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Vanadium dioxide (VO 2) is a key material for thermochromic smart windows that can respond to environmental temperature to regulate near-infrared transmittance automatically. To date, VO 2 -based smart windows have made great progress, but practical applications still remain restricted by two tough challenges, i.e., low solar regulation ability and unpopular color. In view of the above two challenges, in this paper, novel warm/cool-tone switchable VO 2 -based composite films were designed and prepared. The novel composite films demonstrate outstanding optical properties: Δ T sol = 18.92% and T lum,l = 48.70%. The high solar modulation efficiency is attributed to the modulation of the thermochromic microcapsules in visible light waveband and VO 2 in near-infrared region. Meanwhile changes in color of the composite films at different temperatures were also studied in order to develop high-performance warm/cool-tone switchable thermochromic smart windows. These promising results will benefit to promote the popularization and application of smart windows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]