Start Backstage with the File tab

Microsoft 365 features a new Start Pane and Backstage experience.

Creating new files

To create a new file, choose from one of the templates listed across the top or select the New button to see a larger list of available templates.

Open an existing file

The Backstage view displays several of your most recently accessed files. If the file you are seeking isn't on the Recent files list, select the Open button on the left navigation pane. This will display file locations where you may find the file.  

To keep a file always on the recent-files list, you can pin it to the list. Hover your cursor over the file name. A pin icon appears to the right side of the file name. Select the pin to keep the file on the list. Optionally select again to unpin. 

To remove an item from the recent-files list, right-click it and choose Remove from list.

Save a Copy

Save a Copy, on the left-nav pane, enables you quickly create a copy of the current file. Possibly use this to create a second copy in a different location or a copy in which you can edit without affecting the original file. 

Print or print preview

The Print command is available on the Backstage navigation pane. Optionally use Print Preview to see how your file will look if printed. See also Printing and print preview.

Share and collaborate

The Share command facilitates collaboration with others. Select Share and enter the email addresses of those with whom you want to share the file. Then select Send. Learn more about collaboration here: Collaborate on Word documents with real-time co-authoring. This works essentially the same way across multiple apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint.

Manage Office

At the bottom left corner of the Backstage screen, there are three items to help you manage how Microsoft Office works for you.

• Account - Lets you add or remove cloud-service accounts like OneDrive or SharePoint so that you can easily save files to those services or open files from those services. 
• Feedback - Is the best way to let us know if there's something in your Office app that you really like... or really don't like. The feedback we receive goes directly to our product teams and helps to drive future changes and improvements in the products. Learn more here: How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office?
• Options - This is where you go to configure your app. Everything, from the color theme to the spell check options, editing languages, default file locations, and a lot more.

Getting back to your document

To exit Backstage and return to the document, select the Back arrow at the top left of the navigation pane, or just press the Escape key on your keyboard.

When you first start Microsoft Office 2016 or Office 2019 you'll be presented with the start page, which is Backstage view.

Here you can start a new document using a pre-created template (including the Blank template, if you'd prefer to start clean) or open an existing file.

By default, you'll see your most recently used files listed on the panel to the left. If you want to open a file that's not listed there, choose Open Other Documents at the bottom left corner of the window and browse for the file you want.

If you're already in a file and want to come back to Backstage view to print, save, open another file, or any other task, select the File tab. The File tab is a colored tab, for example, a blue tab in Word, located in the upper-left corner.

When you select the File tab, you see many of the same basic commands that you saw on the File menu in earlier releases of Office, such as Open, Save, and Print.

Creating new files

To create a new file, select the New button to see a list of available templates, or search for more templates to start with.

You can select the "Blank" template to start with a clean, blank, file.

Open an existing file

Select the Open button on the left navigation pane to see a list of recently edited files. If the file you want isn't listed there, you'll also see file locations you can browse to find the file.

If you have a file that you want to make sure is always on the recent list, you can pin that file to the list. Hover your cursor over the file name and you should see a pin icon appear toward the right side of the file name. Select that to pin the file so that it always appears on the list. Select the pin again to unpin a pinned item.

If you'd like to remove an item from the recent list, just right-click that file and choose Remove from list.

Save a new copy

Save as lets you quickly create a copy of the current file. This is handy if you need a second copy in a different location, or if you want to make a copy of this file so you can make changes without affecting the original file. You'll find this command on the navigation pane to the left.

Print or print preview

Whether you actually want to send this file to a printer, or just use Print Preview to see how it would look if you did, you'll find the Print command on the Backstage navigation pane as well. For more information, see Printing and print preview.

Share with others

If you want to collaborate on your file, the Share command can help. Select Share, enter the email addresses of the people you want to share the file with, and select Send.

Manage Office

At the bottom of the navigation pane, you'll find two items to help you manage how Office works for you.

• Account - Lets you add or remove cloud service accounts like OneDrive or SharePoint so that you can easily save files to those services or open files from those services.
• Options - This is where you go to configure your app. Everything, from the color theme to the spell check options, editing languages, default file locations, and a lot more.

Getting back to your document

If you want to exit Backstage, and return to the document you were working on, select the Back arrow that is at the top left of the navigation pane, or just press the Escape key on your keyboard.