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halogen958's avatar
halogen958
Copper Contributor
Apr 02, 2025

Checkboxes - shaded vs white

I'm baffled, someone I know is moving to a new computer and the checkboxes in Excel are behaving differently in the same file. On one computer they appear shaded with a check in the box when it's clicked. On the other they appear white with the check on the box when it's clicked. Both are setup to use the Black Office Theme and I tried switching the theme off and back on. I know it's not ActiveX. They are the same versions of Excel and I ran updates on both. I checked for high contrast.

 

Any thoughts?

excel
  • NikolinoDE's avatar
    NikolinoDE
    Gold Contributor
    Apr 13, 2025

    It Can Depend on Excel Versions — But It's Subtle

    Check Excel Version Precisely

    You'll see something like:

        Version 2403 (Build 16.0.17425.20176)

        Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise

    Compare this on both machines. If the build number or version differs, even slightly, it might be enough to cause the visual change in checkboxes.

     

    Or…

    Weird but true — sometimes checkbox styles shift subtly at different zoom levels.

        Try 100% zoom exactly and compare.

     

    Or…

    Disable Hardware Graphics Acceleration:

        Go to File > Options > Advanced

        Scroll to Display

        Check "Disable hardware graphics acceleration"

        Restart Excel

    See if the checkbox rendering becomes consistent after this.

     

    Or…

    Test with a New Checkbox

    Try this on both machines:

        Insert a brand new Form Control checkbox

        See how that one renders

    Sometimes pasted or copied checkboxes from older files behave differently from newly-inserted ones, especially across Excel versions or themes.

     

    My answers are voluntary and without guarantee!

     

    Hope this will help you.

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