How to Change the Page Background Color in Microsoft Word

When you open Microsoft Word, you are greeted by a stark, glaring white page designed to perfectly simulate a physical piece of 8.5×11 printer paper. If you are typing a long manuscript late at night, that bright white background can cause severe eye strain. Alternatively, if you are designing a digital flyer or a PDF brochure that will never be physically printed, you might want a vibrant background color to make your text pop. Fortunately, Microsoft Word allows you to easily change the background color of your document pages.

How to Change the Page Background Color

You can change the page color directly from the main ribbon menu. This change will apply to every single page in your current document.

1. Open your document in Microsoft Word.
2. Look at the ribbon menu at the top of the screen and click on the Design tab.
3. Look to the far right side of the Design ribbon for the “Page Background” group.
4. Click on the Page Color button (it looks like a small paint bucket over a piece of paper).
5. A drop-down menu containing a grid of Theme Colors will appear.
6. Hover your mouse over any color square in the grid. Microsoft Word will instantly update the document background, giving you a live preview of what the color will look like.
7. Click on the color square to permanently apply it to your document.

If you are trying to reduce eye strain, clicking the Black or Dark Gray square is highly recommended. Word is smart enough to automatically invert standard black text to white so you can still read it against the dark background.

How to Choose a Custom Color

If the standard Theme Colors do not match your company’s branding guidelines, you can input a specific hex code or RGB value.

1. Click the Page Color button again.
2. Click on More Colors… at the bottom of the drop-down menu.
3. In the dialog box that appears, click the Custom tab.
4. You can now click anywhere on the color spectrum, or manually type in specific RGB (Red, Green, Blue) or Hex codes to get an exact, pixel-perfect color match.
5. Click OK to apply the custom color.

Will the Background Color Print?

By default, Microsoft Word assumes you are only changing the background color to reduce eye strain on your monitor. If you attempt to print the document on a physical printer, Word will completely ignore the background color and print standard black text on white paper. This saves you from accidentally draining a $60 ink cartridge.

If you are designing a flyer and you actually want your printer to lay down a solid layer of colored ink across the entire page, you must explicitly tell Word to print backgrounds.

1. Click the File tab, then click Options at the bottom of the left pane.
2. Click on Display in the left menu.
3. Under the “Printing options” section, check the box labeled Print background colors and images.
4. Click OK.