Changing Font Color

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 28, 2020)
This tip applies to Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Normally, Excel displays information using black type. This is acceptable if you are printing to a regular printer, but many people these days have color printers. Additionally, you may want to simply use different colors for displaying information on the screen. You can change the font color used by Excel in the following manner:

  1. Choose the cells whose font color you wish to change.
  2. Choose Cells from the Format menu. Excel displays the Format Cells dialog box.
  3. Make sure the Font tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

    4. Figure 1. The Font tab of the Format Cells dialog box.

  4. Using the Color drop-down list, select the color you want used for the information in the cells you selected in step 1.
  5. Click on OK.

There is another way to change font color, and you might find it a bit faster. You can change font color using the toolbars in this manner.

  1. Choose the cells whose font color you wish to change.
  2. Click on the down-arrow at the right side of the Font Color tool on the toolbar. This displays a color palette.
  3. Click on the color you wish to use.

At this point the color of the information in the selected cell is changed. You may also have noticed that the color bar at the bottom of the Font Color tool changed, as well. This means that in the future, all you need to do is select cells and click on the tool to change their font to the same color.

ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (2674) applies to Microsoft Excel 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

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