Find out how to change the Excel sheet background color to improve readability and present your data in your own style.

Imagine your Excel sheet as a blank canvas – while functional, it lacks a bit of personality. Just like adding a fresh coat of paint can transform a room, changing the background color of an Excel sheet can make a huge difference in how your data looks and feels.

However, you must know the techniques to customize the underlying sheet color to make your spreadsheet visually appealing to the audience or reduce eye strain when you work for longer hours in Excel sheets.

Follow along with the methods explained in this article and take help from the detailed illustrations to modify the worksheet background colors to your preference.

Change Sheet Background Color Using Fill Color

Navigate to the source worksheet and click on the Select All triangle in the top left corner of the worksheet and just below the Name Box.

This will highlight the whole worksheet.

Click on the Fill Color drop-down arrow in the Font block of the Home tab.

Select the cell background color from the Theme, Standard, or More Colors options.

Since I’m changing the cell background colors to make the worksheet suitable for eyes, I’ll use the HEX code for Pale Lime Green color in the HEX field of More Colors > Custom in the Fill Color drop-down menu.

Upon clicking the OK button, Excel will apply the selected color to the entire worksheet.

This will however hide the gridlines.

To visualize the gridlines, click on the Borders drop-down menu in the Font block of the Home tab.

Select All Borders from the context menu that pops down.

Now, you should have a custom-shaded Excel worksheet.

You can replicate this sheet multiple times in the workbook if you’d like to use the same background style.

If you wish to apply the sheet color to the sheet tab, right-click on it and hover the cursor over the Tab Color menu.

Click on the More Colors option and navigate to the Custom tab.

Enter the same HEX code you used earlier for the sheet background color.

Click OK to apply the new sheet tab color.

Change Sheet Background Color Using Cell Styles

Select the whole worksheet and click on the Cell Styles drop-down menu in the Styles block of the Home tab.

Select any of the following pre-configured Excel cell styles from the Data and Model section:

• Calculation
• Check Cell
• Input
• Note
• Output

Excel will format the entire sheet according to the cell style you’ve chosen.

If you don’t like any of the default cell styles, you can create a custom cell style that suits your working style.

In the Cell Styles menu, click on the New Cell Style option.

You’ll see the Style dialog. Enter a name you can remember in the Style name field.

Click on the Format button.

Go to the Border tab and select the Outline border style.

Navigate to the Fill tab and select a color you like.

Click OK to save the configuration.

Select OK again on the Style dialog box.

Now, select the entire worksheet, go to the Cell Styles menu, and select the cell style shown below the Custom section at the top of the menu. In this exercise, it’s the Background 1 style.

Change Sheet Background Color For Printing

Suppose you only want to change the background color of the worksheet for printing purposes. You can add a transparent shape in the print area. Let me walk you through the steps below:

Go to the source worksheet and add the Rectangle shape from the Shapes command. You should find Shapes in the Illustrations block of the Insert tab.

Draw the shape over the print area.

Right-click on the shape and select Format Shape from the context menu.

Expand the Fill menu in the Format Shape navigation panel on the right side.

Enter 75% or more in the Transparency field.

Your data will become visible again and the sheet background will look like the default color of the shape you’ve added.

When using this method, pay close attention to adjusting the print area appropriately. If the print area is more than the shape you’ve added, the final printout might look odd.

So, use the print preview mode to make fine adjustments before printing.

Change Sheet Background Color Using Page Setup

Microsoft Excel allows you to use an image as a background for the worksheet area. Instead of a picture, the file could also contain a solid color for a more professional look.

Firstly, go to the source worksheet and navigate to the Page Layout tab.

Click on the Background command inside the Page Setup block.

The Insert Pictures dialog box will show up.

Click on the From a file option.

Use the Sheet Background file browser to select an image file.

Click Insert.

Excel will instantly apply the content of the imported file as the sheet background.

Change Sheet Background Color Using Excel VBA

Do you regularly need to create a custom background in your Excel workbooks? You can use a VBA macro to automate this task. VBA-based spreadsheet automation can visually walk you through the entire sheet background customization process.

Now, if you’re new to VBA programming in Excel, go through this quick and effortless article to learn the technique to set up a VBA macro from a VBA script:

📒 Read More: How To Use The VBA Code You Find Online

Once ready, use this script to create a macro:

Sub ChangeSheetBackgroundColor()

    Dim wsNames As Variant
    Dim wsName As Variant
    Dim RGBCode As String
    Dim ColorComponents As Variant
    Dim rColor As Long, gColor As Long, bColor As Long
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Dim rng As Range

    wsNames = Split(InputBox("Enter the sheet names separated by commas (e.g., Sheet1, Sheet2, Sheet3):"), ",")

    RGBCode = InputBox("Enter the RGB color code (e.g., 224, 247, 250):")

    ColorComponents = Split(RGBCode, ",")
    rColor = CLng(Trim(ColorComponents(0)))
    gColor = CLng(Trim(ColorComponents(1)))
    bColor = CLng(Trim(ColorComponents(2)))

    For Each wsName In wsNames
        On Error Resume Next
        Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Sheets(Trim(wsName))
        On Error GoTo 0

        If Not ws Is Nothing Then
            ws.Cells.Interior.Color = RGB(rColor, gColor, bColor)
            
            Set rng = ws.Cells
            With rng.Borders
                .LineStyle = xlContinuous
                .Weight = xlThin
                .ColorIndex = xlAutomatic
            End With
        Else
            MsgBox "Sheet " & Trim(wsName) & " not found.", vbExclamation
        End If
    Next wsName

    MsgBox "Task completed successfully!", vbInformation

End Sub

Press Alt + F8 to bring up the Macro dialog.

Select the ChangeSheetBackgroundColor macro and hit Run.

Excel will show a dialog box so you can enter the sheet names to be modified in comma-separated format.

Then, another dialog box will ask you to enter the RGB color code that you want as the background.

You can use any of the following RGB codes. These shades are soothing for the eyes especially when you need to work on Excel for extended hours:

• Light Cyan — 224, 247, 250
• Light Mint Green — 232, 245, 233
• Light Peach — 255, 243, 224
• Light Lavender — 243, 229, 245
• Light Sky Blue — 227, 242, 253
• Pale Lime Green — 241, 248, 233
• Soft Yellow — 255, 253, 231
• Light Grayish Blue — 236, 239, 241
• Lavender Blush — 250, 244, 255
• Creamy Beige — 253, 245, 230

As you click OK, Excel will format the selected Excel sheet with the chosen color.

Since the fill color hides the cell gridlines, the macro automatically applies the All Borders style to make the gridlines visible again.

Conclusions

These are some of the intuitive ways to change the Excel sheet background color.

You can use the one that suits your requirements, like whether you need to customize the background frequently or once in a while.

Use the comment box to tell us which one you liked the most. If you also know of a better technique to modify the cell background color, don’t forget to mention that in your reply.