Whats new in office 2016

Office 2016 is is packed with new features, including a new user interface, collaboration tools and more.. User Interface Updates across the Suite When you launch Office 2016, the first

What’s New in Office 2016

and Why It Matters to You

Office 2016 is is packed with new

features, including a new user interface, collaboration tools and more.

Find out what’s new in Office 2016

and why it matters to you.

2016

User Interface Updates

across the Suite

When you launch Office 2016, the first thing you’ll notice is a new splash of color across the menu bar of each app The default color scheme went from

“White” to the new “Colorful” theme You also have the option to change it to

“Dark Gray” or back to “White” if you prefer

In the Backstage view under the File menu, a new Browse button makes

it easier to browse local and network folders, as well as OneDrive files

Tab names are no longer all caps, making them easier to read.

Additional UI Updates

Why does it matter?

Color themes let you customize your

workspace; tab names are easier to read;

the Browse button makes it easier to

browse for files and folders.

Tell Me What You Want to Do

(aka the “Tell-Me Assistant”)

want to do…”* From this tab, you can look up different commands within each app

Click on one of the results, and the app will perform that very command

This new feature is contextual–meaning it

can tell the difference between what you’ve

selected and then present the best options

for you If you have a image selected and

you type “rotate” in the Tell me what you

want to do tab, it will show Rotate Objects

vs Rotate Text

* Note: This feature will not be available in OneNote initially, but you may see it added later.

Why does it matter?

All the menu commands across all of

the Office apps are now just a keyboard shortcut away Press Alt-Q, type what you’re

looking for and you’re set!

More Shape Styles

If you like using the built-in shape tools in the Office apps, there are now more options when it comes to formatting shapes in Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

After you’ve inserted a shape, the Format tab is automatically selected You can then go to Shape Styles and choose from the different Theme Styles or Presets

Why does it matter?

For those using built-in shapes, you have more customization options and if you change your document’s theme later, all of your shapes will be automatically updated.

Why does it matter?

If you need to insert math equations into your documents, there is no easier way

than with Math Ink.

Sharing and collaborating with others on files in Office 2016 is easier

than ever before

Look to the right of your user name and click

on the new Share tab Once you save your

document to the Cloud (including a SharePoint

or OneDrive account), the Share pane changes

so you can invite people and decide if they

can view or edit the file you’re sharing.

Once you’ve shared a file, you can decide

if changes to the document are saved

automatically or if you should be prompted first

Why does it matter?

If you need to collaborate with others, this feature alone may be worth the upgrade You’ll have the power of Microsoft apps, alongside new sharing and collaboration features that are normally associated

with Google apps.

Real-Time Editing

Microsoft is calling this feature “real-time editing” but at the time of the initial Office 2016 launch, it is not quite as “real-time” as you might expect While it is still useful, it’s helpful to know what you can expect

To try it, select Edit Document > Edit in

Word Online on shared documents Word

Online edits show up in the desktop and

tablet version of Word, as well Wherever

the changes have been made, a small

pop-up alert box appears, allowing you to

sync and then incorporate any changes

from the Online version of Word—to your

desktop version of Word

Why does it matter?

If you’re sharing and collaborating your

documents, seeing when (and where) someone

is making an edit is very helpful so you aren’t trying to edit the same thing at the same time.

Dark Gray

From an accessibility perspective, the new Dark Gray theme is a welcome improvement to the user interface that makes it easier to read what is on the screen.

To apply it, go to File > Account > Office Theme and select Dark Gray from the drop

down menu This works throughout all of the Office 2016 apps

Why does it matter?

For those who have difficulty reading something on a low contrast color

scheme, the new Dark Gray option will

be a welcome change.

Excel User Interface Updates

Under the Data Tab, the Power Query options (previously a separate plug-in) are now included under the Get and Transform group

This allows you to get data from a File (Workbook,

CSV, XML, Text), from a Database (SQL Server db,

MS Access db, Oracle db, MySQL db and more),

from Microsoft Azure and from other online sources

In Office 2016, these features did not exist

automatically on the Ribbon so it’s nice to have

them readily available now.

Why does it matter?

Straight out of the box, you have more options for importing data into Excel This saves you the trouble of having to find, download and

install the Power Query plug-in.

New Charts in Excel

In Office 2016, you get new types of charts, not only in Excel, but in Word and

PowerPoint as well New charts include:

Shows frequencies within a distribution

Box & Whisker

Shows distribution of data in quartiles

highlighting the mean and outliers

Waterfall

Shows a running total of financial data

as values are added or subtracted

Why does it matter?

Additional options for visually displaying large sets of data are always welcome This will help all Excel users convey the real meaning

behind their numbers.

Excel and PowerPoint Insights

You could already “find” in Word and Outlook, but now Office 2016 brings Insights,

or “Smart Lookup” to Excel and PowerPoint

This feature helps you learn more about the content in your documents by displaying information—sourced by Bing, Wikipedia and Oxford dictionary—directly within the Excel and PowerPoint application windows

Why does it matter?

If you need to get more information or better understand something in one of your documents, you can get that information and stay within Excel or PowerPoint No

more trips out to a separate web browser to get the

information you’re looking for.

Clutter for Outlook

To help you keep your email inbox manageable, Outlook gets a new feature called Clutter The Clutter feature creates a new folder in Outlook; email that you deem to

be low priority, but not Junk mail, should be stored here.

You have to enable this from the Web version of Outlook first go to Outlook 365, click on the gear menu to open your settings Go to Options > Mail > Clutter and

turn it on by selecting “Separate items identified as clutter.” From there, your

Outlook desktop app will start sorting your email You can manually define an email message as Clutter and that will help Outlook learn what emails are important and which ones can wait a bit

Why does it matter?

Not every email you get is important, nor is it junk mail The new Clutter feature helps organize your email by automatically moving some of your

emails into the new Clutter folder.

Adding attachments to emails in Outlook is easier in Office 2016 When you click

the Attach File button, Outlook shows you a list of 12 recent documents from Word, PPT or Excel No more browsing through folders on your hard drive for that recent report you’ve been working on

If you attach files from your OneDrive account, you have the ability to change permissions of the doc, allowing recipients to edit the attached file in addition to viewing it

Why does it matter?

By making it easier to find your recent documents so you can attach them to an email,

this will potentially be a huge time-saver!

Previously available only in the Outlook Web App, Workgroups now make their

way into the desktop version of Outlook 2016

The Workgroups feature goes beyond your typical distribution email list by allowing members to easily start group conversations, organize and view group files and add events to the group calendar to allow teams to work together more efficiently

Why does it matter?

This update will allow desktop users of Outlook who are part of a Workgroup to keep working in

the app they’re more comfortable with.

See the new Office 2016 features in action at:

lynda.com/whats-new-office-2016

Watch Now!