How to Apply Themes in Excel

Microsoft Excel is widely known for its powerful calculation and data analysis capabilities, but its visual presentation features are just as important—especially when you are creating reports, dashboards, or shared workbooks. One of the most effective yet often overlooked formatting tools in Excel is Themes.

Excel themes allow you to apply a coordinated set of colors, fonts, and effects across an entire workbook with just a few clicks. Instead of formatting cells individually, themes help ensure visual consistency, improve readability, and give your spreadsheets a polished, professional appearance.

In this article, you will learn what Excel themes are, how they work, how to apply and customize them, and best practices for using themes effectively in real-world scenarios.

What Are Themes in Excel?

An Excel theme is a predefined combination of:

• Theme Colors – a coordinated color palette
• Theme Fonts – a heading font and a body font
• Theme Effects – visual styles for shapes, charts, and graphics

When you apply a theme, Excel automatically updates all elements in your workbook that rely on theme-based formatting. This includes cell styles, charts, tables, shapes, SmartArt, and even some conditional formatting.

Themes are workbook-wide, meaning:

• A theme applies to all worksheets in a workbook
• Changing the theme updates the appearance consistently across the file

This makes themes especially valuable for reports, templates, and collaborative work.

Why Use Themes in Excel?

Using themes provides several important benefits:

1. Visual Consistency

Themes ensure that fonts, colors, and effects match across:

• Worksheets
• Charts
• Tables
• PivotTables
• Shapes and icons

This consistency improves readability and professionalism.

2. Time Efficiency

Instead of manually adjusting colors and fonts, you can change the entire look of a workbook instantly by switching themes.

3. Easier Updates

If your organization changes branding colors or fonts, you can update the theme once and apply the changes everywhere.

4. Better Collaboration

Themes help standardize formatting when multiple people work on the same file.

Where to Find Themes in Excel

Themes are located on the Ribbon:

1. Go to the Page Layout tab

2. Look for the Themes group

3. You will see:

   • Themes
   • Colors
   • Fonts
   • Effects

This group gives you full control over workbook-wide styling.

How to Apply a Built-In Theme in Excel

Excel comes with several built-in themes that you can apply instantly.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Open your Excel workbook
2. Click the Page Layout tab
3. In the Themes group, click Themes
4. Hover over any theme to preview it live
5. Click a theme to apply it

Excel will immediately update:

• Cell styles
• Chart colors
• Table designs
• Fonts and effects

Tip

Hovering over themes allows you to preview changes before committing, making it easier to choose the right style.

Understanding Theme Colors

Theme colors form the foundation of Excel themes.

What Are Theme Colors?

Theme colors are a structured palette that includes:

• Text and background colors
• Accent colors
• Hyperlink colors

These colors are used by:

• Cell styles
• Charts
• Conditional formatting
• Tables
• Shapes

Why Theme Colors Matter

If you use theme colors instead of manual colors:

• Changing the theme automatically updates all formatting
• Your workbook remains flexible and easy to update

If you use custom (non-theme) colors, they will not change when you switch themes.

How to Apply Theme Colors Separately

You can change just the color palette without changing fonts or effects.

Steps

1. Go to Page Layout
2. Click Colors
3. Select a color set from the list

This updates all elements using theme colors while keeping the existing fonts and effects.

Understanding Theme Fonts

Theme fonts define the typography of your workbook.

Each theme includes:

• Heading Font – used for titles and headers
• Body Font – used for standard text and data

Where Theme Fonts Are Used

• Cell styles like Heading and Normal
• Chart titles and labels
• Tables and PivotTables
• Shapes and text boxes

How to Apply Theme Fonts Only

If you want to update fonts without changing colors:

1. Go to Page Layout
2. Click Fonts
3. Choose a font set

Excel updates all theme-based text automatically.

Understanding Theme Effects

Theme effects control the visual styling of:

• Shapes
• Charts
• SmartArt
• Icons

Effects include:

• Shadows
• Borders
• Gradients
• 3D styles

While theme effects are less noticeable in simple spreadsheets, they play a bigger role in dashboards and visual reports.

How to Apply Theme Effects

1. Open the Page Layout tab
2. Click Effects
3. Choose an effect set

All supported objects update instantly.

How to Customize and Create Your Own Theme

Built-in themes are useful, but creating a custom theme gives you full control.

Customizing Theme Colors

1. Go to Page Layout

2. Click Colors

3. Select Customize Colors

4. Adjust:

   • Text/background colors
   • Accent colors
   • Hyperlink colors

5. Enter a name

6. Click Save

Customizing Theme Fonts

1. Click Fonts

2. Select Customize Fonts

3. Choose:

   • Heading font
   • Body font

4. Name the font set

5. Click Save

Saving a Custom Theme

Once colors, fonts, and effects are set:

1. Click Themes
2. Select Save Current Theme
3. Give your theme a name

The theme is saved and can be reused in future workbooks.

How Themes Affect Existing Formatting

Themes only affect elements that use theme-based formatting.

Will Change

• Cell styles
• Tables
• Charts
• Shapes using theme colors
• Text using theme fonts

Will Not Change

• Manually applied colors
• Custom fonts not linked to theme fonts
• Conditional formatting with fixed colors

Best Practice

Use cell styles and theme colors whenever possible to maximize flexibility.

Applying Themes to Existing Workbooks

Themes work equally well for new and existing files.

Tips for Existing Data

• Convert manual formatting to cell styles
• Replace custom colors with theme colors
• Review charts and tables after applying a theme

This ensures consistent results when switching themes.

Using Themes with Excel Templates

Themes are especially powerful when used with templates.

Advantages

• Standardized branding
• Faster report creation
• Consistent design across files

You can:

• Save a workbook with a custom theme as a template
• Share it across your team or organization

Best Practices for Using Excel Themes

1. Use Theme Colors Instead of Manual Colors

This ensures flexibility and easy updates.

2. Combine Themes with Cell Styles

Cell styles are designed to work seamlessly with themes.

3. Test Themes Before Finalizing

Preview multiple themes to find the best fit for your data.

4. Keep Readability in Mind

Avoid themes with low contrast or overly decorative fonts.

5. Create Separate Themes for Different Use Cases

For example:

• One theme for financial reports
• Another for dashboards
• A third for presentations

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Overriding theme colors manually
• Mixing too many fonts
• Using themes without checking print preview
• Applying themes after heavy manual formatting

Avoiding these issues helps maintain consistency and saves time.

Conclusion

Applying themes in Excel is one of the simplest ways to elevate the appearance of your spreadsheets while maintaining consistency and flexibility. Themes allow you to control colors, fonts, and effects across an entire workbook with minimal effort, making them ideal for reports, dashboards, templates, and collaborative projects.

By understanding how themes work—and by using theme-based formatting instead of manual styling—you can create Excel workbooks that are not only functional but also visually professional and easy to maintain.

Whether you rely on built-in themes or create your own custom designs, mastering Excel themes is a valuable skill that improves both efficiency and presentation quality.