How to Put a Background on Google Docs (Image or Color)?

There are many benefits to having a web page or document which is visually appealing. Beyond creating that priceless first impression, it is also likely to keep those reading it more engaged. For this reason, you might want to have a background image on a page or document.

Google Docs is fast becoming one of the largest word processing applications. G Suite, which it is a part of, has nearly 60% of the market share in the United States as of 2020. Because of how popular it is, it is reasonable to expect people to want to know how to put a background on Google Docs. It is for that exact reason that this article exists!

Do you have a particular question about putting the background in Google docs? Then use the table of contents below to jump to the most relevant section. And you can always go back by clicking on the black arrow in the right bottom corner of the page. Also, please note that some of the links in this article may be affiliate links. For more details, check the Disclosure section at the bottom of the page. 

When does it make sense to change Google Docs background?

There are quite a few occasions where Google Docs can come in useful for you. It can even be used to make web pages (surprisingly) and to write out resumes. 

If you’re not submitting anything super official, then you’ll likely be able to get away with a good-looking background.

Using a background image or deciding to change page color in Google Docs is one way to do this here. It will definitely help your document stand out!

How to change the background color on Google Docs?

White is a nice neutral color for the background of any document, but sometimes it can be too typical and boring. Fortunately, you can easily change your Google doc background color in just a few steps. This will allow you to spice things up significantly. If it is for an application, it will surely help your entry stick out amongst the competition!

Here is all you need to do to set your background color to something else:

1. Click on “File” in the top menu.
2. Near the bottom, you should see “Page Setup.” Click on that.
3. In the Page Setup window that pops up, the option at the bottom-left should be “Page color.” Simply drop down this menu and select the color you wish to use.
4. Press “OK” once you’ve selected one, and your document color should change immediately.

You can choose from any of the preset colors which are in the drop-down menu. These should typically be sufficient, but you can also select a custom color or enter a hex code to pick a particular shade.

How to add a background image in Google Docs?

While the process to change page color in Google Docs is straightforward, adding a Google Docs background image is unfortunately not supported. There are ways to make it happen, but it may take a little bit of work. 

The cheat code to this is to use Google Slides instead of Google Docs. While you can get it done with the Drawing Toolbar in Docs, it is inefficient and is more of a makeshift fix. It can be done a lot more precisely in Slides. This might sound like a lot of trouble, but once you get the hang of it, it’ll be easy. Just follow these steps to get it done:

1. Go to slides.google.com
2. Click on “Blank” in the top-left corner to open a new document.
3. Make sure to use the “Simple Light” theme. It should be in the standard 4:3 aspect ratio.
4. You will need a blank slide. You can delete the default text boxes to leave the slide blank or simply insert a blank one. When you have just one blank slide, you’re good to go.
5. Now you need to change the orientation of the page. Click on “File” in the top menu, and then “Page Setup.”
6. Click on “Custom.”
7. You need to change it from landscape to portrait orientation. Do this by swapping the numbers around. That means, if it 7.5×10, you change it to 10×7.5. Press “OK” once you’ve done this.
8. In the toolbar, you should see “Background.” Click it!
9. Upload your background of choice with the second option and then press “Done.”
10. To finish up, drop a text box on top to put all your text in. That’s it!

The one significant disadvantage to this is that because you can’t insert background image in Google Docs, you can’t save the file as a .doc. You can save it as a PDF and collaborate with others on it, though. You can also print it out just as easily.

How to remove background color in Google Docs?

Removing your Google Docs background color is as easy as adding it. Just follow the same steps, but change it back to white! 

1. Click on “File” in the top menu.
2. Near the bottom, you should see “Page Setup.” Click on that.
3. In the Page Setup window that pops up, the option at the bottom-left should be “Page color.” Simply drop down this menu and select white (at the top-right corner of colors).
4. Press “OK” once you’ve selected one, and your document color should change immediately.

Credits: Thanks for the photo to Canva.

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