Adding a Little Color

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 14, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

There may be times when you want your text to appear in different colors. This is particularly helpful for emphasis or for use with a color printer. A very easy way to do this is to use the Font Color tool on the toolbar. If you want, you can make the process even easier by creating your own tool that assigns a single specific color to text. To do this, follow these steps:

Choose Customize from the Tools menu. Word displays the Customize dialog box.
Click on the Commands tab.
Select the All Commands option in the list of Categories. This displays all the Word commands available. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Commands tab of the Customize dialog box.

In the Commands list, choose Color. A Color drop-down list appears near the bottom of the dialog box.
Choose the color you want to use from the Color drop-down list.
In Step 4 you selected the Color option from the Commands list. Click on that option again and drag it to a toolbar (for instance, to the right of the Underline tool on the Formatting toolbar). When you release the mouse button, the new tool appears on the toolbar.
Click on Close to close the Toolbars dialog box.

Now you can select any text desired and then click on the new toolbar button to assign the color to the text.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (258) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Determining the Number of Pages in Your Document

If your macro needs to know how many pages are in your document, you can use the Information method to get the desired ...

Discover More

Store Common Addresses in AutoText Entries

Do you write letters to lots of different people? One good place to keep those addresses is in AutoText entries. They are ...

Discover More

Automatic Italics of Newspaper Names

The AutoCorrect tool in Word is a great help in making sure that all instances of a name (such as a newspaper name) are ...

Discover More

Discover the Power of Microsoft Office This beginner-friendly guide reveals the expert tips and strategies you need to skyrocket your productivity and use Office 365 like a pro. Mastering software like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint is essential to be more efficient and advance your career. Simple lessons guide you through every step, providing the knowledge you need to get started. Check out Microsoft Office 365 For Beginners today!

More WordTips (menu)

Making Text Bold

Want a cool shortcut to make your text bold? Here's a method that fits in wonderfully with how things are done in the ...

Discover More

Changing Character Color

Need to easily change the color of some selected text? A quick way to do it is with a custom macro that sets just the hue ...

Discover More

Changing Kerning

When you need to adjust the space Word uses between characters, you need to adjust what is called "kerning." This tip ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 0 + 8?

2015-07-28 12:47:28

Joanne

How do I do this in Word 2010???

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.