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How to add and remove the background color or image in Outlook?

Author: Kelly Last Modified: 2025-04-10

Tired of the plain white background in your email messages? You can personalize your emails by adding custom background colors or images while composing your message. This guide will show you how to easily set up and remove backgrounds in Outlook to enhance the visual appeal of your communications.

Add background color in Outlook

Add background image in Outlook

Remove background color or image in Outlook


Add background color in Outlook

It is quite easy to configure a background color when you are composing an email message.

Step 1: Get into the Message Window.

By the way, you will get into the Message Window after you click the "New E-mail" button under the "Home" tab in Microsoft Outlook.

Step 2: Click the "Page Color" button in the Theme group under the "Options" tab.

Note: The "Page Color" button won’t be valid until you activate the message editing area.

doc-page-bg-1

Step 3: Pick up one of the theme colors, and click it.

Then the whole message editing area is filled with the color you selected in Step 2.

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Add background image in Outlook

Apart from background color, you can add a background image in the message editing area too.

Step 1: Get into the Message Window.

In Outlook, click "Home" > "New Email".

Step 2: After activating the message editing area, click "Page Color" > "Fill Effects" in the drop-down menu under the "Options" tab. See the following screenshot:

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Step 3: In the popping-up "Fill Effects" dialog box, click the "Select Picture" button under the "Picture" tab.

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Step 4: In the "Select Picture" dialog box, select a picture and click the "Insert" button.

doc-page-bg-5

Step 5: Click the "OK" button to finish the configuring.

Then the selected picture is filled in the whole message editing area as a background.

Note: The recipient will receive the email with the background image that you have configured.


Remove background color or image in Outlook

The following steps will help you remove the background color or images you configured before.

Step 1: Click the "Page Color" button in the Theme group under the "Options" tab in the Message Window.

Step 2: Click the "No Color" item in the drop-down menu.

doc-page-bg-4

Then either the background color or the background image is removed from the email message at a glance.


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