Customizing SumatraPDF 3.5

You can change the look and behavior of SumatraPDF by editing the file SumatraPDF-settings.txt. The file is stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%\SumatraPDF directory for the installed version or in the same directory as SumatraPDF.exe executable for the portable version.

Use the menu item Settings -> Advanced Settings... to open the settings file with your default text editor.

The file is in a simple text format. Below is an explanation of what the different settings mean and what their default values are.

Highlighted settings can't be changed from the UI. Modifying other settings directly in this file is not recommended.

If you add or remove lines with square brackets, make sure to always add/remove square brackets in pairs! Else you risk losing all the data following them.

Valid themes: light, dark, darker (introduced in version 3.5)
Theme = 
customization options for PDF, XPS, DjVu and PostScript UI FixedPageUI [ color value with which black (text) will be substituted TextColor = #000000 color value with which white (background) will be substituted BackgroundColor = #ffffff color value for the text selection rectangle (also used to highlight found text) (introduced in version 2.4) SelectionColor = #f5fc0c top, right, bottom and left margin (in that order) between window and document WindowMargin = 2 4 2 4 horizontal and vertical distance between two pages in facing and book view modes PageSpacing = 4 4 colors to use for the gradient from top to bottom (stops will be inserted at regular intervals throughout the document); currently only up to three colors are supported; the idea behind this experimental feature is that the background might allow to subconsciously determine reading progress; suggested values: #2828aa #28aa28 #aa2828 GradientColors = if true, TextColor and BackgroundColor of the document will be swapped InvertColors = false if true, hides the scrollbars but retains ability to scroll HideScrollbars = false ] customization options for Comic Book and images UI ComicBookUI [ top, right, bottom and left margin (in that order) between window and document WindowMargin = 0 0 0 0 horizontal and vertical distance between two pages in facing and book view modes PageSpacing = 4 4 if true, default to displaying Comic Book files in manga mode (from right to left if showing 2 pages at a time) CbxMangaMode = false ] customization options for CHM UI. If UseFixedPageUI is true, FixedPageUI settings apply instead ChmUI [ if true, the UI used for PDF documents will be used for CHM documents as well UseFixedPageUI = false ]
list of handlers for selected text, shown in context menu when text selection is active. See docs for more information SelectionHandlers [ [ url to invoke for the selection. ${selection} will be replaced with current selection and ${userlang} with language code for current UI (e.g. 'de' for German) URL = name shown in context menu Name = ] ]
list of additional external viewers for various file types. See docs for more information ExternalViewers [ [ command line with which to call the external viewer, may contain %p for page number and "%1" for the file name (add quotation marks around paths containing spaces) CommandLine = name of the external viewer to be shown in the menu (implied by CommandLine if missing) Name = optional filter for which file types the menu item is to be shown; separate multiple entries using ';' and don't include any spaces (e.g. *.pdf;*.xps for all PDF and XPS documents) Filter = ] ] sequence of zoom levels when zooming in/out; all values must lie between 8.33 and 6400 ZoomLevels = 8.33 12.5 18 25 33.33 50 66.67 75 100 125 150 200 300 400 600 800 1000 1200 1600 2000 2400 3200 4800 6400 zoom step size in percents relative to the current zoom level. if zero or negative, the values from ZoomLevels are used instead ZoomIncrement = 0 these override the default settings in the Print dialog PrinterDefaults [ default value for scaling (shrink, fit, none) PrintScale = shrink ] customization options for how we show forward search results (used from LaTeX editors) ForwardSearch [ when set to a positive value, the forward search highlight style will be changed to a rectangle at the left of the page (with the indicated amount of margin from the page margin) HighlightOffset = 0 width of the highlight rectangle (if HighlightOffset is > 0) HighlightWidth = 15 color used for the forward search highlight HighlightColor = #6581ff if true, highlight remains visible until the next mouse click (instead of fading away immediately) HighlightPermanent = false ] default values for annotations in PDF documents (introduced in version 3.3) Annotations [ highlight annotation color HighlightColor = #ffff00 underline annotation color UnderlineColor = #00ff00 squiggly annotation color (introduced in version 3.5) SquigglyColor = #ff00ff strike out annotation color (introduced in version 3.5) StrikeOutColor = #ff0000 color of free text annotation (introduced in version 3.5) FreeTextColor = size of free text annotation (introduced in version 3.5) FreeTextSize = 12 width of free text annotation border (introduced in version 3.5) FreeTextBorderWidth = 1 text icon annotation color TextIconColor = type of text annotation icon: comment, help, insert, key, new paragraph, note, paragraph. If not set: note. TextIconType = default author for created annotations, use (none) to not add an author at all. If not set will use Windows user name (introduced in version 3.4) DefaultAuthor = ] a whitespace separated list of passwords to try when opening a password protected document (passwords containing spaces must be quoted) (introduced in version 2.4) DefaultPasswords =
if true, we remember which files we opened and their display settings RememberOpenedFiles = true if true, we store display settings for each document separately (i.e. everything after UseDefaultState in FileStates) RememberStatePerDocument = true
if true and SessionData isn't empty, that session will be restored at startup RestoreSession = true
