How to remove fill color from cells in Excel?

To quickly remove solid fill colors that you previously applied to cells, you can use Excel’s built-in Fill Color command:

Select the cells from which you would like to remove solid fill colors, then go to the Home tab, click Fill Color (), and choose No Fill from the dropdown. See screenshot:

The solid fill colors will be immediately cleared from your selection. However, this method specifically removes manually applied fill colors and does not affect colors applied via conditional formatting rules. See screenshot:

Tip: When selecting cells, you can use Ctrl+click to select multiple non-contiguous areas or Shift+click for contiguous ranges. This method is useful for fast visual clean-up, especially before sharing or printing your worksheet.

Conditional formatting automatically colors cells based on their content or formulas. To remove colors generated specifically by conditional formatting, you’ll need to clear the relevant formatting rules:

Select the range containing conditional formatting-based colors that you wish to remove, then on the Home tab, click Conditional Formatting > Clear Rules > Clear Rules from Selected Cells. See screenshot:

This removes the conditional formatting rules—and any display colors they caused—from the selected cells. However, manually assigned solid fill colors in these cells will remain unchanged. See screenshot:

Note: If you want to remove conditional formatting rules from the entire worksheet, choose Clear Rules from Entire Sheet instead. Be careful: this will erase all rules and highlight the underlying (unformatted) data.

If you need to simultaneously clear both solid fill colors and colors introduced by conditional formatting for a selected range, you can utilize Kutools for Excel’s Alternate Row / Column Shading utility, which offers a streamlined way to reset cell appearance. This is especially helpful for restoring a neutral or default look without manually addressing each format type.

1. Select the range that you will remove all fill colors, and click Kutools > Format > Alternate Row / Column Shading. See screenshot:

2. In the opening Alternate Row / Column Shading dialog box, check the Remove existing alternate row shading option, and click the Ok button.

3. In the second Alternate Row/Column Shading dialog box, please click the Yes button.

After confirming, Kutools will automatically remove both manually-applied fill colors and those created via alternate row or column shading. All Excel cell backgrounds in your highlighted range will now revert to the standard no-fill appearance. This method also removes shading intentionally applied using the Alternate Row/Column Shading feature.

Note: The Alternate Row/Column Shading utility is ideal for visually organizing large data ranges quickly. For removing alternate shading, simply use the “Remove existing alternate row shading” option as shown above.

If you encounter unexpected results, verify that you have selected the intended range and that no other cells or overlapping rules interfere. Kutools’ tool works seamlessly with various Excel formatting layers.

For users who frequently need to clear fill colors—including both manually applied fill and colors from conditional formatting—a VBA macro can automate the process. This approach is useful for large worksheets, automating repetitive tasks, or customizing removal for multiple ranges at once. VBA does not affect font color, borders, or other formats unless specified in the code.

1. Press Alt+F11 to open the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications editor. Click Insert > Module to create a new blank module window.

Sub RemoveFillColor()
    Dim WorkRng As Range
    On Error Resume Next
    xTitleId = "KutoolsforExcel"
    Set WorkRng = Application.Selection
    Set WorkRng = Application.InputBox("Select range to remove fill color:", xTitleId, WorkRng.Address, Type:=8)
    'Remove solid fill color
    WorkRng.Interior.ColorIndex = xlNone
    'Remove fill colors from conditional formatting rules
    WorkRng.FormatConditions.Delete
End Sub

2. Run the macro by pressing F5 or clicking the Run button (). A dialog will appear for you to select the target cell range. Once confirmed, both solid fill color and conditional formatting-based fill will be cleared for the selected cells.

Note: This VBA code does not affect other cell formatting such as borders, number formats, or font color. If your selection includes merged cells or protected sheets, ensure you have the necessary permissions to run macros. Save your workbook before running code in case you want to revert changes.

In situations where you want to instantly clear all formatting—including fill colors, font colors, number formats, borders, etc.—Excel’s built-in Clear Formats option is a fast and convenient solution, available directly in the toolbar. This method is ideal when preparing a dataset for re-formatting or analysis.

Select the cells or range whose formatting you want to remove, navigate to the Home tab, and find the Editing group (usually on the far right). Click Clear, then choose Clear Formats from the dropdown menu.

All formatting—including fill color—will be instantly removed from the selection, reverting cells to plain text and standard appearance. This will not delete cell contents; only formatting is cleared.

Tip: If you want to retain certain formatting while clearing others, you may need to use more targeted commands. Also, double-check before confirming this action: any custom formats or table designs will be lost.

One click to remove all formatting (fill color, table formatting, etc.) from selected range in Excel

The Clear All Cell Formatting utility of Kutools for Excel enables users to quickly convert a formatted range to a neutral one by removing all formatting—including fill color, font color, table formatting, and more—while keeping the original data intact. Using Kutools is especially beneficial when you need a completely clean slate and wish to avoid repetitive manual operations.

Convert range to table or vice versa in Excel