Start Backstage with the File tab

The Microsoft Office Backstage view may appear when you start a Microsoft Office program,
or when you select the File tab. In this view, you can create a new file, open an existing file,
print, save, change options, and perform other actions. It provides functions that apply to the
overall file as contrasted with actions to take in the file content.
Newer versions Office 2016 - 2019
Microsoft 365 features a new Start Pane and Backstage experience.

Creating new files

To create a new file, choose from one of the templates listed across the top or select the New
button to see a larger list of available templates.
Tip: To find and download additional templates, see Microsoft templates.
Open an existing file
The Backstage view displays several of your most recently accessed files. If the file you are
seeking isn't on the Recent files list, select the Open button on the left navigation pane. This
will display file locations where you may find the file.
Tip: Use the Search box on the Home, or Open, tabs to search for the file you want.

To keep a file always on the recent-files list, you can pin it to the list. Hover your cursor over
the file name. A pin icon appears to the right side of the file name. Select the pin to keep the
file on the list. Optionally select again to unpin.
To remove an item from the recent-files list, right-click it and choose Remove from list.
Caution: Selecting Delete file will remove the file from the system entirely.
Save a Copy
Save a Copy, on the left-nav pane, enables you quickly create a copy of the current file.
Possibly use this to create a second copy in a different location or a copy in which you can
edit without affecting the original file.
Tip: If you're using an existing file as the basis for a new file, be sure to save a copy
BEFORE you make any changes. Thus, your new work will only affect the new (copy) file
and not the original. See also Use Save a Copy to modify a file without changing the original.
Print or print preview
The Print command is available on the Backstage navigation pane. Optionally use Print
Preview to see how your file will look if printed. See also Printing and print preview.
Share and collaborate
The Share command facilitates collaboration with others. Select Share and enter the email
addresses of those with whom you want to share the file. Then select Send. Learn more
about collaboration here: Collaborate on Word documents with real-time co-authoring. This
works essentially the same way across multiple apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint.
Manage Office
At the bottom left corner of the Backstage screen, there are three items to help you manage
how Microsoft Office works for you.

 Account - Lets you add or remove cloud-service accounts like OneDrive or

SharePoint so that you can easily save files to those services or open files from those
services.
 Feedback - Is the best way to let us know if there's something in your Office app that
you really like... or really don't like. The feedback we receive goes directly to our
product teams and helps to drive future changes and improvements in the products.
Learn more here: How do I give feedback on Microsoft Office?
 Options - This is where you go to configure your app. Everything, from the color
theme to the spell check options, editing languages, default file locations, and a lot
more.
Getting back to your document
To exit Backstage and return to the document, select the Back arrow at the top left of the
navigation pane, or just press the Escape key on your keyboard.

Info tab
Applies To
On the Info tab, you can:
 Protect a file from changes
 Inspect a file for various kinds of problems or information
 Manage previously saved versions of a file
 View document properties such as size, pages, last modified date, and more
  Select Browser View options (in Excel)
 Compress audio and video (in PowerPoint)
Additionally, if you're an enterprise customer and your file is stored on SharePoint or
OneDrive for Business, you may see a chart that shows you how many views your document
has had, when, and by whom, as well as suggestions for others in your organization you may
want to consider sharing the file with.
Basic File Information
At the top you'll see the name of the file, along with the path where the file is stored. Beneath
that you'll find handy buttons to let you open the file location in Windows File Explorer or
share the file. Depending on where the file is shared you may also see buttons that enable
you to upload the file to the cloud, or copy the file path (where the file is stored) to the
clipboard so you can paste it elsewhere.
Document Properties
On the right side of the Info screen you'll find document properties that tell you about the file.
How large it is, when (and by whom) it was last edited, total editing time, and more. For more
information about these properties see: View or change the properties for an Office file.
Protect
In Office, you can use a password to help prevent other people from opening or modifying
your file. You can also use "document protection" to restrict the types of changes that
reviewers can make.
See Add or remove a digital signature in Office files if you need to assign an electronic stamp
of authentication to a file.
See Help prevent changes to a final version of a file to notify others that a file shouldn't be
edited any more.
Inspect
Office can inspect your document for personal information that you don't want to share. It can
also inspect for revision tracking data, for accessibility problems, or for compatibility with
older versions of Office.
Manage
Manage gives you options for working with versions of your file. You can view, and restore
previous versions of your file if you want to see, or undo, changes.
Additionally you may be able to recover unsaved versions of your file if Office crashed before
you were able to save your latest edits.
If your file is stored on SharePoint, or OneDrive for Business, you can also check out your file
which creates a local, private, copy and blocks others from making changes to the file. When
you're finished return to the Info tab to check it back in.
Select Browser View options
For Excel workbooks stored on OneDrive, OneDrive for Business or SharePoint Online, you
can define which parts of the file are visible to folks who open it in a web browser (Excel for
the web).
See Use Browser View Options for more information.
Compress
In PowerPoint, if you have audio or video in your presentation, Compress Media appears on
the Info tab. It helps you compress the media, which can improve playback performance and
save disk space.
See Compress your media files for more information.

