To see general options for working with your Microsoft 365 applications on Windows, click File > Options > General.

The options on this tab vary a bit depending on the Microsoft 365 program and version you're using.

User Interface options

When using multiple displays: Generally speaking you should leave this set to Optimize for best appearance but if you're having odd display behavior on your multi-monitor setup, you can try Optimize for compatibility to see if that resolves the problems. For more information see Office support for high definition displays.

Show Mini Toolbar on selection    Select this option to show the Mini toolbar when you select text. The Mini toolbar provides quick access to formatting tools.

(Excel-only) Show Quick Analysis options on selection  When you select a cell or group of cells Excel can show you tools to let you get quick insights about your data. For more information see Analyze your data instantly.

Enable Live Preview    Select this option to preview the effects of formatting changes in the document before you actually apply them. This is what lets you hover over a formatting option on the ribbon and see how the change would appear without actually having to click to apply that change.

ScreenTip style    Select a style to control whether the program displays ScreenTips and feature descriptions with button names.

(Excel Only) When creating new workbooks

The first two settings in this group control the default font, and font size, that will be used when you create a new workbook. The third setting in this group lets you specify the default view, in case you prefer something other than Normal. The fourth setting bears just a bit more explanation:

Include this many sheets: By default new workbooks in Excel start with just 1 sheet. If you know that you'd like your workbooks to start with more sheets than that, adjust this setting.

Personalize your copy of Office

User name     Type a name in the User name box to change your displayed user name.

Initials     Type your initials in the Initials box to change the initials associated with your user name.

Always use these values regardless of sign in to Office     Select this option if you want the program to display this user name and these initials even if you sign in to Microsoft 365 with an account that displays different information. This is handy for shared computers that have multiple users but if you always want the user name and initials properties to be the same.

Office Background     Choose from a list of built-in background patterns. For more information see Add an Office background.

Office Theme     Choose from a list of built-in Office themes to change the color scheme of Office. For more information see Change the Office theme.

LinkedIn Features (Microsoft 365 Subscribers only)

There is just a single option in this section, which lets you enable or disable LinkedIn features such as seeing information about your LinkedIn connections when you hover over their image in Outlook or other similar features. For more information see About LinkedIn information and features in Microsoft apps and services.

Start up options

Choose the extensions you want [application] to open by default: If, for example, you want Excel to be your default program for opening things like CSV files click the Default Programs... button and follow the steps to set Excel as the default program. This is also a good tool if Office files are opening in a program other than the Office program you expect them to for some reason.

Tell me if [Program] isn't the default program for viewing and editing documents     Select this option if you want to be prompted to set the Microsoft 365 program as your default application for viewing and editing documents when the program detects that it isn't the default already.

Show the start screen when [Program] starts     Clear this check box if you want to bypass the start screen when you open the program.

See Also

Word options (General)

Outlook options (General)

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