Charts and graphs are a great way to visually represent data and information in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office documents. However, the default colors used for chart elements may not always fit your document’s design or color scheme. Fortunately, it is easy to customize the default chart colors to match your preferences.
In this blog post, I will provide a step-by-step guide on how to change the default chart colors in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Whether you want to use your company’s brand colors, create a color scheme that fits your presentation theme, or simply prefer darker chart colors, this tutorial has you covered.
Prerequisites
Before we get into the step-by-step instructions, let’s go over a few things you’ll need:
- The latest version of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
- A chart or graph inserted into your Office document
- Knowledge of navigating through ribbon menus and formatting options
And that’s it! Now let’s dive in and learn how to update those default chart colors.
Change Default Chart Colors in Word
- Open the Word document containing the chart you want to modify.
- Click on the chart to select it.
- Go to the “Format” tab in the ribbon.
- Click the “Shape Fill” dropdown and select “Shape Fill” at the bottom.
- Choose the new fill color you want to apply.
- Repeat steps 2-5 for each chart element you want to update.
It’s that easy! The color you select will now become the new default fill color for charts in this Word document.
Change Default Chart Colors in Excel
- Insert a chart into your Excel worksheet.
- Click on the chart to select it.
- Go to the “Design” tab in the ribbon.
- Click “Change Colors” and choose the new color scheme you want to apply.
- Optionally, click “Customize Colors” to hand-pick each color.
- Repeat steps 2-5 each time you insert a new chart.
The customized color scheme will now be remembered and applied to new Excel charts.
Change Default Chart Colors in PowerPoint
- In PowerPoint, navigate to the “View” tab and click “Slide Master”.
- Click the background colors dropdown and select “Customize Colors”.
- Choose new colors for the theme elements, such as “Accent 1”.
- Click “Close Master View” to return to normal view.
- Insert a chart and notice it uses the new customized colors.
And that’s all there is to it! The slide master controls the default colors for all layouts, including charts.
Customizing Chart Color Palettes
In addition to changing default colors, you can also customize the available color palette options for charts:
In Excel:
- Go to the “Page Layout” tab and click “Colors”.
- Choose “Customize Colors” at the bottom.
- Adjust colors under “Theme Colors” section.
- Click “Save” to update color options.
In PowerPoint:
- Repeat steps 1-3 above on the slide master.
- Click “Save Current Theme” to save new color palette.
This allows you to pre-define color schemes that can be easily applied to charts later on.
Conclusion
I hope this tutorial gives you the guidance needed to tailor default chart colors to your preferences in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office applications. Matching colors to your document or presentation theme is now quick and simple.
As you continue creating charts and graphs for your Office documents, don’t settle for the default color schemes. Use the formatting options covered here to make charts that fit your personal style!
Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions about changing default chart colors in Office. I’m happy to help!