Office has a refreshed look that provides a simpler, more coherent experience that lets you focus more easily on your work across all Office apps.
Important: If your apps switched to the Dark Gray theme while transitioning to the Visual Refresh, here's how to switch back to the theme you want: Go to File > Options > General > Office Theme and select one of the options from the dropdown menu. Learn more
Visual Update for Office for Windows
As announced in June 2021, Windows 11 provides a new, fresh experience. To align with that release, we've now released an Office visual refresh that shines on Windows 11, but also works on Windows 10.
We based the Office visual refresh on feedback from users like you who asked for a more natural and consistent experience within and between your Windows Office apps. With this refresh, we've applied Fluent Design principles to deliver an intuitive, coherent, and familiar experience across all your applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher, and Visio.
How it works
We know that change can be uncomfortable. To help with your transition, you can access the new experience in the Coming Soon pane and try it out early. In Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote, just open the Coming Soon pane from the megaphone icon in the upper right. You can read more about the visual refresh changes, and switch on Try it now to apply the setting to all your Office desktop apps. You can also switch off the refresh and go back to the classic experience.
Important:
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The Coming Soon pane isn't available in Access, Project, Publisher, or Visio. If you turn on the visual refresh in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote, it will also be available in these four apps.
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Although the Coming Soon pane is available in Outlook, you can’t use it to switch on the visual refresh on and off. If you switch on the visual refresh in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote, it will also be available in Outlook.
Eventually, we'll remove the option to switch off the visual refresh, so be sure to try it out now and let us know what you think. We don't always get things right, so we promise to continue to listen and learn. Your feedback is critical to help us refine your experience and make it even better.
If there are specific icons or elements of the new design that aren't working for you, please let us know. Go to File > Feedback > Send a Frown. It's helpful, but optional, if you include a screenshot showing us what you think we should improve.
Notable changes
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Office theme Office now matches your Windows theme by default, and we've updated all themes. You can experience the visual refresh in whichever Office theme you prefer, including black (Dark Mode), white, colorful, or dark grey. To change your Office theme, go to File > Account > Office Theme.
Frequently Asked Questions
The new default Office theme is set to Use system setting. This means you'll see the Office White theme if your system is set to Light theme, and Office Black theme if it's set to Dark theme. If you had Colorful theme selected before, your theme will now be set to Use system setting. Learn more
You can use one theme in Office and another in Windows, or have Office match the Windows theme. It's your call.
To set your Office theme:
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In an Office app, select File > Account.
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From the Office Theme dropdown, select the theme you want.
If you select Use system setting, your Office theme will match your Windows theme. Note that the Office Theme box will appear empty if you haven't already set your theme.
To collapse or pin the ribbon,
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Select Ribbon Display Options > Always Show Ribbon to keep the ribbon visible.
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Select Ribbon Display Options > Show Tabs Only to collapse the ribbon.
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You can also click Ctrl+F1 or double click a ribbon tab to quickly change the ribbon state. Learn more
Visual updates for Office for the web
As announced in June 2021, Windows 11 brings a fresh experience and a new look. Shortly after that, Office got a visual refresh for Windows 11 and 10 as well. Now we're bring that new same new look to Microsoft's Office for the web applications.
We based the Office visual refresh on feedback from users like you who asked for a more natural and consistent experience within and between your Windows Office apps. With this refresh, we've applied Fluent Design principles to deliver an intuitive, coherent, and familiar experience across all your applications: Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
How it works
We’ve changed the visuals to help you focus, but nothing has moved. To help with the transition, you can access the new experience in the ribbon display options menu. In Word, Excel, PowerPoint navigate to the right-hand side of the ribbon and click the dropdown. In the menu that pops up, switch on the new look (preview) option at the top to apply the setting to all your Office web apps. You can also switch off the refresh and go back to the previous experience.
Important: Currently the new look is only in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Keep watching for future updates.
Eventually, we'll remove the option to switch off the new look (preview), so be sure to try it out now and let us know what you think. We don't always get things right, so we promise to continue to listen and learn. Your feedback is critical to help us refine your experience and make it even better.
If there are specific icons or elements of the new design that aren't working for you, please let us know. Go to Send Feedback to Microsoft at the bottom of the app. It's helpful, but optional, if you include a screenshot showing us what you think we should improve.
Frequently Asked Questions
No, features and command placement have not moved or changed as a result of the visual updates.
Currently dark mode is only available in Word for web. We're working on adding support for this effect in more Office web apps. It's coming in a future update.
Like dark mode, we're working on updating additional regions and components. Keep watching for future updates.
Currently the new look is only in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Keep watching for future updates.
See Also
How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office?
Change the look and feel of Office
Show or hide the ribbon in Office
