More and more users are enabling dark mode on their devices, particularly in apps like Excel that feature a lot of white elements. If your eyes are sensitive to bright screens, you spend long hours working in Excel, or you often work after dark, switching to dark mode can help reduce eye strain.

Before the January 2025 update introduced full dark mode support in Microsoft Excel for Windows, it was possible to switch to a dark theme, but only the ribbon and menus would change to black. Now, however, you can turn everything dark—including the cells in your workbook—for a fully immersive dark experience while editing spreadsheets.

I'm Fully Committed to Dark Mode, and I Won't Be Reverting Back The moment I see a phone in light mode, I feel the urge to switch it to dark.

PostsTo begin, adjust the Office theme in Microsoft Excel by accessing your account settings inside the app. If you're on the welcome screen when opening Excel, click "Account" in the lower-left corner.

Alternatively, if you're already working on a spreadsheet, go to the ribbon and select "File," then locate the Account button in the same position as shown in the image above.

Next, open the "Office Theme" drop-down menu and choose "Black."

As soon as you make this selection, the Excel Account screen will shift to black.

However, once you enter the spreadsheet view, the cells remain white by default. This is because the black theme includes two viewing modes—light and dark—and activating dark mode requires an extra step.

Therefore, navigate to the "View" tab on the ribbon and click "Switch Modes."

Now, the worksheet cells appear in black, and any text originally in black turns white.

Interestingly, if you fill any cell with black, it actually appears white! This occurs because dark mode inverts everything—you guessed it. Light colors become dark, and dark colors become light. This inversion isn’t limited to just black and white; try filling a cell with light blue and notice how it changes to a darker shade of blue.

Keep in mind, though, that what you see in dark mode won’t match what appears on paper when printed. You can verify this yourself by opening the print preview (Ctrl P).

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PostsThis means that even if you prefer using dark mode while building your worksheet, it's wise to switch back to light mode before printing so you can ensure everything looks correct.

That’s why you should add the Dark Mode toggle to your Quick Access Toolbar (QAT). To do this, right-click the "Switch Modes" option under the View tab on the ribbon and select "Add To Quick Access Toolbar."

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PostsNow, either a sun or moon icon will appear on the QAT, depending on whether light or dark mode is active, allowing you to quickly toggle between them in the worksheet area.

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PostsLastly, selecting "Colorful" will apply the app's accent color to the ribbon. For example, Excel’s ribbon becomes green, while Word’s turns blue. This helps distinguish between different Microsoft Office applications if you have multiple windows open simultaneously.

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Follow this guide’s steps to enable dark mode in Microsoft Word for both Windows and Mac—simply activate the black theme in your account settings, and use the View tab on the ribbon to toggle dark mode on or off. Additionally, you can enable dark mode in Microsoft Edge by clicking the three-dot menu in the top-right corner, choosing "Settings," and selecting "Dark" under the Appearance section.

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