Applies ToWord for Microsoft 365 Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac Word 2024 PowerPoint 2024 for Mac Word 2021 Word 2021 for Mac Word 2019 Word 2019 for Mac Word 2016

To add some extra visual interest to your document, add a background color using the Page Color button. You can also add a watermark.

Add or change the background color

  1. Go to Design > Page Color.

  2. Choose the color you want under Theme Colors or Standard Colors.

    The Page Color options are shown

    • If you don't see the color you want, select More Colors, and then choose a color from the Colors box.

    • To add a gradient, texture, pattern, or picture, select Fill Effects, and then go to Gradient, Texture, Pattern, or Picture and select an option.

Patterns and textures are repeated (or “tiled”) to fill the entire page. If you save your document as a webpage, the textures are saved as JPEG files, and the patterns and gradients are saved as PNG files.

Remove the background color

  1. Go to Design > Page Color.

  2. Select No Color.

Change the background color

  1. Go to Design > Page Color.

  2. Choose the color you want. If you don't see the color you want, select More Colors and then pick a color from any of the options in the Color box.

    Tips: 

    • To pick a color from a file, select the picture image, click the gear icon, and select New from File.

    • Choose the picture icon to select a color from a file

Remove the background color

  1. Go to Design > Page Color

  2. Select No Color.

Themes let you format a whole document. For more info, see Apply themes

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