Changing How Word Presents Your Document

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 2, 2017)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

As you work with Word, you will probably notice that it is like working on a piece of paper. The background of the screen is white, text is in black (or some other color you specify), and information generally appears as it would if you would print the document.

If the white background hurts your eyes or is distracting to you, Word allows you to change the appearance of the screen so that you have a blue background with white text. Many people find this more pleasant to work with. You can change this appearance of Word by following these steps if you are using a version of Word prior to Word 2007:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the General tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The General tab of the Options dialog box.

Make sure the Blue Background, White Text check box is selected.
Click on OK.

This feature was removed from Word 2007, so it is no longer available. The reason Microsoft gave for removing the feature is that it was included for compatibility with older versions of WordPerfect. Apparently they no longer feel that such compatibility is important.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1844) 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

Using a Macro to Change the Formatting of All Instances of a Word

If you have a word that you need to make sure is formatted the same way throughout your document, there are several ways ...

Discover More

Creating a Multi-Worksheet Report

It is not uncommon to use Excel to print out regular reports. If your report needs to span multiple worksheets, here's ...

Discover More

When Clicking a Cell, Excel Jumps to a Different Cell

When you click on a cell, you expect the cell to be selected. What happens, though, if you are instead taken to an ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Making Word Remember My Settings

Ever had the experience of setting some configuration option in Word, only to have the option revert to a different ...

Discover More

Changing Dialog Box Pull-Down List Item Order

When selecting options within menus, Word frequently displays additional options in dialog boxes. While customizing the ...

Discover More

Default Units that Change

Word allows you to specify the unit of measurement you would like used in dialog boxes throughout the program. It can get ...

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 7 - 4?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

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.