---
title: "Override default theme colour"
slug: "override-default-theme-colour"
tags: ["Totara Platform", "Site Administrator", "How-to", "Developer"]
updated: 2025-07-22T10:52:18Z
published: 2025-07-22T11:18:01Z
canonical: "totara.help/override-default-theme-colour"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Override default theme colour

For custom themes, the default colour for the Mustache template needs to be overridden for the custom theme to apply. This change can be made via the user interface in Totara, or via a hard-code change.

## In Totara

To override the default colours via the Totara user interface, follow these steps:

1. Go to *Quick-access menu >* *Appearance* (/admin/settings.php?section=themesettings)*.*
2. Select the theme you wish to edit (e.g. **Inspire**) from the **Appearance** block.
3. Click **Edit site brand** (or click the edit icon for a tenant if you are using multitenancy with different themes).
4. Select the **Colours** tab.
5. Toggle on **Use overriding colours**.
6. Enter the overriding colours.
7. Click **Save**.

![Setting overriding colours for the button colour and link colour in the Inspire theme.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/image-1727430407490.png?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-01T17%3A01%3A53Z&se=2026-11-01T18%3A01%3A53Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=Wdy9rbVNTCDoyFf2nSjcLqHg96DT881ttkNAA0G7Di8%3D)

## In code

If you are experienced with editing Totara code then you can hard-code the change into the background colour default in the **server/theme/legacy/templates/core/email_html.mustache** template, or override it in the theme's directory.

![Course badge](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/course-badge_dashboards-basic-theming(1).svg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-01T17%3A01%3A53Z&se=2026-11-01T18%3A01%3A53Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=Wdy9rbVNTCDoyFf2nSjcLqHg96DT881ttkNAA0G7Di8%3D)The Totara Academy has a whole course dedicated to using [Dashboards and basic theming](https://totara.community/mod/page/view.php?id=23503) in Totara. Here you can learn more on how to customise your site's appearance, see best practice, and give it a go yourself.

Join the [Totara Community](https://totara.community/) for more resources to help you get the most out of Totara.

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