diff --git a/cmd/micro/colorscheme.go b/cmd/micro/colorscheme.go
index 544a2536..13d96856 100644
--- a/cmd/micro/colorscheme.go
+++ b/cmd/micro/colorscheme.go
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ type Colorscheme map[string]tcell.Style
 // The current colorscheme
 var colorscheme Colorscheme
 
-var preInstalledColors = []string{"default", "solarized", "solarized-tc", "atom-dark-tc", "monokai", "gruvbox", "zenburn"}
+var preInstalledColors = []string{"default", "simple", "solarized", "solarized-tc", "atom-dark-tc", "monokai", "gruvbox", "zenburn"}
 
 // InitColorscheme picks and initializes the colorscheme when micro starts
 func InitColorscheme() {
diff --git a/runtime/colorschemes/default.micro b/runtime/colorschemes/default.micro
index 22d19950..8f282bc2 100644
--- a/runtime/colorschemes/default.micro
+++ b/runtime/colorschemes/default.micro
@@ -1,16 +1,20 @@
-color-link comment "blue"
-color-link constant "red"
-color-link identifier "cyan"
-color-link statement "yellow"
-color-link preproc "magenta"
-color-link type "green"
-color-link special "magenta"
-color-link ignore "default"
-color-link error ",brightred"
-color-link todo ",brightyellow"
-color-link indent-char "black"
-color-link line-number "yellow"
-color-link current-line-number "red"
-color-link gutter-error ",red"
-color-link gutter-warning "red"
-color-link cursor-line "white"
+color-link default "188,237"
+color-link comment "108,237"
+color-link constant.string "174,237"
+color-link constant.number "116,237"
+color-link constant "181,237"
+color-link identifier "223,237"
+color-link statement "223,237"
+color-link preproc "223,237"
+color-link type "187,237"
+color-link special "181,237"
+color-link underlined "188,237"
+color-link error "115,236"
+color-link todo "bold 254,237"
+color-link statusline "186,236"
+color-link indent-char "238,237"
+color-link line-number "188,238"
+color-link gutter-error "237,174"
+color-link gutter-warning "174,237"
+color-link cursor-line "238"
+color-link current-line-number "188,237"
diff --git a/runtime/colorschemes/simple.micro b/runtime/colorschemes/simple.micro
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..22d19950
--- /dev/null
+++ b/runtime/colorschemes/simple.micro
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+color-link comment "blue"
+color-link constant "red"
+color-link identifier "cyan"
+color-link statement "yellow"
+color-link preproc "magenta"
+color-link type "green"
+color-link special "magenta"
+color-link ignore "default"
+color-link error ",brightred"
+color-link todo ",brightyellow"
+color-link indent-char "black"
+color-link line-number "yellow"
+color-link current-line-number "red"
+color-link gutter-error ",red"
+color-link gutter-warning "red"
+color-link cursor-line "white"
diff --git a/runtime/help/colors.md b/runtime/help/colors.md
index 7ef197e5..b7fc3e51 100644
--- a/runtime/help/colors.md
+++ b/runtime/help/colors.md
@@ -9,11 +9,12 @@ This help page aims to cover two aspects of micro's syntax highlighting engine:
 
 Micro comes with a number of colorschemes by default. Here is the list:
 
-* default: this is the simplest colorscheme. It uses 16 colors which are
+* simple: this is the simplest colorscheme. It uses 16 colors which are
   set by your terminal
 
 * zenburn: this is micro's default colorscheme because it looks very good
   and works in 256 color terminals.
+  this colorscheme also has the name 'default'
 
 * solarized: this is the solarized colorscheme. 
   You should have the solarized color palette in your terminal to use it.