Many people don’t realize it but it’s possible to change the Outlook Color Scheme with just a few simple clicks. If your like me and you stare at Outlook ALL DAY, this is nice little feature as ANY change is good change. ;)
Update: See this groovyPost for the step-by-step for Changing the Color Scheme using Outlook 2010.
Let’s start things off with a groovy How-To Video
How-To Change the Outlook 2007 Theme Color (Video)
And now the Step-by-Step with Screen Shots!
How-To Change the Outlook 2007 Theme Color
1. Open Outlook, Click Tools, Options
2. Click Mail Format Tab, then Click the Editor Options Button
3. Under the Popular Tab, Click the Color Scheme Down Arrow. Select between Blue, Silver and Black. Click OK to Apply
All Done!
My personal Favorite is Silver but I normally change the color around every 30 days or so just to mix things up. I know… I’m WILD!!! ;)
(Default) Blue Silver Black
Very groovy indeed! Now go, rush off and tell your cube mates about this very groovy tip! And yeah… don’t forget to mention groovyPost.com!!! ;)
32 Comments
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shockersh
Personally, I prefer BLACK. Silver and Blue are lame! Nice vid BTW
Asif
Hi there,
Thanks for the article.
Finally, I am enjoying the black themed outlok in windos xp.
Best Regards
Asif
MrGroove
@Asif,
Yeah, black is a huge improvement over the standard blue.
dstrr
wish there was a way to make the screens black background with green/yellow text. staring at bright white regardless of the border changes is hard on the eyes. figure a way on that ?
Computermum
Does anyone know how to change the colour for two days of the week i.e. Mon and Fridays on monthly view? Cheers
sebastian
Does anyone know how to add some colors there (only three colors don’t work for me).
MrGroove
@Sebastion – Aye…. not example a lot of options there and there’s no improvement on that in Outlook 2010 (office 2010) either…
I’m fairly certain there’s no way to add more colors.
Mike
Thanks a ton…. simple if you have these instructions…. not simple if you don’t… well hidden and not overly intuitive…..
MrGroove
True. Like most things, it’s obvious once you find it but first you have to find it. ;)
Wency
Thank you! You are awesome!
Ashlea
Thanks a lot — was so tired of the blue theme! The instructions were very clear and easy to follow. I´m sending this site to the girls I work with here in the office now!
Take care!
MrGroove
@Ashlea – Awesome and I have to agree. The blue was a bit of a boor. Black is much better!
Johnnetta
** Thanks, I like the black also.. Would love RED!!! Thank you for your help.. I’m saving u as one of my “FAVS”..
chaitu
Some how i dont like this glossy look of new MS 2007 package.
how Can i switch to server 2000/2003 grey color scheme,
looks boring but is soothing for eyes
Chris
I like the black … feels a little gloomy , pink would be the one !!!
cc
bonjour
je cherche desesperement: help:
je travail sur 3 calendriers differents onglets separés: j aimerais choisir la couleur de chacun de mes 3 onglets calendriers , couleur differente pour chaque; possible vous croyez?? je sais qu on peut changer l interface(j ai pris noir) et la couleur de fond(generale pour ts les calendriers mais j ai pas vu de difference…) ;
merci par avance
Rashed
thank you….the instruction is very useful to me..
gil feliciano
simple and to the point – thanks!
Peggy
I want to add colours to it.. blue silver and balck are boring .. i need soem red.. pink green yellow and other charg=ming colours…
Pl help…
Michael Jefferson
Genuinely revealing appreciate it, I do think your current audience might want a whole lot more articles along these lines maintain the excellent work.
viswa
good one thank you
Paulene Davalos
Nice. I didnt know there was black until now. Enjoying it. Thanks
Vineeth
thanks for the clea steps.
Dyrek
Works great…for the default color of one calendar. Do you have a method that will allow changing the colors for other calendars if you have multiples open? Outlook changes them itself to whatever it feels like but it would be nice to be able to make my own decisions as to which calendar had what color.
Candace
Really hate the new Outlook, no choices, same for all the 2007 Office stuff. Is there ANY way to change the colors on these programs? I deal with Excel all day, and the standard settings are definitely not working for me. Considering going back to Office 2003, and would except everyone seems to be in 2007 or 2010, and I spend all my time converting/upgrading things and losing features.
Ulisses Gouveia
Thanks friend, you help me a lot
Vu
I never like Outlook 2007 color scheme on the month view. It only use one color tone for everything (background, events etc…). Just found a way to color the events so they standout.
-Right click on any event, select “Automatic formating…”
-Click “Add”, then “Condition” to open the Filter panel.
-Select “Advanced” then “Field”, “Frequently Used Fields” to open the field list.
-Select “Start” near the bottom of the list, then click “Add To List”
-Click “OK” to close the Filter panel then click on “Color” to select a color for the event.
-Click “OK” then voila, your events now can be a different color than the background.
The only problem with this is some events seems to change the background color too. I don’t know why. If you have a fix please post, but overall the month view looks a lot less confusing.
Steve Krause
Hey great tip! I don’t think I’ve ever used this feature in Outlook. Very groovy tip!
BTW – Welcome to groovyPost!
-S
Andrey Sentsov
Thanks a lot for this!! Blue color scheme is totally disgusting for me. Black is ok, but menus are still white :(
Sean
Thanks ! Handy info !
tj
Steve,
Thank youl for your post! I’ve spent 3 hours trying to figure out how to “undo” what I did to my email background! Hope I can find you quickly again should I have any other questions!
Bhavin
Thanks for sharing useful article …. :-)