual backup first. In PowerShell, input the following command:

 spicetify backup apply enable-devtools 

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

Customizing Spotify With the Spicetify Marketplace

There are two ways to customize Spicetify: creating your own color scheme or using someone else’s. The easiest way to customize Spotify is using the Spicetify Marketplace, which lists extensions, themes, snippets, and apps, all within Spotify.

• Extensions bring additional functions to Spotify, such as new shuffle modes, playlist stats, upgraded lyrics visuals, and more.
• Themes change the visual style of Spotify.
• Snippets make small adjustments to Spotify’s style and functions, such as rounding the corners of windows or adjusting the album art style.
• Apps introduce new tools and completely new features.

For the most part, you’ll be customizing Spotify with extensions, themes, and snippets, but feel free to peruse the apps.

To install any add-on from the Spicetify Marketplace, open the listing and hit Install. You may have to refresh Spotify for it to finish installing, but most only take a moment or two. Then, to uninstall, complete the same process, but choose Uninstall instead.

Now, let’s look at the two main tabs you’ll be using to customize Spotify: Extensions and Themes.

Extensions

Head to the Extensions tab, where you’ll find dozens of options to extend the functionality of Spotify. Most focus on filling a gap in Spotify’s existing tools.

For example, the Feature Shuffle option makes a new playlist based upon “another playlist’s audio profile,” which sounds like it could be a good idea—when you listen to something you like, you hit the button, and it makes a new playlist using that overall sound. However, it’s a mixed bag.

I asked it to create a Feature Shuffle from Pizza Hotline’s Pressing Business, to which it created Pizza Hotline Feature Shuffle—it all seems very random. I also asked it to make a Feature Shuffle from my Concentration Playlist, to which it created Concentration Feature Shuffle—which again felt totally random.

There are heaps more to choose from, but whether the extension works or not is hit-and-miss. I tried the WikiFy extension that adds Wikipedia information about the artist to Spotify but couldn’t get it to work. I initially thought I’d chosen someone too obscure, but it failed to provide data on Jefferson Airplane, The Avalanches, and other well-known groups.

In contrast, the Spicetify-Hide-Podcasts extension does exactly what it says and removes Spotify’s obsessively-pushed podcast section from the top of your homepage.

Themes

Customizing Spotify’s theme is what most people want to do, finally removing that dull gray-black combo that the company refuses to change. The Themes tab has around 30 themes available for installation, and many feature additional styles to choose from using a dropdown menu.

For example, I installed the Sleek theme, which adds some nicely rounded highlights, changes the information bar at the bottom, and adds a new color scheme using its default green. However, the dropdown menu, found in the top-right alongside the Themes search bar, includes more colors using the same visual theme (the below color is Coral).

Whereas the Nord theme comes with a bunch of extra theme options, allowing you to change the font and sidebar, use dynamic colors, immersive player view, and more—delivering a really in-depth, customizable theme.

How to Create a Custom Spotify Theme With Spicetify

If the Spicetify Marketplace themes aren’t to your liking, you can always create a custom theme. You’ll find the default Spicetify theme configuration in the following location:

 C:Users[Your Name]AppDataRoamingspicetifyThemesSpicetifyDefault 

Hold CTRL and click each file to select both, then press CTRL + C to copy. Now, return to the main Themes folder. Right-click and select New > Folder. Name your theme something short and easy to remember, then open the new folder and press CTRL + V to paste the files. Your folder should look something 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. Once you adjust the hex color codes, press CTRL + S to save your color scheme.

Keep the default CSS configuration at the current time.

Update 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]AppDataRoamingspicetify 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!

How to 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 

Enter the command in PowerShell and it will clear 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.

Spicetify is a great way to breathe new life into the Spotify desktop app. You can add color, change fonts, overhaul the style, and much more. The extensions, snippets, and apps can be hit and miss, but you’ll still find some bits that boost your Spotify experience.