Wondering how to add a watermark in Excel? You’ve come to the right place. Keep reading!

Adding a watermark to an Excel spreadsheet, a specific cell, or a cell range isn’t a straightforward process. There aren’t any specific user interface commands or settings to achieve this in Microsoft Excel. If you’ve tried it yourself, you probably have invested time in Excel to click around and didn’t find any resolution.

But don’t worry—I’ve got you covered. In this guide, I’ll walk you through the processes step by step. By the time you’re done, you’ll know exactly how to add a watermark without wasting much time. Let’s get started!

Add a Watermark Using WordArt

The best way to create a watermark in Excel is by using the WordArt object. Let me show you how to use it efficiently below:

Open your Excel workbook and navigate to a worksheet to which you would like to add a watermark.

Go to the Insert tab and click on the WordArt command to open the list of WordArt examples.

Choose the 9th WordArt from the left side. I’ve indicated it in the screenshot above.

The WordArt text box will show up on the Worksheet.

Click once inside the text box and press Ctrl + A to select the entire text.

Change it to your preferred watermark text, like Confidential, Draft, etc.

Press Ctrl + P to show up the Print Preview screen. Go back to the worksheet view again.

You should now see the print area on the worksheet.

Now, position the WordArt text box appropriately in the center of the worksheet. You can use the print area borders to the right and at the bottom to get an idea of an area equivalent to one paper sheet.

Use the text box rotation tool that shows up when you hover the mouse cursor over the text box object to tilt the WordArt text.

Now, right-click on the WordArt text and select the Format Shape option from the context menu.

The Format Shape navigation panel will open on the right side. Navigate to the Text Options tab.

Now, scroll down to the Text Outline section and use the Transparency slider to decrease the opacity of the text.

Make it as much as transparent so the text is barely visible. Refer to the screenshot shown above. You could also increase transparency to 100%.

Now, scroll up to the Text Fill section and again increase the transparency to 90%.

You can now copy this text object and paste it into the rest of the worksheets if there are more pages.

That’s it! You’ve successfully added a watermark in an Excel worksheet using the WordArt tool.

Using a Header or Footer Image

Microsoft Excel can accommodate images as headers or footers. You can use this feature to insert a watermark in the worksheet that you wish to print. Let me show you how in easy steps.

Open the destination worksheet and go to the View tab on the Excel ribbon menu.

Find the Workbook Views block and click on the Page Layout command.

Click on the Add header text at the top of the worksheet.

Navigate to the Header & Footer tab from the Excel ribbon menu.

Click on the Picture command inside the Header & Footer Elements block.

The Insert Pictures dialog box will show up with the following options to import pictures as a header:

• From a file
• Bing Image Search
• OneDrive – Personal

For example, select From a file option and use the file browser to select a picture from your PC that you wish to set as the watermark.

Now, click before the ampersand (&) sign in the &[Picture] header code of the worksheet.

Press the Enter key a few times to bring the &[Picture] code down the header box. Refer to the screenshot given above.

This is a manual way of adjusting the position of the header image.

Click anywhere else on the worksheet and you should see that the header image is now approximately in the middle of the worksheet.

The quality and visuals of the watermark will depend on the input image you’re using.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully added a watermark using the Header & Footer tool in Excel.

Using a Text Box With Transparency

Navigate to the worksheet where you want to insert a watermark. Click on the Insert tab on the Excel ribbon menu and select the Text Box item from the Text commands block.

The mouse cursor will change to a vertical line. Use that to draw a text box on the worksheet.

Once you’ve drawn the text box, type the watermark text you want to put inside the text box. For example, I have used the text Confidential in this tutorial.

Select the text and use the Font commands block to increase the font size and change the regular font to Bold style.

Now, right-click on the text box and select the Format Shape option from the context menu.

The Format Shape navigation panel will open as a sidebar on the right side of the worksheet.

Use the Transparency slider in the Shape Options > Fill section to increase the transparency of the text box object.

Click on the Text Options tab of the Format Shape navigation panel. You’ll see another Transparency slider below the Text Fill section.

Increase the transparency level to 91%, which closely resembles watermarks printed on paper.

You’ve finally added a watermark in your worksheet using the Text Box object.

Using an Image as a Watermark in a Cell

You can use the Picture Transparency adjustment feature in Excel to transform a picture into a watermark. Here are the simple steps:

Go to the worksheet and click on the Insert tab.

Click on the Pictures drop-down menu and choose the Place Over Cells option.

