How to Change the Background of a Document in Microsoft Word

Open Microsoft Word. The software has a white "W" icon on a blue background.

• If you want to edit an existing document, just double-click the document file.

Click on the Blank document (Blank document). This button is located at the top-left corner of the template page.

• If you're editing an existing document, you can skip this step.

Click on the Design (Design). This tab is located in the upper-left corner of the Word window, to the right of the "Home" and "Insert" tabs on the ribbon.

Click on the Watermark (Watermark). This button is found to the right of the top toolbar in Word. Look for it to the left of the "Page Color" and "Page Borders" options.

Click on one of the watermark templates. You can select any available template to apply to your open document:

• "CONFIDENTIAL" (Confidential).
• "DO NOT COPY" (Do not copy).
• "ASAP" (As soon as possible).
• "URGENT" (Urgent).

Type your text into the document as usual. The watermark will appear in the background of the document, with all your typed content placed over it.

• If you want to remove the watermark, click Remove Watermark at the bottom of the watermark dropdown menu in the watermark section of the toolbar.

Launch Microsoft Word. The application has a white "W" icon on a blue background.

• If you're editing an existing document, simply double-click the file to open it.

Click on Blank document (Blank Document). This button can be found in the top-left corner of the template page.

• If you're editing an existing document, you can skip this step.

Click on Design (Design). This tab is located in the top left corner of the Word window, to the right of the "Home" and "Insert" tabs at the page header.

Click on Watermark (Watermark). You can find this button on the right side of the Word header toolbar, just to the left of the "Page Color" and "Page Borders" options.

Click on Custom Watermark (Custom Watermark). This option is located near the center of the "Watermarks" menu. Click here to open the "Printed Watermark" window.

Click on the circle next to "Picture watermark" (Picture Watermark). This button is located at the top of the "Printed Watermark" window.

Click on Select Picture (Select Picture). You will find this button directly below the "Picture watermark" option.

Click on From a File (From File). This option is located at the top of the "Printed Watermark" window. Click here to open your default photo folder (e.g., "Photos") and select an image file.

• You can also choose Bing or OneDrive from this menu to search for or use images from cloud storage services.

Click to select the image. This action selects the image to be used as a watermark.

Click on Insert (Insert). This button is located at the bottom right corner of the screen. Clicking on it will bring you back to the "Printed Watermark" window.

Click on OK. This button is located at the bottom of the screen. Once clicked, the selected image will appear as the background of the document.

• You can resize the image by selecting the "Auto" checkbox and choosing a percentage (e.g., 200), or unchecking the "Washout" box to prevent the image from being transparent.

Type text into the document as usual. The watermark image is placed as the background of the document, and all text you type will appear on top of the selected image. You may adjust the font color for better visibility if the image is too dark or light for clear text display.

Open Microsoft Word. The software has a white "W" icon on a blue background.

• If you want to edit an existing document, simply double-click on the file to open it.

Click on Blank document (Blank Document). This button is located at the top left corner of the template page.

• If you are editing an existing document, you can skip this step.

Click on Design (Design). This tab is located at the top left corner of the Word window, to the right of the "Home" and "Insert" tabs.

Click on Watermark (Watermark). This button is located to the right of the Word toolbar at the top of the page. You'll find this option just before "Page Color" and "Page Borders."

Click on Custom Watermark (Custom Watermark). This option is located near the center of the "Watermarks" menu. Click here to open the "Printed Watermark" window.

Click on the circle next to "Text watermark" (Text watermark). This button is located in the middle section, to the left side of the "Printed Watermark" window.

Enter the watermark text in the "Text" dialog box. This box is located near the center of the window, with "ASAP" pre-filled by default. You can customize the following options:

• Font - The style of the watermark text.
• Size - The size of the watermark text. The "Auto" option will automatically adjust the text size to the default setting.
• Color - The color of the watermark text.
• Layout - You can choose between Diagonal or Horizontal to adjust the orientation of the watermark text.
• You can uncheck the "Semitransparent" option if you want the watermark text to be fully visible.

Click on OK. You'll find this button at the bottom of the screen. Your custom watermark will now be applied to the document background.

Type your text as usual. The watermark will be placed in the background of the document, with all the content you type appearing on top of the watermark.

Open Microsoft Word. The software has a white "W" icon on a blue background.

• If you want to edit an existing document, just double-click the file.

Click on Blank document (Blank document). This button is located at the top left corner of the template page.

• If you're working on an existing document, feel free to skip this step.

Click on the Design (Design) tab. You can find this tab at the top left corner of the Word window, just to the right of the "Home" and "Insert" tabs.

Click on Page Color (Page Color). This button is located at the top right of the Word toolbar.

Click on Fill Effects (Fill Effects). You can find this option at the bottom of the dropdown menu.

Click on the Picture (Picture) tab. This tab can be found at the top of the "Fill Effects" page.

Click on Select Picture (Select Picture). This button is located at the top of the page.

Click on From a File (From a File). This option is located at the top of the "Printed Watermark" page. Select this option to open the default image folder on your computer (for example, "Photos") and choose a file.

• You can also choose Bing or OneDrive from the menu to search and use images from cloud storage services.

Click on the image. This is the action to select the image.

Click on Insert (Insert).

Click on OK (OK). This button is located at the bottom of the screen. Clicking it applies the selected image as the document's background.

• Unlike a watermark image, this background image is not transparent.

Type your text as usual. The default text color can be adjusted for better visibility if the background image is too bright or too dark to display the text clearly.

Open Microsoft Word. The application has a white "W" icon on a blue background.

• If you wish to edit an existing document, simply double-click on the file.

Click on Blank document (Blank Document). This button is located at the upper left corner of the document page.

• If you're editing an existing document, you can skip this step.

Click on Design (Design). This tab is located at the upper left corner of the Word window, to the right of the "Home" and "Insert" tabs at the top.

Click on Page Color (Page Color). This button is located at the top-right corner of the Word toolbar.

Click on the color you prefer. This is the process for selecting a background color. The default text color can be changed for better readability, if necessary.

• If you want to create a custom color, click on the More Colors (More Colors) option under the color options. You can use the slider to adjust the hue and fine-tune the color.
• Click Fill Effects to add patterns or texture effects to your document's background.

• You can find free-to-use images online with Creative Commons licenses.

• Do not use copyrighted images as the background for documents intended for printing or submission. If possible, create your own images or upload photos that you have taken.