Microsoft rolls out Visual Update in Office for Windows

Microsoft has announced that the visual update is now available.

Previously, Microsoft made the visual update available automatically for 50% of subscription users running Current Channel builds, and Microsoft Office Home & Student 2021, Microsoft Office Home & Business 2021, Microsoft Office Professional 2021, and Microsoft Office Personal 2021 users.

The visual refresh can easily be turned off or on using the Coming Soon feature, located in the top right corner of the app. In Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or OneNote, simply click the megaphone icon to open the Coming Soon pane, read more about the visual refresh changes, and use the toggle to move between the new and current interface, and apply the setting to all the Office apps.

Some notable changes include the office theme and the quick access toolbar. The Office now matches your Windows theme by default and all themes have received an update. Users may experience the visual refresh in whichever Office theme they prefer, including black (with Word Dark Mode enabled), white, colorful, or dark grey.

However, the quick access toolbar is now hidden by default to make your interface simpler. To display it again, right-click the ribbon or click the Ribbon Display Options icon, and then click Show Quick Access Toolbar.

This visual update became available automatically for some Current Channel users on Windows 10 running version 2110 and build 14527.20226 or later.

Microsoft noted that if you don’t see the update, you will need to restart any Office app in order to see the visual refresh. Otherwise, if you do not see the megaphone icon in the top right corner (per the above instructions) then the update is not available to you yet. If you are using Windows 11, the update is available to you, but you also need to restart any Office app to see the visual refresh.

Source: Microsoft