Customizing LaunchBox Desktop: Themes, Layouts, Game Details, and Image Types

LaunchBox Desktop can be customized in layers. The active LaunchBox theme controls the main window's structure and styling; Images View or List View controls how the library is presented; Image Group controls the kind of artwork used by the grid; Game Details controls the information shown for the selected game; and Options fine-tune media priorities, boxes, colors, fonts, backgrounds, and behavior.

Know which layer you are changing

• Main Window Theme: the LaunchBox Desktop library window.

• Images View or List View: the current game's grid or table presentation.

• Image Group: the artwork family used in Images View, such as Boxes, 3D Boxes, Screenshots, or Clear Logos.

• Game Details: the pane containing information and actions for the selected game.

• Visual and Media options: artwork priorities, box spacing, backgrounds, colors, fonts, and playback behavior.

• Platform-level media: images, videos, and notes for Platforms, Platform Categories, and Playlists rather than individual games.

Change one layer at a time and check the result. This makes it much easier to tell whether an unexpected appearance comes from the theme, view, artwork, media, or a display option.

LaunchBox themes are separate from other theme types

A LaunchBox theme changes LaunchBox Desktop. It does not change Big Box. Big Box themes, Game Startup themes, and Game Pause themes are separate and appear in different parts of the experience.

Before installing a download, confirm that it is specifically a LaunchBox theme and supports your version of LaunchBox. Theme developers can use the separate Getting Started With LaunchBox Themes documentation; this beginner guide focuses on applying and configuring existing themes.

Premium and free features

Custom LaunchBox themes and many advanced visual controls require LaunchBox Premium. Game badges are also a Premium feature. Without Premium, LaunchBox still provides the Default and Old Default main-window themes, and users can still use ordinary library controls such as Images View, List View, Show / Hide, and Image Group.

If an option is disabled or LaunchBox displays a Premium message, the feature is license-gated rather than broken.

Install and apply a LaunchBox theme

1. Open Tools > Manage > LaunchBox Themes and Media....

2. Filter the manager to themes or browse the available items.

3. Select a theme and review its description, screenshots, supported LaunchBox versions, and available version.

4. Choose Install. Installing downloads the theme but does not make it active.

5. After installation, choose Apply Theme.

Applying a theme from this manager warns that LaunchBox must restart, then changes the theme and restarts LaunchBox automatically. You can also select an installed theme under Tools > Options > Visuals > Main Window Theme; a restart is required for the new main-window theme to take effect fully.

Update, repair, or uninstall a theme

For an identified installed theme, the manager shows Update when a newer applicable version exists; otherwise the same control is Repair.

• Update: replaces the installed theme with its newer distributed version.

• Repair: replaces missing, changed, or damaged distributed theme files with a fresh copy of the current applicable version.

• Uninstall: removes the selected custom theme.

If the theme being updated, repaired, or uninstalled is active, LaunchBox may need to restart automatically. Uninstalling the active theme returns LaunchBox to the Default theme. Back up any personal edits first: Update, Repair, and Uninstall can replace or remove files inside the installed theme folder.

Switch between Images View and List View

Use the View menu:

• View > Images View presents games as artwork tiles and supports the Image Group, boxes, spacing, and badges controls.

• View > List View presents games in rows and columns, making it useful for comparing metadata across many games.

This changes presentation only. It does not alter game metadata, application paths, media files, platforms, or playlists.

Understand Image Group and image-type priorities

In Images View, use View > Image Group to choose the artwork family for the game grid. Built-in groups include Backgrounds, Boxes, 3D Boxes, Carts, 3D Carts, Clear Logos, Marquees, Screenshots, and Steam Banners. The menu can also use the default Image Group instead of an override.

An Image Group is not always one exact file type. For example, the Boxes group can choose among multiple front-image types according to their priority. Configure those fallback orders under Tools > Options > Media, where LaunchBox provides pages such as Front Priorities, Back Priorities, 3D Box Priorities, Cart priorities, Background Priorities, Marquee Priorities, Screenshot Priorities, and Video Priorities.

LaunchBox checks the enabled types in their configured order. If a game has no eligible image for the selected group, it can show a placeholder. Download or assign the correct media rather than renaming unrelated artwork into the wrong media type. See Metadata and Media Basics.

Adjust boxes and spacing

For Images View, open Tools > Options > Visuals > Boxes. Available controls can include box backgrounds, text alignment, sublines, shadows, and dynamic box sizing. Open the nested Spacing page for horizontal and vertical spacing, padding, text spacing, text lines, and aspect ratio.

