Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Changing Excel's Background Color.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 18, 2024)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021
The standard background color in Excel is white. You may, at some time, want to change the background color to something else, such as a light grey. Unfortunately, there is no way to change the background color; it is not a configurable option in Excel. There are a few things you can try as workarounds, however.
One approach involves selecting all the cells in the worksheet and applying a fill color to the cells. If you don't want the color to print, then you simply need to select all the cells and remove the fill color. This could be automated by using a macro to do the color removal, printing, and re-application.
There are drawbacks to such an approach, however. First, the colors used to fill the cells could interfere with the successful application of conditional formatting, if the conditional formatting involves the use of fill colors. (Conditional formatting applied to font specifications shouldn't be a problem.) Plus, adding a fill color will obscure the visibility of the grid lines, which makes it a bit more difficult to navigate through your worksheet.
Another option is to create, in your favorite graphics program, a small rectangle that matches the color you want used for your background. Save the small rectangle as a graphics file, using the PNG file format. Then, within Excel, follow these steps:
Figure 1. The Sheet Background dialog box.
The graphic image is placed in the background and repeated over and over again so that it fills the entire background. The benefit to this approach is that it doesn't affect any conditional formatting and the background image won't print.
Speaking of conditional formatting, if you aren't using conditional formatting for any purpose in a worksheet, you could use it to create your background. In a blank area of your workbook, define a cell that contains the value True. Then select your worksheet that you want to have the background color and use a conditional format to define that color. The format can look at the cell you defined, and if it is True, then the color is applied. If the cell is not True, then the color is not applied. This allows you to turn the background color on or off (for printing) by changing the value of a single cell.
You could also define styles for use in your worksheet. Define a style that has the desired background color, and another that does not. You can then apply the colored style when editing and the non-colored style when preparing to print.
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (6121) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, Excel in Microsoft 365, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Changing Excel's Background Color.
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2023-11-17 15:08:47
Skecher
The method of using an image is spot on. Using VBA, excel can set the background image each time you open the workbook, and each time you create a new worksheet.
2023-10-04 16:07:40
perftec
nice and easy, thankyou
2021-12-09 07:08:10
Mirkhan
THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR THE TIPS..
2021-04-07 14:17:00
Samar
hello. if have, lets say, a requirement for 20 cells to be visible and remaining hidden. this will grey out the background.
now out of those 20 cells, i want the bottom ones to match this grey background. do you know the code for the grey background on excel?
thanks.
2020-11-10 20:10:35
Pat
How do I invert a total black background and white text? I do not know what made that happen.
2020-01-05 03:23:09
Pri
Hi Allen
Could you please upload a video to show both methods that you have discussed above?
I tried Conditional Formatting method but it does print colors too.
I have Excel 2013, I have hidden unused cells, so that no-one can add data in extra cells. But when I hide it, a White Background appears, which not comfortable to eyes when working long hours. Hence, I have tried to google many ways to change this White background to Grey or Blue-ish ( as some different version of Excel have these backgrounds). Wondering why White appearing on 2013. Is it something to do with Excel 2013 version?
I don't want to use Fill (HOME - CELL -FORMAT CELL-FILL-Selecting preferred color) grey shaded since they are still Clickable/Editable cells.
I don't want to use Page Break Preview (VIEW - PAGE BREAK PREVIEW).
2019-09-07 06:07:40
Willy Vanhaelenw
Another drawback in using a fill color to cells is that when you do the grid lines disappear. They remain when using the method in this tip.
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