How to enable dark mode in Microsoft Excel, including a spreadsheet's cells

• You can use Microsoft Excel in dark mode to change elements of your spreadsheet to a darkened color palette.
• You control the dark mode in the Account settings from the ribbon's File menu.
• To make the cells dark, go to the Background control in the Page Layout menu and choose a solid black or gray image.

It's recently become common for software to offer a dark mode, which many people feel is easier on the eyes, especially in the morning and evening hours. Dark mode flips the color palette so that the interface is dark, which can make the screen more comfortable to read in high-contrast settings.

Microsoft now includes a dark mode option in its Office suite, so you can darken the Excel interface. Excel's dark mode setting is an improvement, though you can do even better. By default, dark mode only affects the interface, but leaves the spreadsheet full of white cells, which can still be jarring. Here's how to enable dark mode and also darken the cells.

How to enable dark mode in Excel

1. In the ribbon at the top of the screen, click File, then click Account at the bottom of the File menu.

2. In the Office Theme dropdown, choose Dark Gray or Black.

3. Click the Back arrow at the top left of the screen.

You should now see that Excel has a dark interface, but the spreadsheet itself — the cells in the main part of the page — is still white. If you want the cells to be dark as well, next you need to set the background to a dark color.

1. In the ribbon at the top of the screen, click Page Layout, then click Background.

2. In the Insert Pictures dialog box, click the Search Bing search box.

3. Type "solid gray" or "solid black," depending upon how dark you want the background to be, and then press Enter.

4. Select a background image and then click Insert.

5. You might need to change the text color. If your background is too dark, the default black text will be hard to read. Press Ctrl-A to select the entire spreadsheet. Then in the ribbon, click Home, then in the Font section, click the Font color dropdown and choose white.

If the background or text color isn't exactly what you're looking for, you can try again until you find the right combination.