How to change the colours in Internet Explorer 7 for Windows
This page explains step-by-step how to change the text and background colours in the Internet Explorer 7 web browser running on Windows systems. You can change the settings to match your Windows colour scheme, or choose colours just for Internet Explorer.
Video how to guide
Text versionChanging colours in Internet Explorer 7 for Windows
Step 1: Open the 'Accessibility' window
Click on 'Tools' in the menu bar and then 'Internet Options' from the drop-down menu, or press Alt + T and then press O. You should now see the 'Internet Options' window shown in Fig 1.
Fig 1
If the 'General' tab is not already selected, click on it, or press Ctrl + Tab to cycle through the tabs until it is selected.
Click on the 'Accessibility' button, or press Alt + E, to open the 'Accessibility' window shown in Fig 2.
Fig 2
Step 2: Use your Windows colour scheme in Internet Explorer
To use your Windows system colours, tick the box next to 'Ignore colors specified on webpages' by clicking on it, or press Alt + C to tick it.
Click the 'OK' button or press Enter to return to the 'Internet Options' window (Fig 1). Internet Explorer should now be showing the colour scheme you have on your computer.
If you are happy with the way the colours look, click the 'OK' button, or press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter, to return to Internet Explorer.
Otherwise, if you want to customise the text or background colours on the web page, continue to Step 3.
Step 3: Choose your colours just for Internet Explorer
In the 'Internet Options' window (Fig 1), click on the 'Colors' button or press Alt + O. This will open the 'Colors' window shown in Fig 3.
Fig 3
To use your own colours, untick the box next to 'Use Windows colors' by clicking on it, or press Alt + W to untick it.
To change the text colour, click the colour box next to 'Text', or press Alt + T, to open the colour palette shown in Fig 4.
Fig 4
Select a colour by clicking on it, or use the arrow keys to highlight the colour you want and then press the Spacebar to select it.
Click the 'OK' button or press Enter.
Repeat this process to select your own colours by clicking on the colour boxes for 'Background' (Alt + B), as well as 'Visited' hyperlinks (Alt + I) and 'Unvisited' links (Alt + N), if desired.
When you are happy with your colour choices, click 'OK', or press Enter to return to the 'Internet Options' window (Fig 1). Internet Explorer should now be showing the colour scheme you have chosen.
Click the 'OK' button, or press Tab until it is highlighted and then press Enter, to return to Internet Explorer.
Note: If this does not work it could be because your computer settings cannot be changed due to local IT policies - contact your local IT support for further help.
More ways to: Change your colours
Change the colours on your computer
Change the settings in your operating system (for example, Windows Vista or Mac OS X)