Color cells in word

Add or change a fill color

  1. Select the cells in which you want to add or change the fill color.

  2. On the Table Design tab, click the arrow next to Shading.

  3. Click the color you want from Theme Colors or Standard Colors, or click More Fill Colors.

    Screenshot shows the Table Design tab where the Shading drop-down arrow is selected to show available options including No Fill, Theme Colors, Standard Colors, More Fill Colors, Picture, Gradient, Texture, and Table Background.

Apply a gradient or texture as the fill color

  1. Select the cells in which you want to apply a fill effect as the fill color.

  2. On the Table Design tab, click the arrow next to Shading.

  3. Click Gradient to select and apply a gradient effect. Click Texture to select and apply a texture effect.

Remove the fill color

  1. Select the cells in which you want to remove the fill color.

  2. On the Table Design tab, click the arrow next to Shading.

  3. On the Shading menu, click No Fill.

Add or change a fill color

  1. Select the cells in which you want to add or change the fill color.

  2. On the Tables tab, under Table Styles, click the arrow next to Fill.

    PowerPoint Tables tab, Table Styles group

  3. On the Fill menu, click the color you want.

Apply a gradient, pattern, or texture as the fill color

  1. Select the cells in which you want to apply a fill effect as the fill color.

  2. On the Tables tab, under Table Styles, click the arrow next to Fill.

    PowerPoint Tables tab, Table Styles group

  3. On the Fill menu, click Fill Effects.

  4. Do any of the following:

    To

    Do this

    Use a solid color as the fill

    Click the Solid tab, and then click the color that you want.

    Change the gradient

    Click the Gradient tab, and then click the options that you want.

    Change the texture

    Click the Picture or Texture tab, and then click the texture that you want.

Remove the fill color

  1. Select the cells in which you want to remove the fill color.

  2. On the Tables tab, under Table Styles, click the arrow next to Fill.

    PowerPoint Tables tab, Table Styles group

  3. On the Fill menu, click No Fill.

Color fill a table to add emphasis

Updated on October 11, 2022

What to Know

  • New table: Create a table, go to Table Design, and select a border style, size, and color. Select Border Painter to color cells.
  • Existing table: Right-click the cells, select Borders and Shading > Shading > Fill, and choose a color. Select Apply to > Cell or Table.
  • Or, go to the Design tab, select Page Borders > Shading > Fill, and choose a color. Select Apply to > Cell or Table.

This article explains how to apply a background color to an entire table or to specific portions while working on a table in Microsoft Word, adding emphasis or making a complex table easier to read. Instructions cover Microsoft Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, Word 2016, Word 2013, and Word 2010.

Want to Change the Display Color of a Whole Word Document? This Will Help

Add a Table With Shading

To create a new table and color it before entering data into it:

  1. On the ribbon, go to the Insert tab and select the Table drop-down arrow.

  2. Drag the cursor across the grid to choose how many rows and columns you want in the table.

  3. On the Table Design tab, select a border style, size, and color.

  4. Select the Borders drop-down arrow and choose the borders you want to apply. Or, select Border Painter to draw on the table to indicate which cells should be colored.

Lifewire / Kyle Fewel

Add Color to a Table With Borders and Shading

To format an existing table with a background color:

  1. Highlight the cells you want to tint with a background color. Use the Ctrl key to select non-contiguous cells.

  2. Right-click one of the selected cells.

  3. Select Borders and Shading.

  4. Select the Shading tab.

  5. Select the Fill drop-down arrow to open the color chart, then choose a background color.

  6. Select the Style drop-down arrow, then choose a tint percentage or a pattern in the chosen color.

  7. Select the Apply to drop-down arrow, then choose Cell to apply the chosen color only to the highlighted cells. Or, choose Table to fill the entire table with the background color.

  8. Select OK.

Add Color With Page Borders Design Tab

To use the Design tab to add any color to a table:

  1. Highlight the table cells to which you want to apply the background color.

  2. Select the Design tab.

  3. In the Page Background group, select Page Borders.

  4. Select the Shading tab.

  5. Select the Fill drop-down arrow, then choose a color from the color chart.

  6. Select the Style drop-down arrow, then choose a percentage of tint or a pattern.

  7. Select the Apply to drop-down arrow and choose Cell to add the background tint to the selected cells. Or, choose Table to fill the entire table with the background color.

