NinjaTrader Dark Mode: Skins, Chart Colors and One Look for Every Chart
To make NinjaTrader 8 dark, open Tools › Settings, select General, set Skin to a dark skin such as Dark or NinjaTrader Dark, and restart NinjaTrader. The skin darkens the platform’s windows, but a chart only follows it for colors you never changed yourself. Set the rest in Chart Properties and the Data Series window, then save a default chart template so new charts open with the same look.
Menu names below are for NinjaTrader 8.1.x.x (checked against NinjaTrader’s help guide, October 2026). Before 8.1.5, Tools › Settings was called Tools › Options.
This guide covers the NinjaTrader 8 desktop platform. Many search results for “NinjaTrader dark mode” are really about NinjaTrader Web, which has its own light and dark setting, or about the NinjaTrader forum website. Neither one changes the desktop platform. If you are still deciding between desktop and browser charting, see how NinjaTrader compares with web charting platforms.
Where NinjaTrader’s colors come from
Dark mode in NinjaTrader is not one switch. Colors live in four places, and each one is set separately:
| What you want to change | Where it lives | Open it with |
|---|---|---|
| Windows, menus, Control Center, SuperDOM, Chart Trader buttons | Tools › Settings › General › Skin | Control Center Tools menu |
| Chart background, grid lines, axis, chart text | Chart Properties | Ctrl+T |
| Candle body, outline and wick colors | Data Series window | Ctrl+F |
| Indicator lines and plots | Indicators window | Ctrl+I |
Step 1: Switch the platform skin
- In the Control Center, open Tools › Settings.
- Select the General category.
- Under Preferences, set Skin to the skin you want.
- Save the setting, then fully close and restart NinjaTrader. NinjaTrader’s help guide states that changing the skin requires a restart.
The built-in skins include Light, Dark, Slate Light, Slate Gray and Slate Dark, and current 8.1 installs also include NinjaTrader and NinjaTrader Dark. Each skin also sets the starting colors for charts:
| Skin | Starting chart background | Starting candles |
|---|---|---|
| Dark, Slate Dark | Black | Lime green up, red down |
| NinjaTrader Dark, Slate Gray | Very dark gray (#1E1E1E) | Lime green up, red down |
| Light, Slate Light, NinjaTrader | White | Lime green up, red down |
We read these from the skin files in a NinjaTrader 8.1.8.3 install, in Documents\NinjaTrader 8\templates\Skins.
Here is the part that trips people up. A chart only takes the skin’s colors where nobody changed them. In a saved workspace, NinjaTrader stores each untouched chart color as DEFAULT, meaning “use the skin’s color”, and stores each color you picked as that exact color. So a chart you colored by hand, or one built from a template with colors you picked, keeps its old look after a skin change. Fix those charts in Steps 2 and 3.
Want window colors that no built-in skin has? NinjaTrader’s guide describes making your own: copy one of the skin folders in Documents\NinjaTrader 8\templates\Skins, rename the copy, edit its XAML files, and restart to see each change. Don’t edit the built-in skin folders directly. The NinjaTrader installer overwrites them on each new installation.
Step 2: Set chart colors in Chart Properties
- Right-click inside the chart and choose Properties, or press Ctrl+T.
- In the Color section, set Chart background and Text. The inactive price marker and crosshair label colors are in the same section.
- In the Lines section, set Axis, Grid line – horizontal, Grid line – vertical, Crosshair and Panel splitter.
These settings belong to the chart you opened them from. Other charts, including other tabs in the same chart window, keep their own colors.
On 8.1.7 and later, the color picker shows a grid of tints, shades and grays, has a Custom option with RGB and opacity sliders, and accepts color names or hex values. Typing the same hex value on every chart is the easiest way to get an exact match.
If you would rather hide the grid lines or the instrument watermark than recolor them, see how to clean up a NinjaTrader chart.
Step 3: Change the candle colors
- Press Ctrl+F on the chart, or right-click the chart background and choose Data Series.
- Select your series in the Applied list.
- Check that Chart style is Candlestick, then set Color for up bars and Color for down bars.
- To give the wicks and outlines their own color, uncheck Outline and wick match body, then set Candle body outline and Candle wick.
- Click OK.
Since 8.1.6, Outline and wick match body is turned on for new charts. While it is on, the wick and outline simply use the body color, which is why changing Candle wick can look like it does nothing. Other chart styles, such as OHLC or Hollow candlestick, show their own color options in the same place.
Step 4: Make new charts open with your colors
The simple way: a default chart template.
- Set up one chart exactly as you want new charts to look, with only the indicators you want on every new chart.
- Right-click the chart and choose Templates › Save As Default.
