Ableton Forum

Purpletea wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 18, 2023 7:01 pm

You can disable the alternating color in the theme file.
Make a copy of the theme you use the most (so it's not overwritten when Live updates).
Open the file in a text editor, search for the tag ArrangerGridTiles and set its value to zero.
You can do the same for the clip detail view by adjusting DetailGridTiles.


The location of the theme files on Windows is C:\ProgramData\Ableton\Live 11 Suite\Resources\Themes
(change 'Suite' to the Live version you are using. )

On MacOS, go to the Applications folder, right or ctrl click on the Live app, and select ‘Show Package Contents’. Then head to Content > App Resources > Themes.

I tried this a while ago, on Ableton 11, and it worked fine. But now, on Ableton 12, it does not seem to work. I can find the correct text in both Mac and Windows, but despite changing it to Value = "#0" it does not work in either.
Any suggestions?

NewFutureFantasy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 29, 2026 8:54 pm

Purpletea wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 18, 2023 7:01 pm

You can disable the alternating color in the theme file.
Make a copy of the theme you use the most (so it's not overwritten when Live updates).
Open the file in a text editor, search for the tag ArrangerGridTiles and set its value to zero.
You can do the same for the clip detail view by adjusting DetailGridTiles.


The location of the theme files on Windows is C:\ProgramData\Ableton\Live 11 Suite\Resources\Themes
(change 'Suite' to the Live version you are using. )

On MacOS, go to the Applications folder, right or ctrl click on the Live app, and select ‘Show Package Contents’. Then head to Content > App Resources > Themes.

I tried this a while ago, on Ableton 11, and it worked fine. But now, on Ableton 12, it does not seem to work. I can find the correct text in both Mac and Windows, but despite changing it to Value = "#0" it does not work in either.
Any suggestions?

Both tags have a value of 8 characters. The last two are for transparency. If you set those two to 00, the shading is completely transparent/invisible. The higher the last two numbers, the more opaque/visible the shading becomes.

Thanks for your reply Purpletea.

I still cannot make it work.
I'm sure it worked easily on my old set-up a few years ago.
Here, copied and pasted, is what I've written in the text,

<ArrangerGridTiles Value="#0a0a0a00" />
<DetailGridTiles Value="#0a0a0a00" />

Am I doing something wrong?

NewFutureFantasy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 29, 2026 10:12 pm

Thanks for your reply Purpletea.

I still cannot make it work.
I'm sure it worked easily on my old set-up a few years ago.
Here, copied and pasted, is what I've written in the text,

<ArrangerGridTiles Value="#0a0a0a00" />
<DetailGridTiles Value="#0a0a0a00" />

Am I doing something wrong?

After saving, you must select another theme in Live and then reselect the theme you adjusted. Changes are not instantly applied.

Also, make sure that if you copied a theme, it is saved in the correct theme folder, especially if you have multiple Live versions installed.

If you adjusted a default theme without making a copy, note that there are several default themes in the folder (cool, neutral, warm - medium, high). Based on what you've selected for Appearance and Tone in Live's settings, the corresponding default theme will be picked. Make sure the theme file matches those settings.
However, it is best to make a copy of an existing theme and use that. Name it something other than 'default ....'.

Other than this, I wouldn't know what's going wrong. Those two lines are correct.

Hey, silly me, I still had the text editor open. When I deleted the text editor it saved the changes.
Now it works perfectly.
Many thanks for this Purpletea, much appreciated.

NewFutureFantasy wrote: ↑

Thu Jan 29, 2026 11:28 pm

Hey, silly me, I still had the text editor open. When I deleted the text editor it saved the changes.
Now it works perfectly.
Many thanks for this Purpletea, much appreciated.

Good to hear that everything worked out.