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Blackshadow's avatar
Blackshadow
Copper Contributor
Jan 27, 2026

Color palette and Color picker not working inside the conditional format

Good morning, I am unable to use the colour picker or the "add colours" button to choose a colour inside the "conditional format" panel. It appears to be a window allowing for a choice, without se...
excel
NikolinoDE's avatar
NikolinoDE
Platinum Contributor
Jan 28, 2026

Please add more information.

Which operating system?

Which Office version?

Where are the files stored?

(OneDrive, Sharepoint, hard drive, USB, etc.).

Attach some photos with the problem and explain your concern/problem step by step on the basis of these photos.

Even better, insert one of these files (without sensitive data).

So no one needs to guess and exclude many ways/causes with a lot of communicative time.

In the end, however, without more information about your specific situation, it's difficult to say for sure that this will solve the problem. Try changing the steps as suggested and see if that fixes the problem.

 1. Update Excel

  • Microsoft 365: Go to File > Account > Update Options > Update Now.
  • Excel 2019/2016: Check for updates via your account or the Microsoft Update Catalog.

 2. Repair Office Installation

  • Open Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.
  • Right-click Microsoft Office > Change > Quick Repair (or Online Repair).

 3. Disable Add-ins

  • Start Excel in Safe Mode: Hold Ctrl while launching Excel.
  • If the issue resolves, disable add-ins via File > Options > Add-ins > uncheck suspicious add-ins.

 4. Adjust Display Scaling

  • Right-click the Desktop > Display Settings.
  • Set Scale and layout to 100% (temporarily).

 5. Update Graphics Drivers

  • Update your GPU driver via the manufacturer’s website (e.g., NVIDIA, Intel, AMD).

 6. Manual Color Entry (Workaround)

If the picker still fails:

  1. In the Conditional Formatting dialog, manually input RGB/HEX values:
  2. Click More Colors > Custom tab.
  3. Enter RGB values (e.g., 255, 0, 0 for red) or a HEX code (e.g., #FF0000).

 7. Reset Excel Settings

  • Close Excel.
  • Press Win + R, type %appdata%\Microsoft\Excel, and delete the Excel16.xlb file (back up first!).

 8. Reinstall Office

  • Uninstall via Control Panel > Programs, then reinstall from office.com.

My answers are voluntary and without guarantee!

 

Hope this will help you.

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