If you are an administrator and want to stop users from changing the default Microsoft Office theme in the organization, here is how you can do that. There are two ways to set the default theme across all computers in your organization. You can use either the Local Group Policy Editor or the Registry Editor.
By default, Office programs, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc., use a basic theme. However, there are multiple options that you can choose to set the Office theme. For example, you can use Colorful, Dark Gray, Black, White, etc. However, if you want to set one theme for all users, you do not need to change it individually. Instead, you can use these guides to get the job done.
Prevent users from changing default organization Office theme
To stop users from changing the default organization Office theme using Group Policy, follow these steps:
- Press Win+R to open the Run prompt.
- Type gpedit.msc and hit the Enter button.
- Go to Customize in Computer Configuration.
- Double-click on the Default Office theme.
- Select the Enabled option.
- Choose a theme from the drop-down list.
- Click the OK button.
If you want to use the Local Group Policy Editor method, you must download and install the administrative templates for Office.
Open the Local Group Policy Editor on your computer. To do that, press Win+R to open the Run dialog, type gpedit.msc, and hit the Enter button.
Then, navigate to the following path:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Microsoft Office 2016 > Global Options > Customize
Double-click on the Default Office theme setting and choose the Enabled option.
Then, expand the drop-down list and select a theme you want to set for all your users. Once done, click the OK button to save the change.
However, if you want to opt for the default theme, you need to open the same setting in the Local Group Policy Editor and choose the Not Configured option.
Stop users from changing default organization theme of Microsoft Office
To stop users from changing default organization Office theme using Registry, follow these steps:
- Search for regedit in the Taskbar search box.
- Click on the individual search result.
- Click the Yes button.
- Navigate to office in HKLM.
- Right-click on office > New > Key and set the name as 0.
- Right-click on 0 > New > Key and name it as common.
- Right-click on common > New > Key.
- Name it default ui theme.
- Double-click on it to set the Value data as 0, 3, 4 or 5.
- Click the OK button and restart your PC.
To learn more about these steps, continue reading.
First, you need to open the Registry Editor on your PC. For that, search for regedit in the Taskbar search box, click on the individual search result and select the Yes option on the UAC prompt.
Next, you need to navigate to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\office
However, if you cannot find the office key, you need to create it manually. To do that, right-click on Microsoft > New > Key and name it as office. Then, you can continue following other steps as usual.
Right-click on office, select New > Key and name it as 16.0. Then, right-click on 16.0 > New > Key, and set the name as common.
Next, you need to create a REG_DWORD value. For that, right-click on common > New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and name it as default ui theme.
By default, it carries a value data of 0. If you want to set the Colorful theme, you need to keep this value. However, if you want to set something else, such as Dark Gray, Black, or White, you need to change the Value data accordingly. For that, you need to set 3 for Dark Gray, 4 for Black, and 5 for White.
Once done, click the OK button and restart your computer to save the change.
However, if you want to opt for the default setting, you have two options. You can use 0 as the Value data or delete the default ui theme REG_DWORD value. In the second case, right-click on the REG_DWORD value, select the Delete option and click the Yes button.
Why does my Microsoft Office theme keep changing?
If your Microsoft Office theme is kept on changing, maybe the administrator is changing it for you. in that case, you need to open the find the Default Office theme setting in the Local Group Policy Editor and change the theme accordingly. However, you can do that only if you have an administrator account on your computer.
How do I change my Office 365 theme?
To change your Office 365 theme on Windows 11/10 PC, you need to open Word, Excel, or PowerPoint first. Then, go to File and select Options. In the General tab, find the Office theme option. Then, expand the drop-down list and select a theme you want to set. After that, click the OK button to save the change.
That’s all! Hope this guide helped.
Read: Customize, Change Theme color, Default font in Microsoft Office.
