How to Add New Themes in FileZilla FTP Client in Windows

There was a time when CuteFTP and WS_FTP were the most popular FTP clients for all the people who wanted to dabble with FTP access from their Windows computers. But FileZilla has now replaced them all and has become the most popular FTP client in Windows and other operating systems as well.

One of the reasons why FileZilla is so popular is because it is open-source and is updated regularly to keep it free of any known bugs or vulnerabilities. Not many people know that FileZilla can also be themed. By changing the themes in FileZilla client, you can change the various icon-sets used in the FileZilla interface.

Here is how you can add new themes to FileZilla client in Windows:

  1. First of all download a new theme for FileZilla. You have to search for them online. For example, you can download Papirus theme or Elementary theme.
  2. Close FileZilla if it is already running by selecting File → Exit from the menubar.
  3. Right-click on the FileZilla shortcut on your Windows desktop and select Open file location. This will open the folder where FileZilla is installed. Usually this folder is something like C:\Program Files\FileZilla.Add New Themes to FileZilla
  4. In the folder opened in step 1, open the sub-folder named resources.
  5. From the downloaded theme files, extract the theme folder inside resources. For example, after extracting Elementary theme in resources folder, you should have a sub-folder elementary inside resources. Inside the theme folder you should have icons and theme.xml file.Add New Themes to FileZilla
  6. Launch FileZilla and from the menubar select Edit → Settings.Add New Themes to FileZilla
  7. In the settings window, select Interface → Themes category from the left side.
  8. Select the new theme from the drop-down list of themes. Choose the scale factor to be 1.00 instead of 1.25.
  9. Click on the OK button to set the newly selected theme.Add New Themes to FileZilla

Even though the number of steps given above is 9, the whole process basically involves extract the theme folder inside the “resources” folder and then choosing this new theme from the FileZilla settings.