Themes in Google Sheets

What Is Themes in Google Sheets?

Themes in Google Sheets are a collection of fonts and colors that alter the way your spreadsheet looks. They are used to give a more professional look to your sheets. Users can use pre-existing themes that Google Sheets provides or choose to customize their themes. Some important things you should know about themes include:

  • Pre-designed themes – You have a variety of pre-existing themes provided by Google that can quickly revamp your presentation.
  • Custom themes – We can use custom themes and tailor the look of our sheets by changing the font, color, and other features based on the business or the way the client wishes to project their presentation.

 Below is an example of a theme applied to a spreadsheet. We have chosen the “Earthy” theme.

Themes-in-Google-Sheets-Definition
Key Takeaways
  1. To add a consistent look and an attractive appearance to Google sheets, we use the Themes feature. Themes are purely aesthetic and won’t alter your data or the functionality.
  2. You can select a pre-designed theme in Google Sheets or customize one to suit your requirements.
  3. To access this feature, in the menu bar, click Format, and then click Theme.
  4. A pane will appear on the right side of your sheet. You can choose any theme from the existing ones offered by Google Sheets or customize your own by clicking the Customize button.
  5. If you adjust any formatting after applying a theme, the formatting will override the theme.

Where to find Theme Templates in Google Sheets?

Google Sheets does not have a separate theme menu like Excel. But you can create some wonderful designs using the “Theme” feature in the toolbar. You can find these themes in Google Sheets.

  1. First, click “Format.
  2. Now, choose the “Theme” option.
  3. A pane appears on the right side of the spreadsheet, where you can choose the theme to apply.
  4. Choose the required template of your choice.
  5. To customize further according to the requirement, click “Customize.”

Thus, you can also create a customized theme!

How to Use Themes in Google Sheets?

You could apply a theme to your spreadsheet to give it a consistent and professional look. Let’s examine how we can use the pre-designed themes or customize one to suit our needs.

Applying a pre-designed Template Theme

To use a theme in a Google Sheets document, let us look at how to select one of the existing templates available by Google Sheets. Here are the steps.

Step 1: Open the document in your Google Sheets which you wish to modify.

Applying-a-pre-designed-Template-Theme-Step-1

Step 2: To use a theme, click the “Format” option in the Google Sheets menu on top.

Applying-a-pre-designed-Template-Theme-Step-2

Step 3: From the dropdown menu, select the “Theme” option.

Applying-a-pre-designed-Template-Theme-Step-3

Step 4: The “Themes” window opens on the right. Here, you can choose from a list of pre-designed themes or create your own.

Applying-a-pre-designed-Template-Theme-Step-4

Step 5: Click on the theme you want to use, and it will be applied to your sheet automatically. Here, we applied the Ocean theme. You can see how it automatically changes the look of the document.

Applying-a-pre-designed-Template-Theme-Step-5

Create a Customized Theme

‍Next, let us learn how to create custom themes in Google Sheets. To add a customized theme, follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Open the spreadsheet document you want to modify. We will use the same sheet we used above. Click the “Format” option in the menu and navigate to Theme.

‍Create-a-Customized-Theme-Step-1

‍Step 2: Click the “Customise” button at the top right corner of the pop-up menu.

‍Create-a-Customized-Theme-Step-2

Step 3: Choose the font style and the Google Sheets font theme colors.

‍Create-a-Customized-Theme-Step-3

You can also make various other changes, such as choosing the chart background and much more.‍

‍Create-a-Customized-Theme-Step-3-1

Step 4: Press the “Done” button at the top right when you are done with the customization. The customized theme will now be applied to the whole file.

Examples

Google Sheets is basically designed to organize and tabulate your numeric data for analysis. However, you can choose to make it aesthetically pleasing and can change its look and feel through the Theme feature. If you’re using Google Sheets for business, applying themes which align your spreadsheet with your brand colors makes the presentation more professional. Let us look at various examples on how to apply themes in Google Sheets.