Choose your preferred source for the image from the overflow menu. Here are the options you’ll get:

• This Device
• Mobile Device
• Stock Images
• Online Pictures

For instance, you’ve chosen the This Device option.

The Insert Picture dialog box will show up. Use this to browse the PC for watermark images, select that, and click on the Insert button to add the image over cells.

Now, position the image on the worksheet as per your preference.

Select the inserted picture, right-click, and choose the Format Picture option from the right-click context menu.

The Format Picture sidebar will open on the right side border of the worksheet.

Click on the Picture icon on the Format Picture navigation panel.

Scroll down to the bottom and locate the Picture Transparency section.

Use the Transparency slider and decrease the opacity of the image. Slowly increase the transparency to ensure that the image is barely visible.

That’s it! The attached image should now resemble a watermark.

Using VBA Code to Insert a Watermark Automatically

So far, you’ve seen how to add a watermark to an Excel spreadsheet manually using various workarounds. If you need to do this regularly for several Excel workbooks you should use automation. The most suitable automation for this task is an Excel VBA macro.

I’ll help you set up a VBA macro that’ll automatically add a watermark. Also, you can interact with the macro visually.

Before you can start creating a VBA macro using a VBA script, go through this Excel tutorial to learn the process of setting up a macro:

📒 Read More: How To Use The VBA Code You Find Online

Now that you’ve practiced creating a VBA macro, use the following VBA script to set up a macro:

Sub AddWatermark()
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Dim watermarkText As String
    Dim boxTransparency As Double
    Dim textTransparency As Double
    Dim fontSize As Integer
    Dim fontStyle As String
    Dim angle As Integer
    Dim shp As Shape

    watermarkText = InputBox("Enter the watermark text (e.g., Confidential):", "Watermark Text")
    If watermarkText = "" Then Exit Sub

    boxTransparency = Val(InputBox("Enter transparency for the text box (0 to 100):", "Box Transparency", 100)) / 100
    textTransparency = Val(InputBox("Enter transparency for the text (0 to 100):", "Text Transparency", 88)) / 100

    fontSize = Val(InputBox("Enter font size (e.g., 36):", "Font Size", 36))
    If fontSize <= 0 Then Exit Sub

    fontStyle = InputBox("Enter font style (Bold or Regular):", "Font Style", "Bold")
    
    angle = Val(InputBox("Enter rotation angle (e.g., 45 for left-handed tilt):", "Rotation Angle", 45)) * -1 ' Make it left-handed

    ' Set active worksheet
    Set ws = ActiveSheet

    ' Add Text Box
    Set shp = ws.Shapes.AddTextbox(msoTextOrientationHorizontal, 100, 100, 400, 100)
    
    ' Configure Text Box
    With shp
        .TextFrame2.TextRange.Text = watermarkText
        .TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Size = fontSize
        .TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(200, 200, 200) ' Light gray color
        .TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Fill.Transparency = textTransparency
        .Fill.Visible = msoTrue
        .Fill.ForeColor.RGB = RGB(255, 255, 255) ' White background
        .Fill.Transparency = boxTransparency
        .Line.Visible = msoFalse ' No border
        .Rotation = angle
        .TextFrame2.HorizontalAnchor = msoAnchorCenter
        .TextFrame2.VerticalAnchor = msoAnchorMiddle
        .TextFrame2.WordWrap = msoTrue
    End With

    ' Apply font style
    If UCase(fontStyle) = "BOLD" Then
        shp.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Bold = msoTrue
    Else
        shp.TextFrame2.TextRange.Font.Bold = msoFalse
    End If

    ' Show confirmation message
    MsgBox "Watermark added successfully!", vbInformation, "Completed"

End Sub

Press Alt + F8 to launch the Macro dialog box. Select the AddWatermark macro and hit Run.

The following dialog boxes will visually guide you through creating and placing the watermark:

• Input box for watermark text

• Setting up the text box’s transparency level

• Adjusting the text transparency

• Setting up the font size

• Configuring the font type

• Setting up the text box rotation angle

When you’re done interacting with these input boxes, the VBA macro will add the watermark text to the active worksheet. So, run this VBA script only on the destination worksheet.

Conclusions

Now you know how to add a watermark in an Excel worksheet using WordArt, a footer, a text box, or an image. Plus, you’ve learned how to automate the process with Excel VBA.

You can share your feedback about this Microsoft Excel tutorial using the comment box.