Share Help
Applies To
On the Share tab, you can share your document with others, send your document through
email, and save your diagram to the cloud. Which option do you want to learn more about?
 Email a document from Microsoft Office
 Save a document to your OneDrive
 Save or convert to PDF or XPS
 Email your presentation to others (PowerPoint)
 Publish to a slide library (PowerPoint)

Save or convert to PDF or XPS in Office Desktop apps

Applies To
You can use the Office programs to save or convert your files to PDFs so that you can share
them or print them using commercial printers. And you won’t need any other software or add-
ins.
Use PDF format when you want a file that:
 Looks the same on most computers.
 Has a smaller file size.
 Complies with an industry format.
Examples include resumes, legal documents, newsletters, files that are intended to be read
(not edited) and printed, and files that are intended for professional printing.
Important:
 Many programs, including Microsoft Word, have the ability to open and edit PDF files.
Simply sharing something as a PDF is not sufficient to guarantee the recipient can't
edit the file.
 When you convert your spreadsheet to a PDF, the internal links within the spreadsheet
will get lost during the conversion so the links will need to be verified. External links to
other sources however will be fine.
Windows mac OS Web Office for iOS
To see step-by-step instructions, select an Office program from the drop-down list.
Which Office program are you using?
 1. Open the table or report you want to publish as a PDF.
2. On the External Data tab, in the Export group, select PDF or XPS.
3. In the File Name field, type or select a name for the document.
4. In the Save as type list, select PDF (*.pdf).
o If the document requires high print quality, select Standard (publishing online
and printing).
o If file size is more important than print quality, select Minimum size
(publishing online).
5. Select Options to set the page to be printed, to choose whether markup should be
printed, and to select output options. Select OK.
6. Select Publish.
Portable Document Format (PDF) preserves document formatting and enables file sharing.
When the PDF format file is viewed online or printed, it retains the format that you intended.
The PDF format is also useful for documents that will be reproduced using commercial
printing methods. PDF is accepted as a valid format by many agencies and organizations,
and viewers are available on a wider variety of platforms than XPS.
XML Paper Specification (XPS) is an electronic file format that preserves document
formatting and enables file sharing. The XPS format ensures that when the file is viewed
online or printed, it retains exactly the format that you intended, and that data in the file
cannot be easily changed.
Important: Most modern web browsers can open and display a PDF file. If you have an older
operating system, however, you may need a PDF reader installed on your device such as the
Acrobat Reader, available from Adobe Systems.
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Font Advanced
ettings on the Advanced tab are for fine-tuning font formatting. Watch the Preview pane at
the bottom of the dialog box to see the effect of the settings you pick.
Change character spacing
Sometimes making subtle adjustments to the scale and spacing between characters makes a
big impact.
 Scale is another way of increasing or decreasing the size of a font. You can resize the
font based on a percentage of the original font size.
 Spacing can be increased or decreased in whole and fractional point increments.
o Normal -- uses the standard or default spacing.
o Expanded -- adds proportional spacing evenly between the selected text.
o Condensed -- decreases the spacing, proportionally, between the letters in the
selected text.
 Position can be increased or decreased in whole and fractional point increments.
o Normal -- positions the bottom of the selected text at the baseline.
 o Raised -- positions the bottom of the selected text above the baseline by the
point size you specify.
o Lowered -- positions the bottom of the selected text below the baseline by the
point size you specify.
 Kerning for fonts x points and above automatically adjusts the amount of space
between certain combinations of characters so that an entire word looks more evenly
spaced. Select the Kerning for fonts checkbox, then enter the smallest font size to
apply kerning to. Your app will automatically kern all fonts that are that size or bigger.
You can't apply kerning to text smaller than 8 points.
OpenType Options
OpenType refers to the scalable fonts that Microsoft and Adobe cooperatively created based
on TrueType fonts.
 Ligature describes when two or more characters are combined. For the most part,
these are used to make otherwise awkward letter pairs more visually please and
easier to read. Here's an example:

o None -- no letters are combined; each stands alone.

