How to Change Background Color in Excel (6 Easy Methods)

It is of great help to change a cell background color or the whole worksheet’s background color at times. We can change a cell background color both statically and dynamically. This article will show you 6 quick ways to change the background color in Excel.

Go through the following easy methods to enhance your knowledge about changing the background color in Excel.

1. Using Fill Color to Change Background Color in Excel

You can change a cell’s background color using the Fill Color option. Follow the steps below to do so. 👇

Steps:

• First, select the cell in which you want to change the background color. Then, go to the Home tab >>click on the Fill Color icon >> Choose the color you want from the dropdown list.

• Apart from the first step, you can follow this step flow too. Select the cell >> go to the Home tab >> Choose the Font Settings icon from the Font group.

• The Format Cells window will appear. Go to the Fill tab. Subsequently, choose the color that you want as the background from the color palette. Click on the OK button. In addition to this, If you want more colors or customized colors, click on the More Colors… button.

• Subsequently, the Colors window will appear. Choose the standard or Custom color from here and click on the OK button.

• Apart from the first 4 steps, you can follow another way. In this regard, right-click on your desired cell. Choose Format Cells… from the context menu. Subsequently, follow steps 2 and 3 stated here.

Thus, you can change any cell’s background following this method. Here is a quick look at our result worksheet. 👇

2. Applying Patterns or Fill Effects to Change the Background Color

You can change a cell’s background as some pattern or effect too. Follow the steps below to accomplish this. 👇

Steps:

• First, choose the cell in which you want to change the background. Subsequently, right-click in the cell and choose the Format Cells… option from the context menu.

• At this time, the Format Cells window will appear. Go to the Fill tab. Now, for the pattern background, choose your desired pattern color from the Pattern Color dropdown list. Subsequently, choose the pattern style from the Pattern Style dropdown list.

• After doing these, you will see a sample preview in the Sample box. Subsequently, click on the OK button.

• Now, for the fill effect background, choose the Fill Effects… option from the Fill tab.

• At this time, the Fill Effects window will appear. Choose the Two colors option from the Colors list. Subsequently, choose your shading style from the Shading styles options, and afterward, choose a variant from the Variants samples. Consequently, click on the OK button.

Thus, You can change a cell’s background with a fill effect or pattern easily using this trick. Here is a quick look at our result worksheet. 👇

Read More: How to Change Background from Black to White in Excel

3. Changing Background Color with Excel Conditional Formatting

Besides, you can change a cell’s background using conditional formatting. Follow the steps below to accomplish this. 👇

Steps:

• At first, select the cells where you want your conditional formatting applied. Subsequently, go to the Home tab >> Conditional Formatting >> New Rule…

• At this time, the New Formatting Rule window will open. Choose the rule type Use a formula to determine which cells to format from the listed rules. At the rule description text box, write the formula: =B4=“light green color”. This formula means the condition will be applied to the cells where the light green color is written. Click on the Format button.

• The Format Cells window will appear afterward. Choose the color from here. Click on the OK button. Moreover, you can also follow steps 2,3,4, and 5 from method 2 to apply the fill effect or pattern format.

• After setting the format, you can see the preview in the Preview box. Click on the OK button.

Thus, you can change the background color of specific cells using conditional formatting. Here is a quick view of our result worksheet. 👇

4. Using Excel Paint Bucket to Color the Background

You can change the whole worksheet’s background color by using the Paint Bucket tool. Follow the steps below to do so. 👇

Steps: 

• Click on the shaded right-angle triangle at the intersection of row and column headings. This will select all the cells of the sheet.

• Now, go to the Home tab >> click on the Fill Color icon >> select the color you want for the background.

Thus, you can change the whole worksheet’s background color in this way which looks like this. 👇

5. Using Excel Find Tool for Changing Background Color

You can also change the background color of a cell using the Find tool. Follow the steps below to accomplish this. 👇

Steps:

• At first, select the cells where you want your background changed to specific conditions. Go to the Home tab >> go to the Editing group >> click on Find & Select tool >> click on the Find… option from the dropdown list.

• At this time, the Find and Replace window will appear. On the Find tab, write what you want to find in the Find what text box. Suppose, we want to find the blank cells. So, we leave the text box empty. Subsequently, click on the Find All button.

• Subsequently, the blank cell references will be shown in an added portion of the Find and Replace window. Now, drag and select all the cell references.

• Consequently, go to the Home tab >> click on the Fill Color icon >> select the color you want.

Thus, you will successfully find and change the desired cell’s background color in Excel. The result of the worksheet will look like this. 👇

Read More: How to Change Background in Excel Sheet

6. Changing Background Color Using Excel VBA

Moreover, you can change a cell’s background color using VBA code. Follow the steps below to do so. 👇

Steps:

• At first, go to the Developer tab >> click on the Visual Basic tool.

• At this time, the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window will appear. Now, select Sheet 4 and write the following code in the code window.

Private Sub Worksheet_SelectionChange(ByVal Target As Range)
Dim XRange As Range
Set XRange = Range("B4:D8")
If Not Intersect(Target, XRange) Is Nothing Then
Target.Interior.Color = rgbLightGreen
Else
End If
End Sub

• Now, exit the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications window and go to the File tab.

• Choose the Save As option from the expanded File tab.

• Subsequently, choose the Save as type as .xlsm file to enable the macro. Click on the Save button.

• Now, whenever you click on a cell between the declared range, the cell background will turn into a light green color.

Thus, our result worksheet will look like this if we click on the C5 and C8 cells.

Things to Remember

• To remove a fill color, you can go to the Home tab >> click on the Fill Color icon >> click on the No Fill option from the dropdown list.

• When using conditional formatting to a range of data, don’t use absolute reference, rather, use relative reference for checking the condition dynamically.

Download Practice Workbook

You can download and practice from our workbook here.

Conclusion

So, in this article, I have shown you the 7 easiest tricks to change background color in Excel. Use any of these ways in this regard according to your preference and desired result. I hope you find this article helpful and informative. If you have any further queries or recommendations, please feel free to contact me. Thank you!

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