I cannot change the font size of package explorer in Eclipse

Question

I try to change the font size of package explorer in Eclipse from menu Window → Preferences → General → Appearance, and I fail to change

Answer 1

You can lookup the CSS style files in eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.platform_4.2.X.vY/css edit your current style (probably e4_default_win7.css).

Add something like this:

    #org-eclipse-ui-jdt-PackageExplorer {
       font-size: 20pt;
    }

and hope you have a nice and large font (I did not check it myself).

Pro tip: Next time you need to find the CSS Id for a part of the UI, use CSS Spy which you can open with SHIFT-ALT-F5 (after you have installed it).

Answer 2

FYI:

From Eclipse v4.4 (Luna):

It looks like the CSS files are no longer in the old folder:

`eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.platform_4.x.x.vy/css`,

They are moved to the new folder:

eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.ui.themes_x.x.x.vxxxxx/css

And you must select a theme to apply it, in the menu Windows → Preference → General → Appearance.

Answer 3

These are my settings and a screenshot of the IDE.

    #org-eclipse-jdt-ui-PackageExplorer Tree,
    #org-eclipse-ui-navigator-ProjectExplorer Tree,
    #org-eclipse-ui-views-ContentOutline Tree,
    #PerspectiveSwitcher ToolBar {
      font-size: 8px;
    }

    .MPartStack {
      font-size: 8;
      swt-simple: false;
      swt-mru-visible: false;
    }

Answer 4

In my case I'm using DevStyle plugin with Spring Tool Suite 4.

The font size of project explorer can be changed going to Eclipse menu bar:

• Window
  • Preferences
    • DevStyle
      • Extras
        • Explorer font size

---

This setting is saved into workspace folder:

\workspace\.metadata\.plugins\com.genuitec.eclipse.ui.common.platform\extra-styling.css

I tried edit directly in file but when open Eclipse the file was overwritten

Using STS 4.8.0.RELEASE based on Eclipse 2020-09 (requires a JDK11)

Answer 5

On Juno and up you can adjust that font by CSS.

Lookup the files in eclipse\plugins\org.eclipse.platform_4.2.x.y\css for your current style sheet (probably e4_default_win7.css), and then just add the following rule:

#org-eclipse-jdt-ui-PackageExplorer Tree,
#org-eclipse-ui-navigator-ProjectExplorer Tree {
  font-size: 10px; /* <-- Desired font size */
}

Update: stylesheets are in eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.ui.themes_x.x.x.vxxxxx/css folder since Eclipse 4.4 (Luna).

Answer 6

This worked for me using version 2019-09 on Windows 10:

• Locate the directory C:\Users\johndoe\.p2\pool\plugins in File Explorer, replacing "johndoe" with your own Windows user ID.
• Depending on what you have done in the past with Eclipse, you should see one or more directories with names that start with org.eclipse.ui.themes.
• Select the one with the most recent date modified. In my case its name was org.eclipse.ui.themes_1.2.700.v20190826-0816.
• Within that directory open the directory named css.
• Open the file named e4_default_win.css in a text editor, and append something similar to the following at the end of the file:

Tree { font-size: 24px; font: Mistral; }

• Don't pick those specific values! You should pick the font and font size you want. I deliberately made poor choices only to make the effect of those settings obvious in the screen shot below.

• Save the file and restart Eclipse. You should see that the font has been changed in the Project Explorer and Package Explorer views, and a lot of other places as well:

• Just be clear, the name of the file I edited was C:\Users\johndoe\.p2\pool\plugins\org.eclipse.ui.themes_1.2.700.v20190826-0816\css\e4_default_win.css. The name of the file you edit won't be exactly that, but it should be similar.