Customize Your Excel: A Quick Guide to Changing Workbook Themes

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In Microsoft Excel, a Theme is more than just a visual skin; it is a comprehensive collection of pre-designed Colors, Fonts, and Effects that you can apply to your workbooks and various elements within them, such as Tables and Charts. Each theme is crafted to impart a distinct and unified visual identity through its specific combination of colors, fonts, and effects, ensuring your documents maintain a consistent and professional appearance. Applying a new theme is a transformative action, as it will replace any existing styles within your workbook with the newly selected aesthetic.

The tools you need to personalize your workbook’s appearance with themes are conveniently located within the Page Layout tab, specifically in the Themes Group. This section acts as your command center for visual customization, housing the Themes, Colors, Fonts, and Effects tools. Each of these tools plays a unique role in shaping the visual presentation of your Excel workbook.

Let’s delve into the functionalities of each tool within the Themes Group:

• Themes: This is your primary tool for applying overarching styles to your workbook. Themes are designed to give your entire workbook a cohesive and visually appealing style, ensuring consistency across all elements.
• Color: If you want to adjust the color palette of your document, the Color tool is your go-to option. By clicking on a color palette, you can instantly change the color scheme used throughout your workbook, allowing for quick adjustments to the visual tone.
• Font: For text-based customization, the Font tool allows you to change the text style within your workbook by selecting a font set. This feature ensures that all text elements in your document are updated simultaneously, maintaining a uniform typographic style.
• Effects: To modify the visual appearance of objects within your workbook, the Effects tool is used to apply various visual effects. This tool leverages visual effects to alter the look and feel of shapes, charts, and other graphical elements, adding depth and visual interest to your data presentation.

A helpful feature within the Themes Group is the live preview capability. By simply hovering your cursor over the Theme Tools, you can get a real-time preview of how the selected option will look on your worksheet. This interactive preview allows you to experiment with different themes and settings without permanently applying them, making it easier to choose the perfect visual style for your data.

This guide will walk you through the process of selecting and customizing themes in Excel, empowering you to tailor the visual presentation of your workbooks to meet your specific needs and preferences.

How to Add Themes to your Excel Workbook¶

To effectively apply Themes to your Excel workbook, it’s important to ensure that your data is structured within a table and that the table style is set to ‘normal’. This preparation is crucial because the Theme Palettes are designed to interact seamlessly with tables in their default state. If your data is not in a table or if a custom table style is applied, you might not observe the theme changes as expected.

Here are the steps to add themes to your Excel workbook:

1. Navigate to the Page Layout tab, located at the top of the Excel ribbon. This tab is your gateway to page-level and theme-related settings in Excel.

2. Within the Page Layout window, find and click on the Themes dropdown menu. This action is typically located on the far left side of the ribbon, within the Themes Group.

3. Upon clicking Themes, a dropdown list of available themes will appear. Browse through the list and select your desired Theme. As you hover over each theme in the dropdown, Excel’s live preview feature will show you how the theme will be applied to your current worksheet. This allows you to see the immediate impact of each theme before you commit to applying it.

4. Once you have selected a Theme, click on it to apply it to your workbook. You will immediately notice changes in the style and colors within your worksheet table and throughout your workbook. The fonts, colors, and effects will update to reflect the selected theme, giving your workbook a new and consistent look.

Excel also provides options to expand your theme library beyond the pre-installed options. You can browse for themes that you might have downloaded or saved previously. Here’s how:

1. In the Themes dropdown menu, instead of selecting a theme from the list, click on Browse for Themes. This option is usually located at the bottom of the themes dropdown list.

2. Clicking Browse for Themes will open your File Explorer window. This window allows you to navigate your computer’s file system to locate theme files.

3. In the File Explorer window, locate and choose a Theme file that you have downloaded or saved. Excel theme files typically have a .thmx extension. Select the theme file you wish to add to your workbook.

4. After selecting the theme file, click OK in the File Explorer window. This action will import the selected theme and apply it to your current workbook.

If you have created a custom theme or modified an existing one to your liking, Excel allows you to save this theme for future use. This is particularly useful if you want to maintain a consistent brand or style across multiple workbooks. To save your current theme:

1. In the Themes dropdown menu, find and select Save Current Theme. This option is usually located near the bottom of the themes dropdown list, often below the “Browse for Themes” option.

2. Selecting Save Current Theme will open the File Explorer window, specifically in the Document Themes folder.

3. In the File Explorer window, you will be prompted to name your Theme. Enter a descriptive name for your theme in the File name field.

4. Choose the Folder where you want to save your theme. The default location is usually the Document Themes folder, which is a convenient place to keep your custom themes organized and easily accessible in Excel.

5. Finally, click Save to save your custom theme. Your theme will now be saved as a .thmx file in the specified folder and will be available for you to use in other Excel workbooks.

Add Theme Colors to your Workbook¶

Adjusting the color palette of your Excel workbook is a straightforward way to alter its visual tone and emphasize your data. Excel’s Colors tool, found within the Themes Group, provides a range of pre-designed color palettes and also allows for custom color creation.

To add theme colors to your workbook, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Page Layout tab on the Excel ribbon. As before, this tab contains all the theme-related customization options.

2. Within the Themes Group, locate and click on the Colors dropdown menu. This is usually positioned next to the Themes dropdown.

3. Upon clicking Colors, a list of available Color Palettes will appear. These palettes are sets of coordinated colors designed to work harmoniously together in your workbook.

4. Browse through the list of Color Palettes and select the one that best suits your needs. As you hover over each palette, you will see a live preview of how the colors will be applied to your worksheet, specifically to elements like tables and charts.

5. Once you have selected a Color Palette, click on it to apply it. Observe how only the colors within the table and charts in your worksheet change to reflect the chosen palette. The overall theme remains the same, but the color scheme is updated.

