Microsoft Excel 
ITTraining@sgul.ac.uk Page 10 St. George’s Information Services 
CHANGING WORKSHEET TAB COLOURS 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
To make it easier for you to distinguish between 
worksheets, Excel enables you to change the 
colours of worksheet tabs. This allows you, for 
example, to quickly distinguish between different 
financial years, departments or months. The active 
sheet appears as underlined in a gradient version 
of the selected colour, while inactive tabs will 
display a solid colour background. 
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Try This Yourself: 
Same 
File Continue using the previous 
file with this exercise, or open 
the file E1324 Worksheet 
Techniques_7.xlsx... 
 
Click on the Admin 
worksheet tab to select the 
worksheet 
 
Right-click on the worksheet 
tab to display the shortcut 
menu, then point to Tab 
colour  
This will display a palette of 
colour options… 
 
Click on Red under 
Standard colours to apply 
the colour to the tab 
 
Right-click on the 
Maintenance worksheet tab 
to display the shortcut menu, 
click on Tab colour, then 
click on Blue under 
Standard colours 
Notice how the Admin 
worksheet tab colour is now 
a solid rather than a 
gradient… 
 
Repeat either technique to 
apply the following colours: 
Shop Yellow 
IT Green 
 
Click on the Admin 
worksheet tab to view the 
results 
 
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For Your Reference… 
To change the colour of a worksheet tab: 
1. Right-click on the worksheet tab to display 
the shortcut menu 
2. Point to Tab colour to display a palette of 
colour options 
3. Click on the desired colour 
Handy to Know… 
 To apply the same colour to two or more 
sheets at once, select them first. Hold down 
 to select consecutive worksheets or 
hold down  to select non-consecutive 
worksheets.