There’s very basic way to change text color in Gutenberg block editor and how to change the background color of a block is also very simple. In this article, we’ll also cover how to change the text color of just a word, a phrase, or portion of text within a block (like this)! If you’re coming from the Classic Editor in WordPress, trying to find a way to change text color can be frustrating because it used to be so simple. The good news is that it’s STILL simple – but only if you know where to look.

Here is a screenshot of this post as I’m writing it.

You’ll note on the right there are some block settings available that will change the text or background color of the block. Click on either of those boxes and you can change the settings of that block. It’s as simple as that! Look:

So that’s easy enough but what if I just want to change the color of one word or phrase, or highlight text as if I’m using an old-school highlighter pen? That’s in a different spot, and I’ll show you where it is:

So what you can hopefully see from the screenshot above is that first you highlight the text you want to change the color of. Then in the little option box that pops up, you click the dropdown arrow and select Highlight. From there, you can choose either a new text color or a new background color for just that word or phrase.

If you don’t like the default colors that are available, simply click into the color field and a color-picker will appear. Choose the shade you like and click anywhere outside of the box to select it.

There you have it! That’s how simple and easy it can be to change the color of text in a block, change the block background color, or change the color of specific words or phrases in the Gutenberg block editor.

As you become more familiar with the new editor, your dependence on the old Classic Editor with its familiar TinyMCE controls will lessen. I don’t have any insider info on this but I suspect that support for the Classic Editor will eventually wane with the newer themes and plugins. While I still miss the comfort and familiarity of the old ways, I have to admit there are some pretty fun features of the new way. It’s like playing with blocks! I’m also experimenting (a little at a time) with full site editing or FSE, which was not something you could do with Classic WordPress.

I’ve been using WordPress since before the days you could customize your MENU without code. You had to be a theme developer to do that! So I’m happy we’re still making progress.