March 30, 2009 
There are many things I love about Office 2007. I think the ribbon is great and I cannot even remember how to work without it when I am on a computer with an older version of Office. But what I have always wondered is who decided that baby blue was the right choice for a default color scheme in Office 2007. Every time I see it I want to cringe. Maybe I am just too picky… For anyone not sure what I mean, here is what Excel looks like by default:
The first time I wanted to change this I had a pretty difficult time finding where to do it and I was recently reminded of it again while setting up a new computer. Here are the steps to change the color scheme while in Excel:
- Click on the Office button (in the upper right corner)
- Click on Excel Options
- Choose Popular on the left panel
- Chose an option under the Color scheme drop-down:
There are not too many choices, but at least there is an option for something other than baby blue. Note – this will change the color scheme for all the Office applications that have options for different color schemes. If you would like instructions on changing this from other Office applications, take a look at this Office Online help article.
Update on 11/18/2010: I just got a question about changing the color scheme for Office 2010 and found the answer here.
Victoria Yudin 
Great thing…:)
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Good tip, thanks Victoria–I guess I was too lazy to notice or look for the option!
Have you noticed the horrific color scheme with the new Windows Live Messenger? I would pay money to have the Office folks apply their design standards to Messenger–the colors are beyond awful (day-glo lime green, sickly orange, and bright red for status colors).
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Steve,
Here is an option if you’re willing to try something different… I have been using Trillian for a number of years now – it can combine all your logins for different IM products into one interface and has additional options for colors that you can download. There is a free ‘basic’ version, but I have been using the ‘pro’ version which is $25 per year.
-Victoria
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Hi Victoria,
Can’t agree for more. You have one more guy in me who hates to see Office windows on a rather sombre color.
My preference is always been Black. The main reason why I bought Windows Vista for my laptop, when everyone suggested against it, is that attractive Metallic Black theme.
Nice article.
Thanks
Vaidy
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