Having the same default colors on your MS Office applications can be boring. You can personalize your Office experience by selecting different color themes. There are several themes you can select from including White, Colorful and Dark schemes, such as Black or Dark Gray.

Although the functionality of changing color themes has been built-in since MS Office 2013, only Office 365 users had the full range of the Black theme options. Other office users have been limited, until now. The full theme range is now available to all Office users, without a subscription, provided you upgrade to Office 2019 on your MacOS or Windows 10.

Read this Windows 10 guide if you’ve been asking “can I change Microsoft office theme?” This guide walks you through two very simple ways you can change the color theme for your MS Office Apps. These methods are effective for Office 2016, 2019 and 365.

  1. How to change Office theme using Account settings
  2. How to change Office theme using Options settings

Method 1: How to Change Office Theme Using Account Settings

If you’d like to use Office Apps with a different color scheme, follow these steps:

  • Open any Office App (g., Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint)
  • Click the File menu
  • Click on Account
  • Locate Office Theme and select from the drop-down menu any of the available colors or simply select:
    1. The default Colorful option, which aligns with MS Office Apps’ primary colors
    2. Dark Gray, which is a perfect balance between high-contrast and dark
    3. Black — excellent for visual elements (facilitates the highest contrast)
    4. White — perfect for that timeless classic look

In addition to the ability to change Office theme colors, you can opt to use the Office Background drop-down menu to remove or change the background patterns.

When these steps have been completed, your newly selected theme will apply to all Apps in the Office suite. Except for Skype and the most recent OneNote app.

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Method 2: How to Change Office Theme Using Options Settings

Another way of switching it up is via the Options settings. You can change to Black, Dark Gray or any theme you like. Follow these steps to change your theme:

  • Open any Office App (g., Word, Excel, Outlook, or PowerPoint)
  • Click the File menu
  • Click on Options
  • Click on General
  • Hover your mouse to the Personalize your copy of Microsoft Office Select any one of the available themes from the drop-down Office Theme menu. Colors include:
    1. Colorful (Default)
    2. White
    3. Dark Gray
    4. Black

All your Apps (including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and other Office applications) will switch to the selected theme after you go through these steps.

Now you know how to change your Office theme to black or another color. You can now set up My Office in any theme, depending on how you like to use your computer.