How to add watermark in Excel

Image or video watermarks are commonly used for copyright protection or marketing. Although Excel has watermark support, it's not very easily accessible. In this guide, we’re going to show you how to add watermark in Excel and also how to remove it.

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Steps

1. You need an image file for this.
2. Once your file is ready, add a Header using the Header & Footer command under the Insert tab of the Tip: If the commands in the Ribbon are grouped, check the Text section.
   
3. After clicking, Excel switches to Print Mode to show header and footer. Select any section in the header. In this example, middle was selected.
4. Click the Picture command under the contextual Header & Footer tab in the Ribbon.
   
5. Insert your picture by following the instructions.
6. Once the image is added, you will see &[Picture] in the selected header section. Click elsewhere on the worksheet to leave the header and go back to the image.
   

That is how you can insert watermark in Excel. However, colors on the worksheet might look a bit off due to the watermark image. To resolve this issue, activate the header section again.

1. Click on the Format Picture command under Header & Footer.
2. Activate Picture.
3. Select either Washout or Grayscale option based on your spreadsheet.
4. Click OK to apply your changes.
   

Here is a washout version of our watermark image.

How to remove watermark

It took several steps to add watermark, but removing them is easier. All you need to is to display the header and remove (delete) the &[Picture] text.