Apply, customize, and save a document theme in Word or Excel

You can quickly and easily format an entire document to give it a professional and modern look by applying a document theme. A document theme is a set of formatting choices that includes theme colors, theme fonts (including heading and body text fonts), and theme effects (including lines and fill effects).

Programs such as Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint provide several predefined document themes, but you can also create your own by customizing and then saving an existing document theme. Document themes are shared across Office programs so that all of your Office documents can have the same, uniform look. However, unlike Word and Excel, PowerPoint includes background style customization options. For information about adding and customizing backgrounds, see Format the background of slides.

Note: For information about applying or customizing a theme in PowerPoint, see Use or create themes in PowerPoint.

This article discusses themes. For more information about finding document templates, see Where do I find templates?

Newer Versions Office 2007 - Office 2010

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Apply a document theme

To change the document theme that is applied by default in Word and Excel, select another predefined document theme or a custom document theme. Document themes that you apply affect the styles that you can use in your document.

1. If you are using Excel, on the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Themes.

   If you are using Word, on the Design tab, in the Document Formatting group, click Themes.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To apply a predefined document theme, click the document theme that you want to use.

   • To apply a custom document theme, under Custom, click the document theme that you want to use.

     Note: Custom is available only if you created one or more custom document themes. For more information about creating custom document themes, see Customize a document theme below.

3. If a document theme that you want to use is not listed, click Browse for Themes to find it on your computer or network. To apply a theme from one Office document to another, in the Choose Theme or Themed Document dialog box, select the Office document that contains the theme that you want to apply, and then click Open.

4. In Office 2007 applications, you can search for other document themes on Office Online. Click Search Office Online.

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Customize a document theme

To customize a document theme, you start by changing the colors, the fonts, or the line and fill effects that are used. Changes that you make to one or more of these theme components immediately affect the styles that you applied in the active document. If you want to apply these changes to new documents, you can save them as a custom document theme.

Customize the theme colors

Theme colors contain four text and background colors, six accent colors, and two hyperlink colors. The colors in the Theme Colors button represent the current text and background colors, and the set of colors next to the Theme Colors name after you click the Theme Colors button represent the accent and hyperlink colors for that theme. When you change any of these colors to create your own set of theme colors, the colors in the Theme Colors button and next to the Theme Colors name change accordingly.

1. If you are using Excel, on the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Colors.

   If you are using Word, on the Design tab, in the Document Formatting group, click Colors.

2. If you are using Excel, click Create New Theme Colors.

   If you are using Word, click Customize Colors.

3. Under Theme colors, click the button of the theme color element that you want to change.

4. Under Theme Colors, select the colors that you want to use. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for all of the theme color elements that you want to change.

   Tip: Under Sample, you can see the effect of the changes that you make. To see how the colors that you select affect styles that you have applied in your document, click Preview.

5. In the Name box, type an appropriate name for the new theme colors, and then click Save.

   Tip: If you want to return all theme color elements to their original theme colors, click Reset before you click Save.

Customize the theme fonts

Theme fonts contain a heading font and a body text font. When you click the Theme Fonts button , you see the name of the heading and body text fonts used for each theme font below the Theme Fonts name. You can change both of these fonts to create your own set of theme fonts.

1. If you are using Excel, on the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Fonts.

   If you are using Word, on the Design tab, in the Document Formatting group, click Fonts.

2. If you are using Excel, click Create New Theme Fonts.

   If you are using Word, click Customize Fonts.

3. In the Heading font and Body font boxes, select the fonts that you want to use.

   Tip: The sample is updated with the fonts that you select.

4. In the Name box, type an appropriate name for the new theme fonts, and then click Save.

Select a set of theme effects

Theme effects are sets of lines and fill effects. When you click the Theme Effects button , you see the lines and fill effects used for each set of theme effects in the graphic displayed with the Theme Effects name. Although you cannot create your own set of theme effects, you can choose the theme effect that you want to use in your own document theme.

