Office Settings & Configuration

How to Share Custom Word and Excel Color Palettes Across Your Organization

Bushra Parveen Oct 20, 2026 869 views

Question details

The user wants to distribute a branded, custom color palette for Microsoft Word and Excel to all members of their organization.

How to Share a Custom Word and Excel Color Palette with Everyone

Product: Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel
Device & OS: Windows 11
Scenario: Deploying standardized corporate brand colors to multiple team members so everyone has access to the exact same design options.
Observed behavior: Custom color palettes cannot be directly deployed via Group Policy, requiring administrators to distribute a theme file that users must manually place into the hidden Windows AppData folder.

Before you start

Ensure that the designer or administrator has already configured the desired colors in Word or Excel and saved the custom palette as a Microsoft Office Theme (.thmx) file to their local computer.

Solution 1Recommended

Distribute the Custom Palette as an Office Theme File

Save your custom colors as a theme file and have users manually copy it to their local Document Themes directory in Windows.

Since Group Policy does not support deploying custom color palettes directly, the most reliable method is packaging your corporate colors into an Office Theme (.thmx) file. Each user must then place this file into their local Microsoft templates folder to access the colors across Office applications.

Save the custom color palette as a theme

In Microsoft Word or Excel, configure your custom brand colors. Navigate to the Design or Page Layout tab, click 'Colors', select 'Customize Colors', and then save your current design configuration as an Office Theme (.thmx).

Distribute the theme file

Send the resulting .thmx file to everyone in your organization via email, a shared network drive, or an internal file-sharing tool.

Unhide the AppData folder in Windows 11

Instruct users to open File Explorer. Click 'View' in the top menu bar, hover over 'Show', and select 'Hidden items' so the hidden system directories become visible.

Copy the theme to the Document Themes folder

Users should navigate to the path C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates\Document Themes and paste the provided .thmx file into this folder.

Distribute the Custom Palette as an Office Theme File

Quick Access Shortcut: Instead of changing folder view settings, users can quickly jump to the hidden folder by typing '%AppData%' directly into the File Explorer address bar and pressing Enter.

Free Microsoft Office alternative

A Simpler Way to Handle Branded Documents with WPS Office

If navigating hidden Windows folders and bypassing Microsoft Office deployment restrictions is too cumbersome for your team, consider switching to WPS Office. It provides an intuitive, lightweight, and highly compatible workspace for your entire organization without the complex configuration overhead.

1. Download WPS Office: Visit the official WPS Office website and download the free installation package for Windows.
2. Install and Launch: Run the installer. The lightweight design ensures setup takes only a few minutes across your organization's devices.
3. Open Your Branded Documents: Open your existing Word or Excel files natively in WPS Office without losing any formatting or custom corporate colors.

Fully compatible with Microsoft Word (.docx), Excel (.xlsx), and PowerPoint (.pptx) formats.Free to download and use with a familiar, easy-to-navigate tabbed user interface.Lightweight installation ensures it runs smoothly on older devices without heavy system requirements.Simplifies document sharing and template management across your organization seamlessly.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why can't I find the AppData folder on my Windows C: drive?

The AppData folder is a system directory that is hidden by default in Windows to protect critical application files. You must enable 'Hidden items' in the File Explorer's View menu to see it.

Can I deploy custom Office color palettes using Group Policy (GPO)?

Generally, no. Custom color palettes are saved deep within individual user profiles rather than standard registry keys, making them difficult to deploy reliably via Group Policy. Distributing an Office theme file is the recommended Microsoft workaround.

Is there a shortcut to open the AppData folder directly without unhiding it?

Yes. You can completely bypass the need to unhide folders by pressing the Windows Key + R, typing '%appdata%' into the Run dialog box, and pressing Enter. This will open the Roaming folder directly.

Will this custom theme file apply to both Word and Excel automatically?

Yes. When you save a color palette as an Office Document Theme (.thmx) and place it in the Document Themes folder, the customized colors will become globally available across Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

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