How to change appearance and get back functions to have colors

[SammieF23]

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My SQL syntax does not have colors anymore

[notcoderhuman]

Hi SammieF23 👋

This is a super common issue in GitHub Codespaces (it uses VS Code under the hood). Your SQL syntax highlighting disappeared because either the language mode got reset or the color theme no longer applies colors to functions/keywords.

Here’s the fastest fix (takes 10 seconds):

1. Set the correct language mode (most common cause)

• At the bottom-right corner of the Codespaces editor, click where it says the current language (it might say “Plain Text” or something else).
• Type SQL and select SQL from the list.
• The colors for SELECT, CONCAT, FROM, AS, etc. should instantly come back.

2. If colors are still missing → change the appearance/theme

• Press Ctrl + K then Ctrl + T (or Command + K + T on Mac) → this opens the theme picker.
• Choose any of these (they all color SQL functions properly):
  • Dark+ (default dark)
  • Light+
  • Default Dark Modern
  • GitHub Dark Default (if you like GitHub’s own look)
• Pick one and the functions will immediately get their colors back.

Quick extra check (if the above doesn’t work)

• Press Ctrl + Shift + P → type “Settings (JSON)” → open it.
• Look for any lines that start with "workbench.colorCustomizations" or "editor.tokenColorCustomizations".
• If you see them, just delete those whole sections (or comment them out with //).
• Save and reload the window (Ctrl + R).

That’s it! 99 % of the time one of the first two steps brings the colors right back.

Let me know if it still doesn’t work and drop a screenshot of your bottom status bar (language + theme) — I’ll give you the exact next step.

Happy coding! 🚀