Change Outlook Color Scheme

I was using Outlook 2003 on Windows XP. Now I installed it on Windows 7, where I use the standard Aero Glass user interface (and would like to continue using it).

Now the toolbars and other internal areas in outlook (e.g. email view) appear in a baby-blue background. Only the outer border of the window is in the Aero Glass color scheme.

How do I change the color scheme in Office 365 I am in my second day of my trial subscription to Office 365. I am trying to fix the color scheme of Outlook because it looks terrible, is difficult to read and is very hard on the eyes. Select the Mail Format tab, and then click the Editor Options button. From the Color scheme drop down menu, you can choose one of three colors: blue, silver, back (Fig.

How do I change the background color of the toolbars etc. (get rid of the baby-blue)?

The different colors of the Outlook 2003 interface were obtained from the theme colors of Windows XP;

  • Luna (Blue, Olive Green and Silver)
  • Royale/Energy Blue (shipped with later versions of Tablet PC and Media Center Editions of Windows XP)
  • Royale Noir/Zune (as a download).

As Windows Vista (and continued in Windows 7) changed to a different method of theming, this integration won’t work anymore and the Outlook/Office 2003 color scheme will default to blue.

Disable visual themes for Outlook 2003

There is a workaround for this which will give you a classic gray look instead;
Right click on the Outlook 2003 shortcut-> Properties-> tab Compatibility-> select: Disable visual themes

Add some custom colors

To add some color back or to reduce the border size, you can modify the classic appearance settings of Windows.

When using Windows Vista:

  1. Right click on an empty spot on your Desktop and choose Personalize…
  2. Click Window Color and Appearance
  3. Click “Open classic appearance properties for more color options” and then the button Advanced…

When using Windows 7:

  1. Right click on an empty spot on your Desktop and choose Personalize…
  2. Click: Window Color
  3. Click: Advanced appearance settings…

Here you can (amongst others) modify the border colors and reduce width by changing the “Border Padding” size.

For more info about changing the fonts, sizes and colors of the Outlook interface see this guide.


Setting classic theme options in Windows 7.

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As the admin of your organization, you can create multiple themes for the people in your organization, and select which themes apply to different members of your organization. The organization theme is what appears in the top navigation bar for people in your organization.

You can add or update a default theme that applies to everyone within your org. You can also create up to four additional group themes that can be assigned to multiple Microsoft 365 groups.

Add or update your organization's theme

  1. In the admin center, go to the Settings > Org Settings page, and then choose the Organization profile tab.

  2. On the Organization profile tab, select Custom themes.

All organization themes can be customized using the following tabs.

Change Outlook Color Scheme 2016

TabWhat can you do?
General
Modify a theme name and assign to up to five groups (if applicable).
Logos
Add your organization logo, including alternate logo for dark theme.
Colors
Customize a color scheme by specifying navigation bar, accent, text and icon colors.

General: Modify a theme

Your experience on the General tab depends on whether you're adding or modifying the default theme or a group theme.

Scheme

Update the default theme

The default theme is the first theme displayed.

  1. If you previously customized a theme for your organization, select Default Theme and use one of your saved customizations, or, select Add theme.
  2. On the General page, you can prevent users from overriding their theme and show the user’s display name.
  3. Select Save to save your changes.

Important

The default theme is unique, it can't be renamed and applies to everyone within your organization. To delete the default theme, you have to delete all other themes first.

Create a group theme

You can create up to four additional group themes.

  1. On the General page, enter a name for your new theme.

  2. Under Groups, you can select up to 5 Microsoft 365 Groups that can see your group theme, instead of using the default theme. You can also prevent users from overriding their theme and show the user's display name.

  3. Select Save.

Logos: Specify your theme logos

On the Logos page, you can you can add your logos, and specify the URL where users will navigate to, when they select the logo.

Change Outlook Email Color Scheme

  • Default logo: Add a URL location that points to your logo. Make sure that the URL uses HTTPS. Add a HTTPS image url that allows anonymous access and doesn't require authentication. For default theme, you also have an option to upload a logo image that is less than 10kb. Your default logo can be in the JPG, PNG, GIF, or SVG format. For SVG images, they will be resized to fit 24 pixels vertically. JPG, PNG, GIF images will be scaled to fit 200 x 48 pixels. Logo aspect ratio will always be preserved.
  • Alternate logo: Add a URL location that points to your logo. Your alternate logo should be optimized for use in Office dark themes. Same requirements as the default logo.
  • On-click link: Add a URL location that points to your logo. You can use your logo as a link to any company resource, for example, your company's website. If you don’t select a URL location for your logo, it’ll default to the Office home page.

Select Save to save your changes.

You can remove your logos at any time. Just return to the Logos page and select Remove.

Colors: Choose theme colors

On the Colors page, you can set the default colors and choose which logo should be used.

  • Navigation bar color: Select a color to use for the background of the navigation bar. The navigation bar appears at the top on every page.
  • Text and icon color: Select a color to use for the text and icons on the top navigation bar.
  • Accent color: Pick one that shows up well on a white or light background. The accent color is used to color some links and buttons that show up on a white or light background. For example, the accent color is used to color elements in a user's inbox and on their Office.com portal page.
  • Reset color: Select this link to reset colors to the default colors.

Frequently asked questions

My organization already has a theme for all employees. How will this change?

The default theme will continue to be shown to all employees. Adding a new group theme will only be made available to the Microsoft 365 groups associated with that theme.

Why don’t I see group themes in the Admin Center?

Only global admins can customize company themes. Global readers have read-only access.

How many different themes can I set up for my organization?

Up to five themes can be created. A default theme and four group themes.

Change Outlook Color Scheme Windows 10

Can I use security groups or distribution groups instead of Microsoft 365 Groups?

Color

No, new group themes must be mapped to one or more Microsoft 365 groups and not security groups or distribution groups.

Note

You can convert distribution groups to Microsoft 365 groups in Outlook.

Color

Can I manually assign a theme independent of Microsoft 365 Groups? 

No, new group themes must be mapped to one or more Microsoft 365 groups. Users who are members of the Microsoft 365 group will get the theme applied to their group. You can create and add new members to a Microsoft 365 Group by going to the Settings > Groups in the admin center.

What happens if a user is assigned to multiple group themes?

Users who are assigned to multiple group themes will be shown the default theme.

Why can’t I delete the default theme? 

The default theme can only be deleted once all group themes are deleted. Make sure you delete all group themes before you try to delete the group theme.

Why am I receiving an error message every time I upload a logo URL. 

Make sure the logo you’re using is specified as a publicly addressable URL. Follow these steps for uploading logos to Azure Blob Storage or the Office 365 Content Delivery Network with SharePoint Online.

Why am I receiving the message “Doesn’t meet minimum color contrast ratio of 4.5:1”?

The recommended contrast ratio between text, icon or button color and background color is 4.5:1. You can override this recommendation and still save your theme as this is not a requirement.

If I define a theme, which places in Microsoft 365 will this be used?

Any theme appears in the top navigation bar for everyone in the organization as part of the Microsoft 365 suite header.

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