For many Office 2007 users (including myself), it took awhile to get accustomed to the idea that the Office button is actually more than a decoration; it replaces the File menu of earlier versions. Office 2010, however, brings back the File tab, which now takes you to “the Backstage view.” Let’s take a look at it in Word 2010.
According to Microsoft, The Backstage view “… is everything that you do to a file that you don’t do in the file.” In essence, the Backstage view hides your current document, and gives you access to file-related activities. The Backstage view for Word 2010 is below:
Some of the tabs in the Backstage view function as they did in previous versions: Save, Save As, Open and Close should be pretty familiar.
Other tabs are new or redesigned.
| Tab | What you’ll find there |
| Info | This is where you go to see document properties, set permissions, convert a document into the Word 2010 format, inspect the document, and manage versions. |
| Recent | Shows you recent documents (up to 50) and recent places. Want to keep a document on your recent documents list? Click the push pin icon next to that document to pin it to you list. |
| New | Shows available templates, and gives you access to Office.com templates. |
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Combines the printer dialog with the print preview. Allows you to also print things like document properties or a list of styles used. |
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| Save & Send | This is where you go to send as an email attachment, publish to a blog, or create a PDF (among other things). |
| Help | Gives you access to various support functions, including finding help and checking for updates. |
| Options | Customize your copy of Word, including customizing the ribbons. |
A nice little added feature is that if you decide to not do anything in the Backstage view, clicking the File tab again will take you back to your document view in whatever tab you were originally in.
While moving from Office 2003 to Office 2007 was a little confusing, I find the new features Microsoft has added Office 2010 to be very intuitive.
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I’m glad to hear you are enjoying the new lay-out of Office 2010. Office 2010 will be released in June and can be pre-ordered now: http://store.microsoft.com/Category.aspx?CatId=210 .
You should also check out the Microsoft Office Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/Office. It is a great place to get the latest news and tips about Microsoft Office!
Cheers,
Isabella
MSFT Office Outreach Team
May 24th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Is there anyway I can also remove the list in Recent Places. Thanks
June 16th, 2010 at 1:30 am
[...] recently received a question regarding my article about Microsoft Office 2010 Backstage View. “Is there anyway I can also remove the list in Recent Places.” Let’s take a look [...]
June 21st, 2010 at 9:31 am
Thanks for the question. I’ve added a new article about that.
Steve
June 21st, 2010 at 10:28 am
Is there a way to modify the user interface (UI) of Microsoft Backoffice View so that the Office Button can be brought back?
January 18th, 2011 at 1:18 pm
Interesting question, Trek. I think Microsoft went back to a File tab because there was a lot of negative reaction to the Office Button. If there’s something specific you’d like to see again, you can in 2010 create new tabs and groups to put whatever commands you’d like wherever you’d like them (except in the File tab itself). If you’d like to give me more information, I can probably help. Technically, you can consider the File tab as the Office Button.
January 20th, 2011 at 10:12 am
Can the Backstage (“File”) tab be disabled? Is there a CustomUI editor for Office 2010? Thanks.
June 2nd, 2011 at 6:49 pm
I purely hate the Backstage feature and wish there were some way I could turn it off and only use the quick tool bar.
At this point I am ready to reinstall Word 2003 and trash the 2010 Word.
February 3rd, 2012 at 3:17 pm
Hi. I just got MSOffice 2010 and for the most part, like it. Is there a way to get the print dialogue box with going to the backstage view? I use different printers, so quick print isn’t always an option; I don’t need the whole print-preview information, just the print dialogue box.
February 6th, 2012 at 4:14 pm
I hate the “Backstage View” in Office 2010. When I click on file I just want to see it in the old way. How do I opt out of this? I HATE it, it’s so irritating to me!
February 20th, 2012 at 11:07 am
The article above explain all of the features of the backstage view except the red box with the X on it labeled as “EXIT”. I selected that thinking it would simply exit this area and return me to the file tab. Nope. It closed the backstage view. So far permanently. How about an explanation as to how to enable this after it has been disabled? That would be real nice.
July 10th, 2012 at 10:23 am