Fork me on GitHub

Styles

Table of Contents (v1.6.5 and older)

Overview

This guide will introduce you to the many accents and themes that MahApps.Metro has and how to create your own.

All of MahApps.Metro’s accents and themes are contained within separate resource dictionaries (Make sure that all file names are spelled correct. They are Case Sensitive!).

How to change the current theme

You can choose between these available accents:

“Red”, “Green”, “Blue”, “Purple”, “Orange”, “Lime”, “Emerald”, “Teal”, “Cyan”, “Cobalt”, “Indigo”, “Violet”, “Pink”, “Magenta”, “Crimson”, “Amber”, “Yellow”, “Brown”, “Olive”, “Steel”, “Mauve”, “Taupe”, “Sienna”

and these themes:

“BaseLight”, “BaseDark”

via App.xaml

The fastest way is to specify the accent and theme resource in App.xaml.

<Application x:Class="MahAppsMetroThemesSample.App"
         xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
         xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
         StartupUri="MainWindow.xaml">
    <Application.Resources>
        <ResourceDictionary>
            <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
                <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/MahApps.Metro;component/Styles/Controls.xaml" />
                <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/MahApps.Metro;component/Styles/Fonts.xaml" />
                <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/MahApps.Metro;component/Styles/Colors.xaml" />

                <!-- accent resource -->
                <!-- change "Cobalt" to the accent color you want -->

                <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/MahApps.Metro;component/Styles/Accents/Cobalt.xaml" />

                <!-- theme resource -->
                <!-- change "BaseLight" to the theme you want -->
                <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/MahApps.Metro;component/Styles/Accents/BaseLight.xaml" />
            </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
        </ResourceDictionary>
    </Application.Resources>
</Application>

Cobalt and BaseLight theme.

via ThemeManager

MahApps.Metro has a ThemeManager method that lets you change the accent and theme using the code-behind file. It can be done in 2 lines, like so:

public partial class App : Application
{
    protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
    {
        // get the current app style (theme and accent) from the application
        // you can then use the current theme and custom accent instead set a new theme
        Tuple<AppTheme, Accent> appStyle = ThemeManager.DetectAppStyle(Application.Current);

        // now set the Green accent and dark theme
        ThemeManager.ChangeAppStyle(Application.Current,
                                    ThemeManager.GetAccent("Green"),
                                    ThemeManager.GetAppTheme("BaseDark")); // or appStyle.Item1

        base.OnStartup(e);
    }
}

On a Window different to your Application’s MainPage

With MahApps.Metro you can have a different accent and theme for a MetroWindow. The main window or any other MetroWindow will keep the specified accent and theme in the App.xaml.

<Controls:MetroWindow.Resources>
    <ResourceDictionary>
       <ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
            <!-- this window should be blue -->
            <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/MahApps.Metro;component/Styles/Accents/Blue.xaml" />
            <!-- and should use the light theme -->
            <ResourceDictionary Source="pack://application:,,,/MahApps.Metro;component/Styles/Accents/BaseLight.xaml" />
        </ResourceDictionary.MergedDictionaries>
    </ResourceDictionary>
</Controls:MetroWindow.Resources>

You can also do this with the ThemeManager, like so:

public partial class AccentStyleWindow : MetroWindow
{
    public void ChangeAppStyle()
    {
        // set the Red accent and dark theme only to the current window
        ThemeManager.ChangeAppStyle(this,
                                    ThemeManager.GetAccent("Red"),
                                    ThemeManager.GetAppTheme("BaseDark"));
    }
}

Creating Custom Accents and Themes

Another nice feature of MahApps.Metro ThemeManager is to use custom created accents and themes or use a dynamically created accent and theme.

<ResourceDictionary xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
                    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
                    xmlns:mc="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/markup-compatibility/2006"
                    xmlns:options="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation/options"
                    mc:Ignorable="options">

    <Color x:Key="HighlightColor">#FF9F0055</Color>

    <Color x:Key="AccentBaseColor">#FFD80073</Color>
    <!--  80%  -->
    <Color x:Key="AccentColor">#CCD80073</Color>
    <!--  60%  -->
    <Color x:Key="AccentColor2">#99D80073</Color>
    <!--  40%  -->
    <Color x:Key="AccentColor3">#66D80073</Color>
    <!--  20%  -->
    <Color x:Key="AccentColor4">#33D80073</Color>

    <!--  re-set brushes too  -->
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="HighlightBrush" Color="{StaticResource HighlightColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="AccentBaseColorBrush" Color="{StaticResource AccentBaseColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="AccentColorBrush" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="AccentColorBrush2" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor2}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="AccentColorBrush3" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor3}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="AccentColorBrush4" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor4}" options:Freeze="True" />

    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="WindowTitleColorBrush" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor}" options:Freeze="True" />

    <LinearGradientBrush x:Key="ProgressBrush" StartPoint="1.002,0.5" EndPoint="0.001,0.5" options:Freeze="True">
        <GradientStop Offset="0" Color="{StaticResource HighlightColor}" />
        <GradientStop Offset="1" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor3}" />
    </LinearGradientBrush>

    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="CheckmarkFill" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="RightArrowFill" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor}" options:Freeze="True" />

    <Color x:Key="IdealForegroundColor">White</Color>
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="IdealForegroundColorBrush" Color="{StaticResource IdealForegroundColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="IdealForegroundDisabledBrush" Opacity="0.4" Color="{StaticResource IdealForegroundColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="AccentSelectedColorBrush" Color="{StaticResource IdealForegroundColor}" options:Freeze="True" />

    <!--  DataGrid brushes  -->
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="MetroDataGrid.HighlightBrush" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="MetroDataGrid.HighlightTextBrush" Color="{StaticResource IdealForegroundColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="MetroDataGrid.MouseOverHighlightBrush" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor3}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="MetroDataGrid.FocusBorderBrush" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="MetroDataGrid.InactiveSelectionHighlightBrush" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor2}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="MetroDataGrid.InactiveSelectionHighlightTextBrush" Color="{StaticResource IdealForegroundColor}" options:Freeze="True" />

    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="MahApps.Metro.Brushes.ToggleSwitchButton.OnSwitchBrush.Win10" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="MahApps.Metro.Brushes.ToggleSwitchButton.OnSwitchMouseOverBrush.Win10" Color="{StaticResource AccentColor2}" options:Freeze="True" />
    <SolidColorBrush x:Key="MahApps.Metro.Brushes.ToggleSwitchButton.ThumbIndicatorCheckedBrush.Win10" Color="{StaticResource IdealForegroundColor}" options:Freeze="True" />
</ResourceDictionary>

In order to use this custom accent, you need to add it to the ThemeManager first.

public partial class App : Application
{
    protected override void OnStartup(StartupEventArgs e)
    {
        // add custom accent and theme resource dictionaries to the ThemeManager
        // you should replace MahAppsMetroThemesSample with your application name
        // and correct place where your custom accent lives
        ThemeManager.AddAccent("CustomAccent1", new Uri("pack://application:,,,/MahAppsMetroThemesSample;component/CustomAccents/CustomAccent1.xaml"));

        // get the current app style (theme and accent) from the application
        Tuple<AppTheme, Accent> theme = ThemeManager.DetectAppStyle(Application.Current);

        // now change app style to the custom accent and current theme
        ThemeManager.ChangeAppStyle(Application.Current,
                                    ThemeManager.GetAccent("CustomAccent1"),
                                    theme.Item1);

        base.OnStartup(e);
    }
}

It is also possible to create an accent resource dictionary dynamically by using a specific color.
Take a look to this complete sample available on GitHub.

mahapps_more_colors