Nov 06, 2015

The Microsoft Office applications can be customised to use a different colour scheme and, in the case of Office 2013 and 2016, a background. The background is purely aesthetic, but the colour scheme may make using the Office applications easier for some people.

Office 2010

If you are still using Office 2010 (and many people still are!) then you can’t apply a background, but you do have a choice of three colour schemes:

Office 2013

If you are using Office 2013, then there are also three colour schemes. The difference between them isn’t as dramatic:

Office 2016

The latest version of Office has three difference colour schemes including the Dark Grey and White that 2013 has but instead of Light Grey it has “Colorful” which splashes the title bar and Ribbon tab area with the application’s colour:

Backgrounds for Office 2013 and 2016

There is an extensive list of backgrounds that can be added that basically just add a decorative pattern to the top-right of the application window. Here are some examples:

Procedure

To apply either a Colour Scheme or Background, go to the File tab and Options. There are drop-down lists for both. However, if you have 2013 or 2016, you can go to the File tab and choose Account and you’ll find the drop-down lists there too (a bit easier to get to and you can preview them, too).

For more information, take a look at New Horizons' Microsoft Office training courses.