How to Change the Interface Background Color in Photoshop

by Harry Guinness on

Photoshop is the best image editor around, and it’s packed with thousands of tiny little features you didn’t know you needed. One of these features is being able to change the background color of the interface. Sometimes, when you’re working, you’ll want to see how your photo would look against a white wall, or perhaps you’ll need to get more contrast around the edges so you can make a clearer selection. Whatever the reason, here’s how to change the background color in Photoshop.

The Quick Way

Right click anywhere on the interface background outside of your image.

From the menu that appears, select the color you want.

I’ve gone with Light Grey.

If you choose Select Custom Color… you can specify any color Photoshop supports.

Here’s a lovely pink interface, though I’ve no idea what I’d use it for.

The Preferences Way

Go to Edit > Preferences > Interface on Windows or Photoshop > Preferences > Interface on macOS.

Under the Standard Screen Mode Color dropdown, pick the color background you want.

Click OK and it will be applied.

You can also change the background of different view modes like Full Screen, Full Screen with Menus, and Artboards through the same dialog.

Harry Guinness writes occasionally when he’s not busy skiing, sailing, partying, lifting weights, or otherwise dodging responsibility. His main areas of interest are himself, gin, and crazy people with interesting stories to tell. When people won’t pay him to write ill-thought-out opinion pieces, he covers photography, technology, and culture. You can follow him on Twitter.