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# GitLab Appearance **(FREE SELF)**

Several options are available for customizing the appearance of a self-managed instance
of GitLab. To access these settings:

1. On the top bar, select **Main menu > Admin**.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Settings > Appearance**.

## Top bar

By default, the **top bar** has the GitLab logo, but this can be customized with
any image desired. It is optimized for images 28px high (any width), but any image can be
used (less than 1 MB) and it is automatically resized.

After you select and upload an image, select **Update appearance settings** at the bottom
of the page to activate it in the GitLab instance.

NOTE:
GitLab pipeline emails also display the custom logo, unless the logo is in SVG format. If the
custom logo is in SVG format, the default logo is used instead because the SVG format is not
supported by many email clients.

## Favicon

By default, the favicon (used by the browser as the tab icon, as well as the CI status icon)
uses the GitLab logo. This can be customized with any icon desired. It must be a
32x32 `.png` or `.ico` image.

After you select and upload an icon, select **Update appearance settings** at the bottom
of the page to activate it in the GitLab instance.

## System header and footer messages

> **Enable header and footer in emails** checkbox [introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/344819) in GitLab 15.9.

You can add a small header message, a small footer message, or both, to the interface
of your GitLab instance. These messages appear on all projects and pages of the
instance, including the sign in / sign up page. The default color is white text on
an orange background, but this can be customized by selecting **Customize colors**.

Limited [Markdown](../markdown.md) is supported, such as bold, italics, and links, for
example. Other Markdown features, including lists, images, and quotes are not supported
as the header and footer messages can only be a single line.

You can select **Enable header and footer in emails** to have the text of
the header and footer added to all emails sent by the GitLab instance.

After you add a message, select **Update appearance settings** at the bottom of the page
to activate it in the GitLab instance.

## Sign in / Sign up pages

You can replace the default message on the sign in / sign up page with your own message
and logo. You can make full use of [Markdown](../markdown.md) in the description.

The optimal size for the logo is 128 x 128 pixels, but any image can be used (below 1 MB)
and it is resized automatically. The logo image appears between the title and
the description, on the left of the sign-up page.

After you add a message, select **Update appearance settings** at the bottom of the page
to activate it in the GitLab instance. You can also select **Sign-in page**,
to review the saved appearance settings:

NOTE:
You can add also add a [customized help message](settings/help_page.md) below the sign in message or add [a Sign in text message](settings/sign_in_restrictions.md#sign-in-information).

## New project pages

You can add a new project guidelines message to the **New project page** in GitLab.
You can make full use of [Markdown](../markdown.md) in the description:

The message is displayed below the **New Project** message, on the left side
of the **New project page**.

After you add a message, select **Update appearance settings** at the bottom of the page
to activate it in the GitLab instance. You can also select **New project page**,
which brings you to the new project page so you can review the change.

## Libravatar

[Libravatar](https://www.libravatar.org) is supported by GitLab for avatar images, but you must
[manually enable Libravatar support on the GitLab instance](../../administration/libravatar.md) to use the service.

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