how to remove watermark in excel

To remove a watermark in Excel, there are several common methods depending on how the watermark was inserted:

1. Remove watermark from header/footer:
   • Go to the "Insert" tab and select "Header & Footer."
   • Click to access the header or footer where the watermark appears.
   • Click on the watermark image or text (often shown as &[Picture]) and press the Delete key.
2. Remove watermark background:
   • Go to the "Page Layout" tab.
   • In the "Page Setup" section, click "Delete Background" to remove the watermark background image.
3. Remove WordArt watermarks:
   • Switch to the "Page Layout" view (under the "View" tab).
   • Use "Find & Select" > "Go to Special" > select "Objects."
   • The WordArt watermark will be selected; press Delete to remove it.
4. If the watermark appears as a page number in Page Break Preview mode:
   • Go to the "View" tab and switch from "Page Break Preview" to "Normal" view to hide the page number watermark.
5. Use VBA macro to remove watermark from all sheets (for picture watermarks):

   • Open the VBA editor (right-click sheet tab > View Code).

   • Insert a new module and run this code:

     Sub RemoveWatermark()
       For Each sht In ActiveWorkbook.Sheets
         sht.PageSetup.CenterFooterPicture.Filename = ""
       Next sht
     End Sub
     

Additionally, if the sheet is protected, uploading it to Google Sheets and downloading it again can strip protection and watermark. These methods cover nearly all watermark types and should help in removing them safely in Excel.