FAQ

  • How to I change the color of a table’s lines in Word?

    Select the cell, cells, or entire table you want to edit. Next, right-click to bring up the table design menu and select the Borders button (it looks like a 2×2 grid), followed by Borders and Shading > Colors. Choose the color and other style options you want, then select OK to save.

  • How do I tell a table in Word to alternate row colors?

    To manually adjust the color of every other row one at a time, choose all of the cells in a given row, then right-click one of those cells and select Borders and Shading > Shading > Fill and choose the color you want. Or select the entire table, then select Home > Format as Table, then choose a style with alternating row colors.

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I am trying to set up a new table at the end of my document and format it to my specifications. But the backgroundcolor and the textcolor do not seem to work. The Font size also is not exactly what I want, since it applies to the whole table and not only one cell.

This is what I have so far:

Dim myRange As Object
Set myRange = ActiveDocument.Content
myRange.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseEnd
ActiveDocument.Tables.Add Range:=myRange, NumRows:=3, NumColumns:=2
With .Tables(.Tables.Count)
    .Cell(1, 1).Select
    With Selection
        .Shading.Texture = wdTextureNone
        .Shading.ForegroundPatternColor = wdColorWhite
        .Shading.BackgroundPatternColor = wdColorGray25
        .Font.Size = 14
        .Font.Bold = True
        .Text = "Hello World"
    End With
End With

I want the first row of the table without borders and with font 14, bold, white text on gray background.

asked Aug 14, 2015 at 12:36

Kazschuri's user avatar

KazschuriKazschuri

5601 gold badge4 silver badges18 bronze badges

0

I found the Answer.

The solution is as follows:

With .Tables(.Tables.Count)        
    With .Cell(1, 1)
        .Shading.BackgroundPatternColor = wdColorGray50
        With .Range
            With .Font 
                .TextColor = wdColorWhite
                .Size = 18
                .Bold = True
            End With
            .Text = "Hello World"
        End With
    End With            
End With

I removed the selection of the cell and used it directly. But the real thing was, the use of .Range when applying .Font and .Text

ak112358's user avatar

ak112358

7032 gold badges13 silver badges25 bronze badges

answered Aug 18, 2015 at 7:24

Kazschuri's user avatar

KazschuriKazschuri

5601 gold badge4 silver badges18 bronze badges

Dennis Faas's picture

by Carol Bratt on January, 7 2008 at 08:01AM EST

A reader recently inquired:

«I have a table and would like to color the entire background of a single cell in the table. I am able to color the text in the cell, but not the entire background of the cell. I use MS Office 2003.

Any suggestions are much appreciated.»

My reply:

  1. Place your cursor in the cell in which you would like to have shading.
     
  2. Now click on Format | Borders and Shading.
     
  3. Click on the Shading tab.
     
  4. On the left side, under Fill, select the color you would like to use.
     
  5. On the right side, under Apply to, use the drop-down arrow and select Cell.
     
  6. Click on OK.

That’s really all there is to it!

When you become a member at CarolsCornerOffice.com, you have access to this and many, many more articles that include screenshots. Don’t delay: visit us today!

Microsoft Word has a remarkable amount of options for controlling the appearance of the objects in your document.

This applies to the tables you create, too.

Our tutorial below will show you several ways that you can adjust the colors of the table borders and cell backgrounds in Microsoft Word tables.

  1. Open the document.
  2. Click inside the table.
  3. Select Layout under Table Tools.
  4. Choose Properties.
  5. Click the Borders and Shading button.
  6. Select All.
  7. Click the Color dropdown, then choose the color.
  8. Click OK.

Our article continues below with additional information on changing the table color in Word, including pictures of these steps.

Formatting a document in Microsoft Word often consists of adjusting the margins, adding page numbers, or simply trying to adhere to your organization’s formatting guidelines, such as MLA.

But when you start adding other objects and media to your document, you can have a little more freedom to customize. If you have a table in Microsoft Word you might even want to change the color of its borders or background.

Tables are a great way to display groups of information in a Word document.

The grid layout offers a structural option that is difficult to achieve with the paragraph layout that is normally associated with Word documents.

While table work is often done in spreadsheet applications like Microsoft Excel, Word does have some useful tools to present table data in an appealing fashion.

