SSMS 22 shipped in November 2025. It brought ARM64 support, GitHub Copilot, zoomable result grids, and... a new visual themes menu that reads like a smoothie bar.
The classic Blue theme that we've stared at since ET phoned home? Gone. In its place: thirteen color themes with names that sound like you're at the ice cream parlor!
The Menu
Go to Tools > Theme in SSMS 22 and you will find these:
| Color | Theme | Vibe |
|---|---|---|
| Light | Plain white. The 'just water, thanks.' | |
| Dark | Standard dark mode. Classic. | |
| Bubblegum | Pink. In a database tool. Bold. | |
| Cool Breeze | Soft blue-gray. The default. ...enh | |
| Cool Slate | Darker blue-gray. Dark mode for adults. | |
| Icy Mint | Mint green. Refreshing, allegedly. | |
| Juicy Plum | Purple dark. Moody. | |
| Mango Paradise | Palm trees. Margaritas. | |
| Moonlight Glow | Blue-dark. Closest to the old Blue. RIP. | |
| Mystical Forest | Green dark. For the Tolkien DBA. | |
| Silky Pink | Pink. Bubblegum. | |
| Spicy Red | Red accent. Production energy. | |
| Sunny Day | Yellow-warm. Aggressively cheerful. |
That is 8 light themes and 5 dark themes, inherited from Visual Studio's Fluent UI refresh — which borrowed its palette from Microsoft Edge browser themes. Your query editor now has the same aesthetic options as your browser's new tab page.
RIP Blue (2005 – 2025)
The Blue theme was retired because "it was a source of accessibility issues". Rather than retrofit a 20-year-old theme, MSFT replaced the entire lineup. Fair play.
If you are mourning, Cool Breeze and Moonlight Glow are your closest replacements.
How to Change Themes
Super Easy
Tools > Theme — pick from the dropdown. No restart required.
While You Are in There
Since you have SSMS 22 open anyway, a few quick wins:
Zoom the Results Grid
Ctrl+Shift+> / Ctrl+Shift+< zooms the grid independently of the editor. Also Ctrl+Scroll. New in SSMS 22. No more squinting during screen shares. My eyes like this one.
Rename Tabs
Right-click any query tab > 'Rename Tab.' Six tabs all named SQLQuery1.sql through SQLQuery6.sql? Not anymore.
Clean Up Tab Names
Text Editor > More Settings > Editor Tab and Status Bar — set everything to False except 'Include file name.' Strips the server/login/database clutter. Requires a restart.
Query Shortcuts
Environment > Keyboard > Query Shortcuts — map your most-used scripts (ie., sp_who2, sp_BlitzFirst). Highlight a parameter, hit the shortcut, done.
Query Window at Startup
Environment > Startup — change to 'Open Object Explorer and query window.' You were going to open one anyway.
Kill the Splash Screen
Search 'splash' in settings. Disable it. You know you opened SSMS.
So What Are You Running?
Thirteen themes, zero excuses. Which one did you pick?
Me? Mango Paradise. Palm trees out the window, salt air on the keyboard, and now my query editor matches the view. Tropical deadlocks. Sunshine blocking. Paradise tempdb spills. It was never really a choice. 😆
More to Read:
SSMS 22 GA Announcement — Microsoft Tech Community
My SSMS 22 Configuration — VladDBA
A Kind of Blue — Mark Downie (PoppaString)
What is New in SSMS 22 — MSSQLTips
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