Aug 02, 2016

Whatever your preferences may be, Word 2013 allows you to modify some basic settings to work the way you would like it to. Here are a couple of easy customisations you can make!

How to: Remove the Start screen

When launched, the Office 2013 Apps show a dynamic Start screen by default. To see a blank new document instead, select File > Options, then untick the Start screen option on the General tab.

How to: Bypass the Backstage View in Office 2013

When you save a new document in Office 2013, the Backstage View displays, providing the option to save the document to SkyDrive or to your computer. If you don’t use SkyDrive, you can bypass this screen and always save to your computer.

Word 2013, Excel 2013, and PowerPoint 2013 can all be configured to skip the Backstage View (pictured above) and directly open the Save As dialog box when selecting either Save or Save As to save a new file.

1. To disable this setting, click FILE
2. Click Options in the menu list on the left.
3. In the Options dialog box, click Save in the list of options on the left.
4. Under the Save documents section, select the "Don’t show the Backstage when opening or saving files check box" so there is a check mark in the box. Click OK to accept the change.

Now, when you select Save or Save As in a new document (or press Ctrl + S), the Save As dialog box displays immediately, bypassing the Backstage view.

NOTE: Even though the option says “when opening or saving files,” this option does not seem to turn off the Backstage view when opening files. To easily skip the Backstage view when opening files, press Ctrl + O or add Open to the Quick Access Toolbar. This will directly access the Open dialog box.