Colors for Folders Files and Tabs

Make projects and sections of your vault easier to spot with folder colors. Choose a color for a folder, and its files and subfolders follow along. Give any subfolder its own color whenever you want it to stand out.

Use the built-in palette or create your own colors. Choose where they appear: folder and file icons, tab icons, or names in the file explorer. Everything stays local, and your notes remain untouched.

Available for desktop Obsidian 1.14.4 or later.

Installation

Find the plugin in the Obsidian community directory, or install it from Obsidian:

1. Open Settings → Community plugins and turn on community plugins if needed.
2. Select Browse and search for Colors for Folders Files and Tabs.
3. Select Install, then Enable.

For updates or manual installation, see the user guide.

Features

• A named palette with built-in colors, custom hex values and a color picker.
• Folder colors that flow to files and subfolders, with subtle variations.
• Separate controls for file explorer icons, file explorer names and tab icons.
• Quick access through folder menus, settings and the command palette.
• Saved preferences with recovery guidance if settings cannot be loaded or saved.
• Offline use without accounts, telemetry or changes to your notes.

See it in use

Icons only (default)	Icons and names (optional)

Color names is disabled by default. Enable it in the plugin's Appearance section to use the presentation on the right. Tab names keep the theme's styling.

Screenshots show the October 12, 2026 build in Obsidian 1.14.4, with dark appearance and synthetic ColorsTest content. The maintainer confirmed normal operation. See the image notes.

First use

1. Enable the installed plugin in Settings → Community plugins.
2. Open a folder's context menu and choose Set folder color….
3. Select a named color and choose Apply.

Choose Use inherited color to clear an explicit assignment. Manage colors in Settings → Colors for Folders Files and Tabs → Palette, or run Manage palette from the command palette. See the user guide for inheritance, appearance preferences and settings recovery.

Windows Narrator compatibility

Use Tab to focus an Appearance switch and Space to toggle it. With Windows Narrator enabled, first disable Scan Mode using Caps Lock + Space. The maintainer verified this workflow in Obsidian 1.14.4; the Narrator version was not recorded. See accessibility for verification scope and reporting guidance.

Support and limitations

Verification covers the recorded Windows workflows. Current-build validation on Linux/macOS and other themes is pending; mobile support and automated E2E tests are future work. Unsupported surfaces keep native colors. Tracked pop-out cleanup passed, but an earlier observation of two retained closed documents has no established owner. See testing.

Report ordinary bugs through the repository's issue forms. Report suspected vulnerabilities privately using SECURITY.md.

Development and contribution

Development covers setup and deployment. Releases covers release automation, configuration and recovery. Use mise with Node 24.21.0, pnpm 12.8.1 and the committed TypeScript 6.0.3 pin. The full local check is:

mise exec -- pnpm run check

Start with CONTRIBUTING.md, architecture and testing. See the changelog for release history.

Support development

If this plugin is useful to you, you can support its development on Ko-fi. Donations are optional.

License and provenance

MIT. Contributors retain ownership of their work. This project began with the official Obsidian sample plugin; the original license and attribution are preserved in NOTICE.