Right-Click the Sheet Tab to Change the Tab Color
When you can’t find a worksheet because your Excel workbook contains too many worksheets, color code the sheet tabs. Here’s a quick way to change the color of a tab in Excel:
Right-click the tab. Select Tab Color to open the color palette. Click on a color to select it. Hover over a color in the color palette to preview the color on the sheet tab. To see more colors, select More Colors to open the custom color palette.
Use Hot Keys to Change a Sheet Tab Color
When you use keyboard hotkeys to change the tab color, this set of keystrokes activates the ribbon commands. Once the last key in the sequence – the T – is pressed and released, a color palette opens.
To change the sheet tab color using the keyboard:
Select a worksheet tab to make it the active sheet. Or, use one of these keyboard shortcuts to select the desired worksheet: Ctrl+PgDn: move to the sheet on the right. Ctrl+PgUp: move to the sheet on the left. Press and release the Alt key to display the hot keys for the ribbon tabs. Press and release the H key to display the hot keys for the Home tab. Press and release the O key to open the Format dropdown list. Press and release the T key to open the Tab Color color palette. The current tab color is highlighted (surrounded by an orange border). If you haven’t previously changed the tab color, white is selected. Select the desired color. To select a color with the arrow keys, highlight the color you want and press Enter to complete the color change. To see more colors, press the M key to open the custom color palette.
Change the Tab Color of Multiple Worksheets
To change the sheet tab color for multiple worksheets, first select the worksheets that will be the same color. Then choose a color.
Ctrl+PgDn: move to the sheet on the right. Ctrl+PgUp: move to the sheet on the left.
The current tab color is highlighted (surrounded by an orange border). If you haven’t previously changed the tab color, white is selected.
The selected sheets can be:
Contiguous: Sheets that are next to each other such as Sheet1, Sheet2, and Sheet3. Non-contiguous: Sheets that are not next to each other such as Sheet4 and Sheet6.
Select Contiguous Worksheets to Change Sheet Tab Color
When you want several sheets in a row to use the same tab color, use the Shift key to select the group.
Click the tab of the worksheet located on the left end of the group to be changed to make it the active sheet. Press and hold the Shift key. Click the tab of the worksheet on the right end of the group to select all worksheets between the start and end sheets. If you select too many sheets, press and hold Shift, then click on the correct end sheet. Go to Home > Format > Tab Color and select a color from the color palette to change the color of the selected worksheets.
Non-Contiguous Worksheets and Sheet Tab Color
When you want several worksheets to have the same tab color, but those sheets are not next to each other, use the Ctrl key to choose the sheets.
Click on the tab of the first worksheet to make it the active sheet. Hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard and click on the tabs of all the worksheets to be changed. To deselect a sheet, press and hold the Ctrl key, then click on the sheet tab. Go to Home > Format > Tab Color and select a color from the color palette to change the color of all selected worksheets.
Tab Color Rules
When you change sheet tab colors, the rules Excel follows in displaying the tab colors are:
Changing the tab color for one worksheet: The worksheet name is underlined in the selected color. Changing the tab color for more than one worksheet: The active worksheet tab is underlined in the selected color. All other worksheet tabs display the selected color.