New charts now open with that template. Keep in mind that a template is a whole chart setup, not just colors. It saves the chart properties, the panels and the indicator settings, plus Data Series settings such as candle colors and the trading hours template. It does not save drawing objects.
The colors-only way: presets. If you don’t want any indicators carried onto new charts:
- In Chart Properties, click the preset text and choose save. Your chart colors become the default for new charts.
- In the Data Series window, right-click the Chart style setting and choose Set Preset For ‘Candlestick’ Chart Style. Your candle colors become the default for candlestick charts.
A default chart template overrules these presets. NinjaTrader’s guide says to pick <None> as the chart template when you open a new chart if you want the presets to apply.
Apply your look to charts you already have
Templates and presets only shape new charts. The charts already saved in your workspaces keep their colors until you change them, and the Templates menu works on the chart you right-clicked. So existing charts are updated one at a time:
- Save your look under a name with Templates › Save As….
- On each existing chart, right-click, open Templates and pick that template. On builds before 8.1.6, use Templates › Load.
- Repeat for every chart tab, then save the workspace with Workspaces › Save or Shift+F4. Workspaces do not auto-save.
The template brings its indicators and Data Series settings along with its colors. If a chart uses different indicators from the template, change its colors in Chart Properties and the Data Series window instead. For more on saving and restoring layouts, see our guide to NinjaTrader workspaces.
Common snags and how to fix them
- You changed the skin and a chart stayed white. That chart has its own saved colors. Change them in Chart Properties and the Data Series window, or load your dark template on it.
- Windows look half-changed after you pick a skin. The new skin is not fully applied until you restart NinjaTrader. Restart before you judge the result.
- Your drawings did not come with the template. That is by design. Templates never include drawing objects, because a trend line drawn on one instrument rarely fits another.
- A template won’t load on a chart. A template only loads on a chart with the same number of Data Series as the chart it was saved from.
- Loading a template changed your session times. Template settings take precedence over the chart’s own, including the trading hours template. Save a separate template for charts that use different hours.
- An indicator line vanished on the dark background. Indicators keep their own plot colors. Press Ctrl+I, select the indicator, and change its colors under Plots. To keep that color every time you add the indicator, click the template text at the bottom of its properties, choose save, and name the template Default.
- Drawings set to show on all charts disappeared when you picked a template. Picking a template from the right-click menu could remove those drawing objects. NinjaTrader fixed this in 8.1.7, one more reason to keep NinjaTrader updated.
- Changing the wick color does nothing. Uncheck Outline and wick match body first (Step 3).
Chart Studio: one look on every chart at once (coming soon)
Native NinjaTrader handles chart colors chart by chart. A template or preset covers new charts, and existing charts need the template loaded one at a time. Chart Studio, our NinjaTrader 8 add-on, covers the other half: it changes chart colors on every open chart at once instead of one chart at a time. It is opening soon and is not available to download yet.
- Free (free account, one registered PC): a few built-in themes you can apply, each with matching candle colors, plus chart cleanup (hide the indicator labels in the top-left corner, the gridlines and the watermark).
- Paid (with a 7-day trial, no card needed): all 15 themes, the theme editor for building and saving your own, one font across charts, and Sync, which copies one chart’s look to every open chart, with Undo if you change your mind.
Chart Studio themes are chart colors, not a platform skin. You still choose the window skin in Tools › Settings › General. Details are on the Chart Studio page.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make NinjaTrader dark?
Go to Tools › Settings › General, set Skin to Dark, NinjaTrader Dark, Slate Dark or Slate Gray, and restart NinjaTrader. If a chart stays light afterward, change its background in Chart Properties (Ctrl+T).
Why didn’t my chart change when I changed the skin?
The skin only supplies the colors a chart never changed. If you or a template set the background or candle colors, the chart keeps them. Change them in Chart Properties and the Data Series window, or load a dark template on that chart.
How do I make every new chart open with my colors?
Set up one chart the way you like, then right-click it and choose Templates › Save As Default. If you want colors without indicators, save Chart Properties and Chart style presets instead and pick <None> as the template for new charts.
Can I change the color of the up and down candles?
Yes. Press Ctrl+F and set Color for up bars and Color for down bars. To color the wicks and outlines separately, uncheck Outline and wick match body first.
Which NinjaTrader skin gives a black chart background?
Dark and Slate Dark start charts on pure black. NinjaTrader Dark and Slate Gray start them on a very dark gray. Whatever skin you use, you can set any background color in Chart Properties.
Does a chart template save my drawings?
No. A chart template saves chart properties, panels, indicator settings and Data Series settings, but not drawing objects.
Next, tidy up what’s left on the chart with how to clean up a NinjaTrader chart, or browse the rest of our NinjaTrader chart setup guides.