o Standard Only -- certain letter pairs are always combined for better legibility.
o Standard and Contextual -- letter pairs that are combined for better legibility--
based on the letters before and after the ligature. Standard ligatures include fi
and fl.
o Historical and Discretionary -- these are generally more decorative and
fancy. Common discretionary ligature pairs are ck, sp, st, and rt.
o All -- uses all of the criteria above.
 Number Spacing defines whether numbers will align vertically.

o Default -- font number spacing as-is, without changes.

o Proportional -- narrow numbers like "1" and wide numbers like "5" are each
surrounded by the same amount of white space, resulting in varying widths.
o Tabular -- each number and its surrounding white space is the same width.
This option is perfect for accounting entries or accounting documents like an
annual report.
Note: Notice that the number "1" in the illustration above is the same font and size for both
proportional and tabular formats, but tabular format uses an alternate number shape to
prevent misinterpreting it as a "7."
 Number forms enable you to get a little creative with number size and alignment.

o Default -- number size and alignment is the same as it is for the standard font.
o Lining -- all of the numbers have exactly the same height. This is a great option
for tables and forms.
o Old Style -- numbers may go above the cap line or below the baseline,
depending on the font.
 Stylistic sets describe when an OpenType font has many alternate characters. These
alternate characters are organized into a set with similar variations grouped together
for convenience. Although there are up to 20 to choose from in the drop-down, it's rare
to find and OpenType font with more than six stylistic sets.
 Use Contextual Alternates automatically uses alternate characters only in special
situations, to improve spacing or connections. This is especially useful for script fonts
and for non-Latin fonts, like Arabic.
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Layout
Page Setup(Margin)
Margins give control over white space on four sides of a page; left, right,
top, and bottom. The gutter margin lets you set additional space and the
side of the page to compensate when your document is bound.
Orientation controls whether the document is printed on a vertical
(Portrait) or horizontal (Landscape) page.
Multiple pages lets you change how Word prints documents with more
than one page.
 Normal prints every page the same
 Mirror margins prints with the gutter margin alternating between the
left and right. This helps when printing booklets, and allows extra
room on the edge for binding.
  2 pages per sheet prints consecutive pages side by side.
 Book fold creates a booklet format that uses 2 pages per sheet
printing and organizes pages to work correctly in a multi-page book.
 Sheets per booklet appears when you select Book fold and lets you
break a large document into several booklets to facilitate folding and
binding.
Preview gives you a sample of what your pages are going to look like.
Apply to sets whether the margin changes affect the whole document or
just the text you've selected.
Note: Preview your pages before printing, as changes like orientation or 2
pages per sheet can change the number of lines that appear, and can
cause un-expected results if applied to just selected areas.
Set as Default will make settings the default when you create new
documents based on the Normal template.
Paper
The Paper tab of the Page Setup dialog box is where you choose the paper size for your
printed document. You can also specify which printer tray to use for the first and subsequent
pages--for example, if you want the cover page to be printed on heavier paper or a different
color from the rest of the document.
Switch between inches and centimeters
To set your paper size in inches or centimeters, click Print Options on the Paper tab of the
Page Setup dialog box to open Word Options. Click Advanced, and scroll to Display. Next
to Show measurements in units of, choose the unit you want.

Choose a paper size and paper source

 1. Under Paper size, to choose from the many commonly-used printer paper and
envelope sizes, click the Paper size drop-down and make a selection.
To adjust your working paper size, choose Custom size at the bottom of the drop-down...
2. ...then enter the Width and Height you want.
Note: If you select a standard paper size, and then make adjustments to the width or height,
the Paper size field will automatically change to "Custom size."
3. Choose a paper source for your document's first page, and then for all subsequent
pages. These options are populated based on your printer driver and may be different
from the illustration above. Many printer drivers include these similar sounding, but
different, settings:
o Default tray (Automatically select) is the tray selected as the default on your
printer.
o Automatically Select chooses the tray that is named "Automatically Select" on
your printer.
o Auto tells the printer to select the tray based on the paper size and availability--
so that if the first appropriate tray is empty, the printer will select the second
tray with the same sized paper.
Some other possible paper source options are Manual feed, Tray 1, Tray 2..., Upper tray,
Lower Tray, and so on.

