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In Format Cells dialog box > Fill tab > Fill Effects > Gradient, there are two grayed out options in Colors group named "One color" and "Preset".

Why they are grayed out and is there a way to activate them?

Greyed out

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  • Imagine a gradient made from a single colour...
    – TheUser1024
    Jun 24, 2014 at 9:01

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The gradient options differ depending on the object being formatted. The dialog will always show all options, but those that cannot be applied to the selected object are grayed out.

In this case, the dialog for the cell fill is a remainder from the Excel 2007 and earlier interface, where the same dialog was used for formatting object fills like chart columns or shapes. This is what it looked like for a chart column fill:

enter image description here

The one color could be applied in combination with the saturation (dark/light). The presets offered several garish color combinations.

In Excel 2010 the shape and charting fill dialogs have changed, but the cell fill dialog still has the old look and feel.

I assume it was more cost efficient to just disable a few options than to create completely different dialogs for the different gradient fill scenarios.

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  • So in Excel 2010 they always will be grayed out, yes?
    – abbasi
    Jun 24, 2014 at 12:47
  • I think so. I went through a few other dialogs for gradients, but they all use the new (in Excel 2010) dialog. In 2013 it's different again.
    – teylyn
    Jun 24, 2014 at 12:53
  • OK teylyn. I'm confused why every production of Microsoft should certainly have some bugs always. Thanks.
    – abbasi
    Jun 24, 2014 at 13:00

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