ISO code of the current UI language UiLanguage = pattern used to launch the LaTeX editor when doing inverse search InverseSearchCmdLine = if true, we expose the SyncTeX inverse search command line in Settings -> Options EnableTeXEnhancements = false default layout of pages. valid values: automatic, single page, facing, book view, continuous, continuous facing, continuous book view DefaultDisplayMode = automatic default zoom (in %) or one of those values: fit page, fit width, fit content DefaultZoom = fit page custom keyboard shortcuts Shortcuts [ [ command Cmd = keyboard shortcut (e.g. Ctrl-Alt-F) Key = ] ]
if true, Esc key closes SumatraPDF EscToExit = false if true, we'll always open files using existing SumatraPDF process ReuseInstance = false if true, a document will be reloaded automatically whenever it's changed (currently doesn't work for documents shown in the ebook UI) (introduced in version 2.5) ReloadModifiedDocuments = true background color of the non-document windows, traditionally yellow MainWindowBackground = #80fff200 if true, we show the full path to a file in the title bar (introduced in version 3.0) FullPathInTitle = false if false, the menu bar will be hidden for all newly opened windows (use F9 to show it until the window closes or Alt to show it just briefly), only applies if UseTabs is false (introduced in version 2.5) ShowMenubar = true
if true, we show the toolbar at the top of the window ShowToolbar = true if true, we show the Favorites sidebar ShowFavorites = false if true, we show table of contents (Bookmarks) sidebar if it's present in the document ShowToc = true if true, doesn't open Home tab NoHomeTab = false if both favorites and bookmarks parts of sidebar are visible, this is the height of bookmarks (table of contents) part TocDy = 0 width of favorites/bookmarks sidebar (if shown) SidebarDx = 0 height of toolbar (introduced in version 3.4) ToolbarSize = 18 maximum width of a single tab TabWidth = 300 font size for bookmarks and favorites tree views. 0 means Windows default (introduced in version 3.3) TreeFontSize = 0 font weight offset for bookmarks and favorites tree views. TreeFontWeightOffset = 0 font name for bookmarks and favorites tree views. automatic means Windows default TreeFontName = automatic
if true, implements smooth scrolling SmoothScroll = false
if true, we show a list of frequently read documents when no document is loaded ShowStartPage = true if true, we check once a day if an update is available CheckForUpdates = true we won't ask again to update to this version VersionToSkip = default state of the window. 1 is normal, 2 is maximized, 3 is fullscreen, 4 is minimized WindowState = 1 default position (x, y) and size (width, height) of the window WindowPos = 0 0 0 0 if true, documents are opened in tabs instead of new windows (introduced in version 3.0) UseTabs = true
if true, we use Windows system colors for background/text color. Over-rides other settings UseSysColors = false actual resolution of the main screen in DPI (if this value isn't positive, the system's UI setting is used) (introduced in version 2.5) CustomScreenDPI = 0
information about opened files (in most recently used order) FileStates [ [ path of the document FilePath = Values which are persisted for bookmarks/favorites Favorites [ [ name of this favorite as shown in the menu Name = number of the bookmarked page PageNo = 0 label for this page (only present if logical and physical page numbers are not the same) PageLabel = ] ] a document can be "pinned" to the Frequently Read list so that it isn't displaced by recently opened documents IsPinned = false if true, the file is considered missing and won't be shown in any list IsMissing = false number of times this document has been opened recently OpenCount = 0 data required to open a password protected document without having to ask for the password again DecryptionKey = if true, we use global defaults when opening this file (instead of the values below) UseDefaultState = false layout of pages. valid values: automatic, single page, facing, book view, continuous, continuous facing, continuous book view DisplayMode = automatic how far this document has been scrolled (in x and y direction) ScrollPos = 0 0 number of the last read page PageNo = 1 zoom (in %) or one of those values: fit page, fit width, fit content Zoom = fit page how far pages have been rotated as a multiple of 90 degrees Rotation = 0 state of the window. 1 is normal, 2 is maximized, 3 is fullscreen, 4 is minimized WindowState = 0 default position (can be on any monitor) WindowPos = 0 0 0 0 if true, we show table of contents (Bookmarks) sidebar if it's present in the document ShowToc = true width of the left sidebar panel containing the table of contents SidebarDx = 0 if true, the document is displayed right-to-left in facing and book view modes (only used for comic book documents) DisplayR2L = false data required to restore the last read page in the ebook UI ReparseIdx = 0 data required to determine which parts of the table of contents have been expanded TocState = ] ] state of the last session, usage depends on RestoreSession (introduced in version 3.1) SessionData [ [ data required for restoring the view state of a single tab TabStates [ [ path of the document FilePath = same as FileStates -> DisplayMode DisplayMode = automatic number of the last read page PageNo = 1 same as FileStates -> Zoom Zoom = fit page same as FileStates -> Rotation Rotation = 0 how far this document has been scrolled (in x and y direction) ScrollPos = 0 0 if true, the table of contents was shown when the document was closed ShowToc = true same as FileStates -> TocState TocState = ] ] index of the currently selected tab (1-based) TabIndex = 1 same as FileState -> WindowState WindowState = 0 default position (can be on any monitor) WindowPos = 0 0 0 0 width of favorites/bookmarks sidebar (if shown) SidebarDx = 0 ] ] data required for reloading documents after an auto-update (introduced in version 3.0) ReopenOnce = data required to determine when SumatraPDF last checked for updates TimeOfLastUpdateCheck = 0 0 value required to determine recency for the OpenCount value in FileStates OpenCountWeek = 0

Syntax for color values

The syntax for colors is: #rrggbb.

The components are hex values (ranging from 00 to FF) and stand for:

For example #ff0000 means red color. You can use Sphere to pick a color.