For more personalized color schemes, Excel allows you to customize your own color palette. This is particularly useful if you have specific brand colors or want a unique visual style that isn’t available in the default palettes. To customize your colors:

1. In the Colors dropdown menu, scroll down to the bottom and select Customize Colors. This option is typically located at the end of the list of predefined color palettes.

2. Selecting Customize Colors will open a dialog box titled Create New Theme Colors. This dialog box is your control panel for designing your custom color palette.

3. In the Create New Theme Colors dialog box, you will see a set of color slots, typically labeled with categories like Text/Background - Dark 1, Text/Background - Light 1, Accent 1, Accent 2, and so on. These slots represent the different colors that make up your theme’s color palette.

4. To change a color, click on the dropdown arrow next to the color slot you want to modify. This will open a color selection menu, offering a range of standard colors and options to choose More Colors for a wider spectrum.

5. Choose your desired Colors for each slot. You can select from the theme colors, standard colors, or use the More Colors option to define custom colors using RGB, HSL, or hexadecimal values. You can customize colors for Text/Background, Accent colors, and Hyperlink colors.

6. After you have chosen your desired colors for each slot, give your custom color palette a name in the Name field at the top of the dialog box. This name will help you identify your custom palette in the Colors dropdown menu in the future.

7. Once you are satisfied with your custom color palette, click OK in the Create New Theme Colors dialog box. The dialog box will close, and your newly created custom color palette will be applied to your workbook. You will see the color changes reflected in your worksheet, particularly in tables and charts. Your custom color palette will also be saved and available for future use in the Colors dropdown menu under the Custom section.

Add Fonts to your Excel Workbook¶

Fonts play a crucial role in the readability and overall aesthetic of your Excel workbooks. Excel’s Fonts tool, located in the Themes Group, allows you to easily change the font styles used throughout your workbook, ensuring a consistent typographic appearance.

To add fonts to your Excel workbook, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the Page Layout tab on the Excel ribbon. This tab is your central location for theme and page layout customizations.

2. In the Themes Group, find and click on the Fonts dropdown menu. This menu is typically located next to the Colors dropdown.

3. Upon clicking Fonts, a list of available Font sets will appear. These font sets are pre-defined pairings of heading and body fonts, designed to complement each other visually.

4. Browse through the list of Font sets and select your desired Font set. As you hover over each font set, you will see a live preview of how the font styles will be applied to your worksheet. Pay attention to how both the heading and body text styles change.

5. Once you have selected a Font set, click on it to apply it to your workbook. Notice that the Font Style in your Table, as well as throughout your workbook, changes to reflect the selected font set. This ensures consistency in typography across your document.

Excel also provides the flexibility to customize your own font sets, allowing you to choose specific fonts for headings and body text that align with your preferences or branding guidelines. To customize your fonts:

1. In the Fonts dropdown menu, scroll down to the bottom and click on Customize Fonts. This option is usually located at the end of the list of predefined font sets.

2. Selecting Customize Fonts will open a dialog box titled Create New Theme Fonts. This dialog box is where you can define your custom font set.

3. In the Create New Theme Fonts dialog box, you will see options for Heading font and Body font. Each option has a dropdown arrow that you can click to select a font.

4. Click the dropdown arrow for Heading font. This will open a font selection list. You can scroll through the list to find your desired font.

5. Similarly, click the dropdown arrow for Body font and select your desired body font from the list.

6. You can also access more fonts from the Microsoft Store if your desired font is not listed. Look for an option like “Get more fonts from Microsoft Store” within the font selection list. Clicking this will take you to the Microsoft Store where you can browse and download additional fonts.

7. After selecting your desired Heading and Body Fonts, give your custom font set a name in the Name field at the top of the dialog box. This name will help you identify your custom font set in the Fonts dropdown menu later.

8. Once you are satisfied with your font selections and have named your custom font set, click OK in the Create New Theme Fonts dialog box. The dialog box will close, and your newly created custom font set will be applied to your workbook. You will see the font styles updated throughout your workbook. Your custom font set will also be saved and available for future use in the Fonts dropdown menu under the Custom section.

Add Effects to your Workbook Object¶

Effects in Excel themes are visual styles that are applied to objects within your workbook, such as shapes, charts, and SmartArt graphics. These effects can add depth, dimension, and visual interest to your data presentations. The Effect tool in the Themes Group allows you to easily apply different sets of effects to your workbook objects.

To add effects to your workbook objects, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Page Layout tab on the Excel ribbon. This tab is your hub for theme-related and layout adjustments.

2. In the Themes Group, locate and click on the Effect dropdown menu. This menu is typically positioned next to the Fonts dropdown.

3. Upon clicking Effect, a list of available Effects sets will appear. These effect sets are pre-defined collections of visual styles that can include elements like shadows, reflections, bevels, and fill styles.

4. Browse through the list of Effects and choose the Effect set that you want to apply. As you hover over each effect set, you will see a live preview of how the effects will be applied to objects in your worksheet. Observe how shapes and charts change their appearance with different effect sets.

5. Once you have selected the desired Effect set, click on it and then click OK to apply it to your workbook. Notice that your objects, such as shapes and charts, will change their appearance to reflect the chosen effect set. The specific changes will depend on the type of effect set you selected, but you might see changes in shadows, outlines, fills, and other visual attributes of your objects.

By utilizing Themes, Colors, Fonts, and Effects, you have a comprehensive suite of tools to transform the visual presentation of your Excel workbooks. Experiment with these options to create visually appealing and professional-looking spreadsheets that effectively communicate your data.

We hope this guide has been helpful in showing you how to change the appearance of your Excel workbooks using themes and their components. Feel free to share your experiences or ask any questions in the comments below!