Layout
ost of the things you can do on the Layout tab of the Page Setup dialog box are easier to do
with ribbon commands, where your settings take effect immediately, and you can quickly
make adjustments. For example, go to Layout > Breaks for section breaks, Insert > Header
for headers, Design > Page Borders for borders, and Layout > Line Numbers for line
numbers.
If you arrived at the Page Setup dialog box from the Print command in Word, your best bet
is to Cancel the dialog box and use the choices for pages, orientation, paper size, margins,
and so on under Settings (Go to File > Print).
Set vertical alignment
Vertical alignment is the one thing that's best to set on the Layout tab of the Page Setup
dialog box. The setting determines whether new paragraphs start at the top, middle (Center),
or bottom of the page.
An additional setting, Justified, spaces paragraphs evenly down the page.
More page layout help
Here's more information about things people commonly want to do with page layout:
 Delete a section break
 Add a header or footer
 Set up page borders
 Add or remove line numbers
Paragraph
Indent and Spacing
General

Choose Left to align text to the left with a ragged right edge (or use the
Alignment
keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+L).

Choose Center to center text with a ragged left and right edge (Ctrl+E).

Choose Right to align text to the right with a ragged left edge (Ctrl+R).

Choose Justify to align text both left and right, adding space between words
(Ctrl+J).

Outline level The level at which the paragraph appears in Outline view.

Choose Collapsed by default if you want the document to open with headings
collapsed by default. See Collapse or expand parts of a document to learn
more.

Indentation

Left Indents the paragraph on the left by the amount you choose.

Right Indents the paragraph on the right by the amount you choose.

Choose First line > By to indent the first line of a paragraph. To quickly create
Special
a first line indent using the ruler, see Create a first line indent.

Choose Hanging > By to create a hanging indent. To quickly create a hanging

indent using the ruler, see Create a hanging indent.

When you choose this, Left and Right become Inside and Outside. This is
Mirror indents
for book style printing.

Spacing

Before Adjusts the amount of space before a paragraph.

After Adjusts the amount of space after a paragraph.

Choose Single to single-space text. To quickly single space your entire

Line spacing
document, see Single space lines in a document.

Choose 1.5 lines to space text one-and-one-half times that of single spacing.

Choose Double to double-space text. To quickly double space your entire

document, see Double space lines in a document.

Choose At least > At to set the minimum amount of spacing needed to fit the
largest font or graphic on the line.

Choose Exactly > At to set fixed line spacing, expressed in points. For
example, if the text is in 10-point font, you can specify 12 points as the line
spacing.

Choose Multiple > At to set line spacing as a multiple expressed in numbers

greater than 1. For example, setting line spacing to 1.15 will increase the space
Spacing

by 15 percent, and setting line spacing to 3 increases the space by 300 percent
(triple spacing).

Choose Don’t add space between paragraphs when you don’t want extra
Don’t add
space between paragraphs.

Line and page breaks

Line and Page Breaks

Pagination
These options control how text in paragraphs is formatted under some conditions.
 Keep lines together Keeps lines of a paragraph together on a page or in a column.
 Keep with next Keeps paragraphs together on a page or in a column.
 Page break before Always forces a page break before a paragraph.
 Widow/Orphan control Controls widow and orphan lines on a paragraph.
Formatting exceptions
 Suppress line numbers Suppresses or hides line numbers from a paragraph or
paragraphs if they've been enabled for a document.
 Don’t hyphenate Prevents hyphens from being applied in a paragraph or paragraphs
that have hyphenation applied.
Text box options
You can use the text box options to more tightly wrap the paragraphs that surrounds a text
box. To use these options, the text box border must be transparent (no line and no fill), and
the Wrap Text must be set at Tight or Through.
These settings affect the surrounding text, rather than the text box itself. You may want to try
different settings to see which one gives you the look you want.
 None
 All
 First and Last Lines
 First Line Only
 Last Line Only
Preview
Preview Gives you an approximate view of what your changes will look like.
Buttons
Tabs Opens a dialog where you can set tab stops, their alignment, and tab leaders.
Set as Default Gives you the option of using the settings you've changed as a default for
the current document, or all documents based on a dotx template.
OK Saves your changes and exits the dialog.
Cancel Ignores your changes and exits the dialog.