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Lately, I've been using Office Online quite a lot. (I have an Office 365 subscription.) My question actually applies to all the Office apps, but I'll ask in the context of Word.
As Word users, we are accustomed to being able to customize Word as we like, and Microsoft has provided lots of ways to do it. The locally installed version of Word has File > Options, and there are plenty of other ways to customize Word, e.g., Style Sets and the Design ribbon. I don't think I'm the only one who has invested considerable thought and time into setting up Word to work the way I like it to work. Why else would Microsoft give us all these opportunities if not to take advantage of them?
There's none of this in Word Online so I am always working with the defaults.
Does anyone know if the future of Word Online will include the ability to customize it, and have those customization choices persist from session to session? I don't think this is an unfair question to ask. To give but one example: For years I have been creating documents with a consistent look thanks to Style Sets. It will be much harder to do this, if not impossible, without Style Sets.
Admittedly, Google Docs can't do this either, but it never could so nobody expects it to have the ability to set and maintain configuration choices, whereas generations of Word users have had this ability.
Any prognosticators out there?
A family of Microsoft word processing software products for creating web, email, and print documents.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Thanks for your reply.
I understand what you're saying (and appreciate the links) but I'm afraid I don't agree. Google doesn't limit the online features of Docs just because my Android phone can't use all the same features. Even with Word, the online version has features that aren't available on Word for Android.
They may add some features to word online, but it won't be as full-featured as the desktop version. The online version was intended to support the basics, for people who don't have office or for those who do but for one reason or another, choose to use the online version. As technology improves, they may be able to add more features.
You can make suggestions (or vote for suggestions others posted) at uservoice: https://word.uservoice.com/forums/271331-word-o... - recommend doing this as they try to implement the suggestions that get a lot of votes.
Thanks for everyone's replies.
This limitation fundamentally reduces the value of Office when you are not working with an installed version. I can't imagine that this hasn't occurred to Microsoft, so I don't see a value in giving feedback.
Ultimately, in my view, Microsoft won't include this ability until Google does. That's the kind of feedback Microsoft listens to. ;-)
I doubt that the On Line version ever will have the same functionality as the desktop version, as in a forthcoming release of the desktop version, it can be set to have similar reduced functionality to that of the On Line version.
Fortunately, that will be an option, but if that is the direction in which MS are heading, it pretty much answers your question.
Hello,
You are absolutely right, unfortunately you don't have the same features in Office Online as Office Desktop. You could submit your suggestion to Microsoft using the following link for them to consider it for future developing:
https://office365.uservoice.com/
Thanks...