1. If you are using Excel, on the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Effects.

   If you are using Word, on the Design tab, in the Document Formatting group, click Effects.

2. Click the effect that you want to use.

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Save a document theme

You can save any changes that you make to the colors, fonts, or line and fill effects of a document theme as a custom document theme that you can apply to other documents.

1. If you are using Excel, on the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Themes.

   If you are using Word, on the Design tab, in the Document Formatting group, click Themes.

2. Click Save Current Theme.

3. In the File Name box, type an appropriate name for the theme, and then click Save.

   The custom document theme is saved in the Document Themes folder and is automatically added to the list of custom themes.

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Apply a document theme

To change the document theme that is applied by default in Word and Excel, select another predefined document theme or a custom document theme. Document themes that you apply affect the styles that you can use in your document.

1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Themes.

   or

2. Do one of the following:

   • To apply a predefined document theme, under Built-In, click the document theme that you want to use.

   • To apply a custom document theme, under Custom, click the document theme that you want to use.

     Note: Custom is available only if you created one or more custom document themes. For more information about creating custom document themes, see Customize a document theme below.

3. If a document theme that you want to use is not listed, click Browse for Themes to find it on your computer or network. To apply a theme from one Office document to another, in the Choose Theme or Themed Document dialog box, select the Office document that contains the theme that you want to apply, and then click Open.

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Customize a document theme

To customize a document theme, you start by changing the colors, the fonts, or the line and fill effects that are used. Changes that you make to one or more of these theme components immediately affect the styles that you applied in the active document. If you want to apply these changes to new documents, you can save them as a custom document theme.

Customize the theme colors

Theme colors contain four text and background colors, six accent colors, and two hyperlink colors. The colors in the Theme Colors button represent the current text and background colors, and the set of colors next to the Theme Colors name after you click the Theme Colors button represent the accent and hyperlink colors for that theme. When you change any of these colors to create your own set of theme colors, the colors in the Theme Colors button and next to the Theme Colors name change accordingly.

1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Colors.

   or

2. Click Create New Theme Colors.

3. Under Theme colors, click the button of the theme color element that you want to change.

4. Under Theme Colors, select the colors that you want to use. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for all of the theme color elements that you want to change.

   Tip: Under Sample, you can see the effect of the changes that you make. To see how the colors that you select affect styles that you have applied in your document, click Preview.

5. In the Name box, type an appropriate name for the new theme colors, and then click Save.

   Tip: If you want to return all theme color elements to their original theme colors, click Reset before you click Save.

Customize the theme fonts

Theme fonts contain a heading font and a body text font. When you click the Theme Fonts button , you see the name of the heading and body text fonts used for each theme font below the Theme Fonts name. You can change both of these fonts to create your own set of theme fonts.

1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Fonts.

   or

2. Click Create New Theme Fonts.

3. In the Heading font and Body font boxes, select the fonts that you want to use.

   Tip: The sample is updated with the fonts that you select.

4. In the Name box, type an appropriate name for the new theme fonts, and then click Save.

Select a set of theme effects

Theme effects are sets of lines and fill effects. When you click the Theme Effects button , you see the lines and fill effects used for each set of theme effects in the graphic displayed with the Theme Effects name. Although you cannot create your own set of theme effects, you can choose the theme effect that you want to use in your own document theme.

1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Effects.

   or

2. Click the effect that you want to use.

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Save a document theme

You can save any changes that you make to the colors, fonts, or line and fill effects of a document theme as a custom document theme that you can apply to other documents.

1. On the Page Layout tab, in the Themes group, click Themes.

   or

2. Click Save Current Theme.

3. In the File Name box, type an appropriate name for the theme, and then click Save.

   The custom document theme is saved in the Document Themes folder and is automatically added to the list of custom themes.

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See Also

Apply a style to text in Word

Customize or create new styles in Word