You can check by clicking the icon of a megaphone near the top right of the screen above the Ribbon. The new look appears in both Windows 10 and Windows 11, but depending on your installation, it may or may not show up by default. Through the years, Word’s Ribbon has gotten a variety of cosmetic changes, but it still works largely the way it always has.

But it still works in the same way, and you’ll find most of the commands in the same locations as in earlier versions. Some time after Microsoft released Windows 11, the company again gave the Ribbon (and Office overall) a slight facelift, so it more closely aligns with that new version of Windows. It’s now flatter-looking, cleaner, and less cluttered, and it has high-contrast colors, which makes the icons and text on the Ribbon easier to see. In September 2018, Microsoft overhauled the way the Ribbon looks, and the company has continued to tinker with the design since then. Since it has been included in Office applications since Office 2007, you’re probably familiar with how it works, but if you need a refresher, see our Word 2010 cheat sheet. The Ribbon interface is alive and well in the current version of Word.

We’ll be updating that story for Word 2021 soon, but in the meantime, check out “ What’s new in Office 2021?”) Use the Ribbon (If you’re using the perpetual-license Word 2016 or 2019, see our separate Word 20 cheat sheet. We’ll periodically update this story as new features roll out. This cheat sheet gets you up to speed on the features that have been introduced in Microsoft 365’s Word for Windows desktop client since 2015.

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