Some controls are Premium-only, and the Default theme and custom themes do not expose every setting in the same way. Custom themes can define their own layout behavior. Use Reset to Defaults only on an Options page that actually provides that button; there is no single universal reset for every custom theme.

Show or hide Game Details

Use View > Show / Hide > Game Details to show or hide the pane. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+T. Hiding the pane leaves more room for the game list; showing it is helpful when reviewing a selected game's metadata, media, achievements, related-game suggestions, and launch actions.

Choose what Game Details displays

Open Tools > Options > Visuals > Game Details. This page controls which supported sections and fields appear, including items such as 3D models, achievements, playtime commitment, developer, publisher, genres, dates, platform, region, play count and time, progress, ratings, notes, screenshots, fanart, video, recommended games, similar games, and possible ports.

Other related settings live elsewhere:

• View > Media provides quick controls for automatically playing videos or music and refreshing images or missing media.

• Tools > Options > Media controls image and video priorities and media viewing behavior.

• Tools > Options > Visuals > Main Window Theme > Fonts controls main-window fonts supported by the active theme.

A custom theme can decide how supported information is arranged. If data exists but does not appear as expected, switch to the Default theme and test the same Game Details options.

Main Window Theme and Dialog Theme are different

Under Tools > Options > Visuals:

• Main Window Theme selects the installed LaunchBox theme. Its nested Colors, Features, and Fonts pages control supported main-window presentation.

• Dialog Theme controls accent, highlight, background, border, foreground, and contrast for editors, wizards, Options, and other dialogs. It provides commands to restore the default dark or light dialog colors.

If a custom color combination makes text difficult to read, restore the appropriate default dialog colors first. Changing Dialog Theme colors does not replace the active Main Window Theme.

Badges, sorting, and filters are separate

• View > Badges controls Premium badge overlays. Built-in and plugin badges can identify properties such as favorites, storefronts, controller support, portability, achievements, multiple discs, or installation state.

• Arrange By changes ordering or grouping.

• Search and filters change which games are included.

These controls can make the library look substantially different without changing its theme. If a layout appears crowded or games seem to be missing, review active badges, Arrange By, Search, and filters. See Finding Games: Search, Filters, Views, and Badges.

Platform, category, and playlist media

Platforms, Platform Categories, and Playlists can have their own images, videos, and notes. These assets represent a library section and are separate from individual game artwork. Editing a platform clear logo or video does not replace a game's box front, and changing the game grid's Image Group does not convert or replace platform-level media.

Troubleshoot theme-specific behavior

1. Record the active Main Window Theme, view, Image Group, and relevant Options.

2. Switch to the Default theme and restart LaunchBox.

3. Reproduce the issue with the same view, Image Group, and Game Details choices.

4. If the problem disappears, read the custom theme's documentation and check for an update.

5. Use Reset to Defaults on the affected Options page when available, or use Repair in the Themes and Media manager after backing up personal theme edits.

Repair restores distributed theme files; it is not a general reset for LaunchBox metadata or media.

Keep performance in mind

Large source images, background videos, many badge overlays, 3D models, animated theme elements, and media-heavy Game Details can increase storage, memory, CPU, and GPU use.

• Keep LaunchBox and frequently accessed media on a fast local drive when practical.

• Disable automatic video or music playback if you do not use it.

• Use fewer badges and simpler backgrounds while diagnosing slow navigation.

• Test the Default theme with the same library and Image Group.

• Reduce one visual feature at a time and retest.

See Troubleshooting LaunchBox & Big Box Performance.

Back up customizations

Tools > File Management > Create Data Backup... protects the LaunchBox Data folder, which includes many application settings, but it does not back up installed theme folders, downloaded media, or other files elsewhere in the LaunchBox installation.

Before updating a theme you edited manually or making substantial visual changes, keep a recoverable copy of the complete LaunchBox folder and any external media locations. Store personal theme experiments in a separate, clearly named copy instead of modifying your only copy of an installed theme.

A practical beginner setup

1. Begin with the Default Main Window Theme.

2. Choose Images View or List View.

3. In Images View, select one Image Group and confirm its Media priorities.

4. Show Game Details and enable only the sections you use.

5. Enable a small number of badges if you have Premium.

6. Adjust Boxes and Spacing after the basic layout is working.

7. Install and apply one custom theme at a time.

8. Return to the Default theme whenever you need to separate a theme problem from a data, media, or performance problem.