iTerm2 Default Theme

The terminal colors you already know and love.

If you've been using iTerm2 on Mac with the default color scheme (and let's be honest, most of us never changed it), you know those colors by heart. The muted reds, the classic greens, the CGA blues. They're not trendy. They just work.

This theme brings that exact palette into Zed, so your terminal finally looks right.

Preview

iTerm2 Default Dark theme in Zed

iTerm2 vs Zed — side by side

iTerm2 (left) vs Zed terminal (right) — same colors
_{Left: iTerm2 | Right: Zed terminal. Same palette.}

Color Palette

ANSI Color Palette

Full color reference

Terminal

	Normal	Hex	Bright	Hex
Black	`████`	`#000000`	`████`	`#555555`
Red	`████`	`#BB0000`	`████`	`#FF5555`
Green	`████`	`#00BB00`	`████`	`#55FF55`
Yellow	`████`	`#BBBB00`	`████`	`#FFFF55`
Blue	`████`	`#0000BB`	`████`	`#5555FF`
Magenta	`████`	`#BB00BB`	`████`	`#FF55FF`
Cyan	`████`	`#00BBBB`	`████`	`#55FFFF`
White	`████`	`#BBBBBB`	`████`	`#FFFFFF`

Editor

Element	Color
Background	`#000000`
Foreground	`#BBBBBB`
Selection	`#B5D5FF` (30% opacity)
Cursor	`#BBBBBB`
Line numbers	`#555555`
Active line	`#111111`

Install

From Zed Extensions (once published)

Open Zed
Cmd + Shift + P → zed: extensions
Search for iTerm2 Default
Click Install

Dev Extension (now)

Clone this repo

git clone https://github.com/EtanHey/zed-iterm-default-theme.git

In Zed: Cmd + Shift + P → zed: install dev extension
Select the cloned directory
Cmd + Shift + P → theme selector: toggle → pick iTerm2 Default Dark

What's in the box

29 terminal colors matched 1:1 from iTerm2's default profile (all 16 ANSI + bright/dim variants + foreground/background)
Full editor theme built from the same palette (syntax highlighting, UI chrome, status indicators)
Pure black editor background matching the terminal
Syntax highlighting using the bright ANSI variants (red keywords, green strings, blue functions, cyan types)

Why this exists

Every ZED theme gives you their terminal colors. Dracula's purples. Catppuccin's pastels. Nord's blues. They're beautiful, but they make your terminal look unfamiliar.

If you grew up with the default Mac terminal colors and never bothered changing them (because they were fine), this theme is for you. Same colors. Same vibe. Just in Zed now.

Contributing

Found something off? Open an issue. PRs welcome.

License

MIT

_{Built by @EtanHey because the terminal should feel like home.}