Example #1 – Change Theme

We have a spreadsheet complete with data, and we wish to change its theme. To do this, let’s follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Open your presentation in Google Slides.

Example-1-Step-1

Step 2: To change the theme, click “Format” in your menu bar. Select “Theme.” It opens the Themes panel on the right side of the sheet.

Example-1-Step-2

Step 3: In the Themes pane, you’ll see a list of predesigned themes.

Example-1-Step-3

Step 4: Click on the theme you wish to apply. The selected theme will be immediately applied to your current sheet, changing details such as font, color, chart colors and so on.

Example-1-Step-4

Example #2 – Customize theme

Now, let’s look at how to customize our theme in Google Sheets. First, open your sheet. In this example, we use the previous sheet.

Themes-in-Google-Sheets-Example-2

Step 1: To access themes in Google Sheets, click on Format in the top menu, then click on the Theme option. It is the first option that appears.

Example-2-Step-1

Step 2: A “Themes” pane will appear on the right side of your sheet.   The current theme is displayed at the top of this page, and a list of pre-designed themes is below it.

To customize your theme, click on the Customize button beside it.

Example-2-Step-2

Step 3: A list of options will appear in the sidebar. These options include the font, color of the text, chart background, hyperlinks, and accent of your charts.

Example-2-Step-3

You have a list of six fonts, as shown below.

Example-2-Step-3-1

Change the font as per your requirements. To add Custom colors, click on the circle and arrow. A pop-up box will appear where you can add your custom color.

Example-2-Step-3-2

Step 4: When you are finished, click Done at the top of the Themes pane. Your customized changes will be applied to the chart.

Example-2-Step-4

Example #3 – Applying Themes Across Multiple Sheets

Theme is a workbook-level setting.

If you need distinct themes for different sheets, consider splitting your workbook into multiple Google Sheets files.

Google Sheets doesn’t directly support applying multiple themes with a separate theme for each sheet within a single document. To achieve a similar effect, let’s work around it. In our sheet in the previous example, we have customized the theme. If you check, the theme has been applied to the entire document.

Step 1: Now, to apply a different theme to a sheet, you can create a new Google Sheets document. Here, we create a document called Theme 2.

Example-3-Step-1

Step 2: Apply the desired theme to this document. Go to Format- Theme. In the “Themes” pane, choose the Energetic theme.

Example-3-Step-2

You can use this method to apply a different theme for a sheet.

Importamt Things to Note

  1. When you change the theme, remember that it affects the whole file.
  2. When you have charts, applying a new theme will also change the font and color palette of the chart.
  3. You can also witness a change in how hyperlinks look in your sheet by changing the theme. The color of the hyperlink matches the theme’s default link color.
  4. Remember that themes do not alter existing conditional formatting rules and you may have to manually adjust the settings of conditional formatting after changing the theme.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What are the limitations of using themes in Google Sheets?

While applying a theme in Google Sheets may change the sheet visually, you may face some limitations.
Any custom formatting applied manually will not be overwritten by the theme. For instance, if you give the headers a specific color, it will not change when applying a new theme. You may have to change this manually keeping in tune with the new theme.
Themes do not change existing conditional formatting rules. So, if you have applied conditional formatting, you will have to manually adjust them to suit your theme.  
Having said that, a good theme significantly enhances the aesthetics and readability of your data, enhancing the presentation.

2. How to apply themes to your sheet with ease?

1. To apply themes, open your document.
2. Go to the menu bar at the top. Here, click on “Format”, and a dropdown menu will appear.
3. Choose the first option in this, which is “Theme.”
4. A right-side pane pops up where you can browse through pre-designed themes, which offer exciting possibilities in terms of look and feel.

3. What aspects can be changed using themes in Google Sheets?

Using Google Sheets’ themes, you can change the following aspects:
1. Font
2. Color of grid text
3. Link color
4. Background color in charts
5. Series color in charts
6. Background color in pivot tables
7. Accent colors highlighting key elements

Download Template

This article must help understand Themes in Google Sheets with its formulas and examples. You can download the template here to use it instantly.

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