But a table in Microsoft Word can look a little boring with its default settings, so you might decide to change the color of your Word table. You can achieve this by adjusting the colors of your borders, then applying this change to the entire table.

How to Change Table Color in Microsoft Word 2013 (Guide with Pictures)

The steps in this article will show you how to change the color of your table in Word 2013.

This will affect the color of the lines in your rows and columns. If you want to change the color of the text in your table, then you can follow the steps in this article, but only select the table instead of the entire document.

Step 1: Open the document containing the table for which you want to change the color.

Step 2: Click inside one of the table cells, which will display the Table Tools menu at the top of the window.

click inside a table cell

Step 3: Click the Layout tab under Table Tools at the top of the window.

click the layout tab

Step 4: Click the Properties button in the Table section at the left side of the navigational ribbon.

click the properties button

Step 5: Click the Borders and Shading button.

This will open the Borders and Shading dialog box where you will be able to make a number of different changes to your borders.

click the borders and shading button

Step 6: Click All at the left side of the window.

click the all button

Step 7: Click the drop-down menu under color, then click the color you want to use for the table.

select the color for the table

Step 8: Make any additional changes to the style of the table border or the line width, confirm that Table is selected under the Apply to option at the right side of the window, then click the OK button.

click the ok button

Step 9: Click the OK button at the bottom of the Table Properties window, then your selected color will be applied to the table.

If you are trying to change the color of your table’s background instead, then the next section will show you how.

How to Change Table Background Color in Word 2013

The steps in this section are pretty similar to the ones that we used to change the border, or gridline, color in our table.

  1. Open the document.
  2. Click in a table cell.
  3. Select Layout under Table Tools.
  4. Click the Properties button.
  5. Click the Borders and Shading button.
  6. Select the Shading tab.
  7. Click the Fill dropdown, then choose the desired color.
  8. Click OK.

More Information on How to Change Table Color in Word

You can also change the table color and the background color in newer versions of Word as well, but the process is slightly different.

For example in Word for Office 365, after you click inside the table you will choose the Table Design tab, then click the Borders button and choose the Borders and Shading option. Then you will see the window we described above where you can make your color adjustments.

All of the instructions above assume that you want to apply the same border color or background to the entire table.

If you only want to apply it to one cell you can click the Apply to dropdown at the bottom right of the Borders and Shading window, then select the Cell option.

If you are looking to change the appearance of your table in Word, but wish to adjust something other than the border color or the background color, then check out the other options on the Design tab and the Layout tab under Table Tools.

There you will find a variety of other options to customize your table, including some existing styles and theme colors that can make it much simpler to create an appealing table without a lot of manual formatting.

Do you want to customize your table even further? Learn how to add spacing between table cells to give a unique appearance to your table.

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Change the Color of a Table in Word

Can I change table color in Google Docs, too?

Yes, the Google Docs word processing application has a similar option.

To change the cell background color or border color in Docs you will need to select the table, then click the Background color or Border color button and choose a new option.

You can read this guide for more information.

Is there a way to edit the border style of my table borders in Word?

Yes, Microsoft Word’s Borders tab has several border styles that you can choose from.

Once you have the Borders and Shading dialog box open in the steps above you can click the Styles drop down list and select borders styles from the selection they have.

There are quite a few options here, so you can probably create the specific borders that you are looking for via a combination of the styles, color, and width options on this menu.

How do I add or change the fill color of a table cell in Word?

If you are trying to add or remove shading in a table in a Microsoft Word document, then you can do so on the Shading tab of the table Borders and Shading dialog box.

1. Select the table cell(s) to modify.
2. Click Layout under Table Tools.
3. Choose the Properties option in the ribbon.
4. Click the Borders and Shading button.
5. Select the Shading tab at the top of the window.
6. Click the Fill drop down arrow, then click the desired color.
7. Click OK to apply the changes when you’re done.

Matthew Burleigh has been writing tech tutorials since 2008. His writing has appeared on dozens of different websites and been read over 50 million times.

After receiving his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Computer Science he spent several years working in IT management for small businesses. However, he now works full time writing content online and creating websites.

His main writing topics include iPhones, Microsoft Office, Google Apps, Android, and Photoshop, but he has also written about many other tech topics as well.

Read his full bio here.

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