Jekyll themes control the look and feel of your website. This guide explains how to locate theme files and customize your Jekyll site’s appearance.

Finding Theme Files

When you want to customize a theme, you first need to find where the theme files are located.

Locate the theme directory

bundle info --path minima

This command shows the path to the theme files. You can copy files from this directory to your project to override them.

Changing Themes

Method 1: Change in _config.yml

Edit your _config.yml file to change the theme:

theme: minima

For remote themes (from GitHub):

remote_theme: owner/repository

Method 2: Install a New Gem Theme

  1. Add the theme to your Gemfile: 
    gem "jekyll-theme-minimal"
  2. Run bundle install: 
    bundle install
  3. Update _config.yml: 
    theme: jekyll-theme-minimal
  • Minima: Default Jekyll theme, clean and simple
  • Minimal Mistakes: Feature-rich, great for blogs and portfolios
  • Just the Docs: Perfect for documentation sites
  • Chirpy: Modern blog theme with dark mode

Customizing Theme Layouts

To override a theme file:

  1. Find the original file path using bundle info --path
  2. Create the same directory structure in your project
  3. Copy and modify the file

For example, to customize the header:

mkdir -p _includes
cp $(bundle info --path minima)/_includes/header.html _includes/

Reference