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How to change the background color permanently in excel 2010

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I got a new pc with windows 11 and I installed excel 2010 on it

When I open excel by righ clicking on the desktop I get 3 worksheets in white and the grid is not visible because it's also white

Is it possible to change the background color to something other than white ?

On my old pc with windows 7 and same excel 2010 somehow I manged to change it to light gray background so the white grid is visible I just don't remeber how I did it many years ago

I created a template but it doesn/t seem to be used when I right click to open a new excel spreadsheet It only works if I use the excel program

excel
MS Office Version: 2003
posted by: status1 on Wed Mar 26, 2025 at 5:49 pm
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Thanks but I don't think that will work
I don't have a personal file

On the other hand I placed my hard drive back in the old pc and I found out why it was working there It was the windows colors that was changed to light gray so there is no need for a template when I upen a new spreadsheet with right click

Unfortunately it looks like windows 11 does not have that feature
I read about an option to change it in the registry but not sure how well that would work
status1 Mar 27, '25 at 2:04 pm
Thanks for the comment, Status1 (but it should have been made in the Discussion below my Answer really).

Did you try to create and save a PERSONAL.xlsb file like I suggested in the second half of my Answer?
John_Ru (rep: 6652) Mar 27, '25 at 5:53 pm
@status1

I had to replace my laptop a couple of months back and had no choice but to get one with Win11. Win11 is awful, but that's another story. I installed Office 2016 and both options which John describes are possible with Win11. I tried his second option and it works fine.

Cheers   :-)
WillieD24 (rep: 677) Mar 27, '25 at 6:09 pm
@WillieD24 - thanks for testing my solution and commenting on it, I really appreciate that. 
John_Ru (rep: 6652) Mar 27, '25 at 7:30 pm
I did not try the personal file because it's just another template and when I right click to get a new spreadsheet it is not using the template The template only works if you open excel or add a sheet when excel is already open Yes I tried the gray picture as a background and it works as a template but not when you right click

About a month ago I bought a used laptop with windows 11 and yesterday I installed Office 2010 and it just worked perfectly I did not have to make any template I right click and I get the white background with light blue grid which is the normal window

So not sure why the same thing is not working on my desktop maybe the windows 11 is slightly different or there is some unknown setting that keeps it from working
status1 Mar 29, '25 at 10:07 am
Status1, okay but if you added a PERSONAL.xslb file as I described, Excel would start with a new file based on that. Going New/ Blank workbook would NOT produce a file with a custom background. I'm not aware of a method to do that, sorry.
John_Ru (rep: 6652) Mar 29, '25 at 11:13 am
I understand but creating any files template or personal and placing it in the xlstart folder does not make excel use it when you right click

Are you saying that you are using excel 2010 with windows 11 and had this exact same scenario that when you right click originally you had white backgrund with white grid and after making this personal file now when you right click it is using that file when you right click ?

Because there is a distinction between how you open a new spreadsheet 
When you click on excel.exe or open a new file after excel is already open than it will use the template but when you right click it opens an .xlsx file at least that is the explanation I got from my search so it makes a difference on how you open the new  spreadsheet and so far none of the templates I made and stored in the xlstart folder are used when open a new spreadsheet using the right click method
status1 Mar 29, '25 at 4:20 pm
Status1- I'm on Windows 10 with both Excel 365 and 2010 (plus 2016 if I need it, rarely).

I'm not saying right click / New works as you want (but I am saying I don't know how to customise that method anyway- I don't use it).

What I am saying is that the PERSONAL.XLSB approach opens up a new file (customised) when you first open Excel (in any version). Also I don't think it's possible to "hijack" that key sequence.

To be honest I don't know why you don't want to use File / New then pick sn installed template. 
John_Ru (rep: 6652) Mar 29, '25 at 5:22 pm
But that is precisely what I want to fix Perhaps I should have added that to the title to make it more specific  I just got used to right click on the desktop to open a spreadsheet I understand you are not using it but I do

Yes I can make a template and it works if you open excel first but not if you right click which is what I am trying to fix not just because I want something different It's because that is not how it should open normally Normally it should have a light blue grid not white so something is affecting how it opens when you right click
status1 Mar 30, '25 at 9:28 am
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I finally got it fixed and it was a lot simpler than I thought I did another search for white grid lines and there was a link that was provided to a user with similar problem and this was the link https://www.ghacks.net/2021/12/27/microsoft-confirms-new-windows-11-issue-some-apps-may-render-colors-incorrectly/

The link was saying that some windows 11 had a problem rendering accurate colors

So than I started thinking that it could be a display issue since it worked on the laptop but not on the desktop So than I adjusted the display from warm to cool while I had the excel open with white grid lines and as soon as I changed the setting to cool the grid lines showed up

Now I can open any file old or new and see the grid lines

That was a big relief

posted by: status1 on Sun Mar 30, 2025 at 10:06 am
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Glad you fixed your issue. 
John_Ru (rep: 6652) Mar 30, '25 at 10:26 am
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Hi status1 and welcome to the Forum.

If you still have your old PC, it should be easy:

  1. on that, use File Explorer (say) to open folder 
    C:\Users\<<your user name>>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Excel\XLSTART
    (changing the bit in bold to suit)
  2. you should find a file named PERSONAL.XLSB - copy that to a USB stick
  3. go to your Windows 11 PC and navigate to same folder location (with your Windows !1 user name)
  4. again you should find a file named PERSONAL.XLSB- rename this as PERSONAL_old.XLSB say
  5. copy PERSONAL.XLSB from your USB stick to that folder.

Now when you open Excel 2010 in Windows 11, it should open the old file and you should have your old style background etc. (If not, close, delete PERSONAL.XLSB and rename PERSONAL_old.XLSB back to that).

If you don't have your old PC, I suggest you do this:

  1. In Paint (or a similar program), create a new file, fill it light grey (or colour of your choice) and save that file in a known location as LightGrey.png say
  2. In Excel 2010 (or other versions), choose PageLayout on the ribbon, click Background then point it to the file you created above and click OK (you might have an intermediate step From a File in 365). The sheet should now have that colour background and gridlines should be visible (which they are not if you simply fill the cells with a colour!). Adjust gridline colour if needed (and decrease/ increase the default number of tabs if you want to)..
  3. Save that file somewhere but in the .xlsb format (binary) and close Excel.
  4. Use the steps from the previous section (with modification if you're didn't save to a USB stick) to replace the PERSONAL.XLSB file.

Again Excel should then use the new file as a template for blank files.

Hope this works for you- if so, please remember to mark this Answer as Selected.

posted by: John_Ru (rep: 6652) on Thu Mar 27, 2025 at 9:10 am
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