Changing the Document Window Background Color

Cheryl wonders how to change the white background to another color that would be easier on her eyes. There are a couple of options to change the background color in Word 2007 and later versions. The first option allows you to change the background color to whatever you would like. Keep in mind that the color you choose is a part of the document and is visible when sharing the file. It does not show up when printed, however.

1. Make sure the Page Layout tab (Word 2007 and Word 2010); or Design tab (Word 2013 and Word 2016) of the ribbon is displayed.
2. Click the Page Color tool within the Page Background group. Word displays a palette of colors from which you can choose.
3. Choose the color you would like to use for your background.

The color you selected is now the background color for your document. The color applies only to the current document. If you want to have a different background color for all of your documents (well, at least from this point going forward), you can change the color in your Normal template. For existing documents you'll need to change the background color in each of them individually.

Another option is to change the display appearance for all the windows on your computer. The way you do this depends on the version of Windows you are using. Here are steps that work if you are using Windows 7:

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Click Change Desktop Background located in the Appearance and Personalization group.
3. Choose the desired color on the Choose your desktop background task pane or create a custom color by clicking More at the bottom of the task pane.

Here are the steps if you are using Windows 8 and Windows 10:

1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Click Change the Theme located in the Appearance and Personalization group.
3. Click Desktop Background found at the bottom of the dialog box.
4. Choose the desired color.

Windows changes the background color in all windows to the color you specified. This change applies to every window on your computer. Because it is a system change, it will not affect the document if it is opened on another computer.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8021) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016.