How to change the background color of a single page in Word 2010?

Unfortunately, Microsoft Word has no option to change color of individual pages in a document. Since it is hardcoded in the program, there is no way to change this behavior (page color always applies to whole document).

However, there is a workaround. If you cover the page with a text box and fill the text box with whatever color you want, you can have individually colored pages. This is not a productive method but the only one I can suggest.

Create a specific section for your page, then use the header/footer to insert a full-page rectangle with your specific color.

Mark the checkbox "different first page"

Create a seperate document titled "Cover Page...(your document title)". This way they save together in the document folder. So dumb that in 2010 they still can't create different cover page color as has been requested for years, but this work around is so much easier than other options I have heard.

Bonus? You get to view side-by-side with your document when creating your table of contents (if you have one).

Create separate documents for each set of differently colored pages. For each set of pages, change the background color. Change all separate documents into .pdfs. Then merge the documents into a single .pdf. Each section will have its own page color