oh-my-posh/website/docs/installation/customize.mdx

---
id: customize
title: Customize
sidebar_label: 💅🏼 Customize
---

import Tabs from "@theme/Tabs";
import TabItem from "@theme/TabItem"

The standard initialization sets Oh My Posh' [default theme][default-theme]. This configuration is downloaded
and kept up-to-date with Oh My Posh' version every time the shell starts.

To set a new config/theme you need
to change the `--config` option of the `oh-my-posh init <shell>` line in your `profile` or `.<shell>rc` script
(see [prompt][prompt]) and point it to the location of a predefined [theme][themes] or custom configuration on your file system.

<Tabs
  defaultValue="windows"
  groupId="shell"
  values={[
    { label: 'windows', value: 'windows', },
    { label: 'homebrew', value: 'homebrew', },
  ]
}>
<TabItem value="windows">

When using the Windows installer (via winget or Store), you can make use of the `POSH_THEMES_PATH` environment variable
that points to a directory including all [themes][themes] on your file system.

For example, to use the [jandedobbeleer][jandedobbeleer] theme, alter the init line like this (`powershell`):

```powershell
oh-my-posh init pwsh --config "$env:POSH_THEMES_PATH/jandedobbeleer.omp.json" | Invoke-Expression
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="homebrew">

When using homebrew, all themes are installed alongside Oh My Posh in `$(brew --prefix oh-my-posh)/themes`.
To use any of the themes, use the following syntax (`zsh`):

```bash
eval "$(oh-my-posh init zsh --config $(brew --prefix oh-my-posh)/themes/jandedobbeleer.omp.json)"
```

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

### Get inspiration

The best place to get started is by looking at the [themes][themes], as these are **predefined configurations** to use/alter.
To change to for example the [jandedobbeleer][jandedobbeleer] theme, alter the Oh My Posh `init` line to the following (assuming you
downloaded the configuration file to your user's home folder):

<Tabs
  defaultValue="powershell"
  groupId="shell"
  values={[
    { label: 'powershell', value: 'powershell', },
    { label: 'cmd', value: 'cmd', },
    { label: 'zsh', value: 'zsh', },
    { label: 'bash', value: 'bash', },
    { label: 'fish', value: 'fish', },
    { label: 'nu', value: 'nu', },
  ]
}>
<TabItem value="powershell">

```powershell
oh-my-posh init pwsh --config ~/.jandedobbeleer.omp.json | Invoke-Expression
```

Once altered, reload your profile for the changes to take effect.

```powershell
. $PROFILE
```

:::info
When the above command gives an error, make sure to create the profile first and add the `oh-my-posh init` above.

```powershell
New-Item -Path $PROFILE -Type File -Force
```
:::

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="cmd">

```lua title="oh-my-posh.lua"
load(io.popen('oh-my-posh init cmd --config ~/.jandedobbeleer.omp.json'):read("*a"))()
```

Once altered, restart cmd for the changes to take effect.

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="zsh">

```bash
eval "$(oh-my-posh init zsh --config ~/.jandedobbeleer.omp.json)"
```

Once altered, reload your profile for the changes to take effect.

```bash
exec zsh
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="bash">

```bash
eval "$(oh-my-posh init bash --config ~/.jandedobbeleer.omp.json)"
```

Once altered, reload your profile for the changes to take effect.

```bash
exec bash
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="fish">

```bash
oh-my-posh init fish --config ~/.jandedobbeleer.omp.json | source
```

Once altered, reload your config for the changes to take effect.

```bash
. ~/.config/fish/config.fish
```

</TabItem>
<TabItem value="nu">

:::warning
Oh My Posh requires Nushell >= 0.60.0
:::

Run the following command:

```bash
oh-my-posh init nu --config ~/.jandedobbeleer.omp.json
```

it saves the initialization script to `~/.oh-my-posh.nu` by default.
Then edit the Nushell config file (`$nu.config-path`) and add the following line at the bottom:

```bash
source ~/.oh-my-posh.nu
```

If you want to save the initialization script elsewhere, you should run a command like:

```bash
oh-my-posh init nu --config ~/.jandedobbeleer.omp.json --print | save /mylocation/myscript.nu
```

and add the `source` line like:

```bash
source /mylocation/myscript.nu
```

Once altered, restart Nushell for the changes to take effect.

:::tip
For the time being, there is a [problem][homebrew-problem] with the initialization using Oh My Posh installed via Homebrew.
To resolve this, you can use the `--strict` flag which tells Oh My Posh to use the executable name and not the
full path in the initialization. For example:

```bash
oh-my-posh init nu --config ~/.jandedobbeleer.omp.json --print --strict | save /mylocation/myscript.nu
```

This way for a new Oh My Posh version that does not update the initialization script, you don't have to recreate a new one.
:::

</TabItem>
</Tabs>

:::tip wsl
When using oh-my-posh in Windows and the WSL, know that you can **share your theme with the WSL** by pointing to a theme in your
Windows user's home folder.

Inside the WSL, you can find your Windows user's home folder here: `/mnt/c/Users/<WINDOWSUSERNAME>`.
:::

:::tip remote config
The `--config` flag can accept either a local filepath or a remotely hosted config file.

For example, the following is a valid `--config` flag:

```
--config 'https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/main/themes/jandedobbeleer.omp.json'
```
:::

### Export the current theme

Maybe there's a theme you like, but you don't fancy the colors. Or, maybe there's a segment you
want to tweak/add, or replace some of the icons with a different one. Whatever the case, **read through
available options first**, by starting with the [configuration guide][configuration].

You can export the current theme (default, or set via `--config`) to the format you like (`json`, `yaml`, or `toml`)
which can be used to tweak and store as your own custom theme.


```bash
oh-my-posh config export --output ~/.mytheme.omp.json
```

### Read the docs

To fully understand how to customize a theme, read through the documentation in the configuration and segments sections.
The [configuration][configuration] section covers the basic building blocks and concepts of Oh My Posh themes, while the
segments section covers how to configure each available segment.

[themes]: themes.md
[configuration]: configuration/overview.mdx
[prompt]: prompt.mdx
[default-theme]: https://github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/blob/main/themes/default.omp.json
[jandedobbeleer]: /docs/themes#jandedobbeleer
[json-schema]: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/main/themes/schema.json
[homebrew-problem]: https://github.com/JanDeDobbeleer/oh-my-posh/discussions/2644