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Forward/Back QAT icons not working

DeanH 30 Reputation points
2026-04-16T14:42:40.7033333+00:00

Strict Corporate environment.

All Word files opened via teams (opened in app) I have noticed that the Forward (Alt+Right) and Back (Alt+Left) navigation icons placed in the QAT, do not work - icons or keyboard shortcuts.

I have tested the very same files downloaded to local drive and they DO work.

Please can you get Teams MS Word functions working.

Thanks

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For business | Windows
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  1. Hendrix-C 15,665 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-04-16T16:12:02.3733333+00:00

    Hi @DeanH,

    Thank you for reaching out and for outlining the behavior so clearly.

    Based on your sharing, this behavior is likely an interaction issue with Teams Word files. In fact, there are two same shortcuts that currently overlapping in Teams and Word:

    • Word uses Alt + Left/Right arrow for back/forward document navigation
    • Teams also uses Alt + Left/Right arrow for its app navigation

    So, when a document is opened from Teams, there is a possibility that those keys can be intercepted which can cause the QAT buttons do not work in that cloud-backed file but working normally when open the same file from the local path. Based on my investigation, this behavior was first reported in 2024 in this thread Back/Forward not available in documents from Teams - Microsoft Q&A and once recently in Microsoft Feedback post Back/Forward navigatie werkt niet meer bij interne hyperlinks in Word-documenten die op SharePoint staan (a bit different because files opened from SharePoint but can also considered as opening from cloud storage).

    (The user submitted original feedback in Dutch so you can use translator to read his/her feedback in English)

    Your observation is accurate and I understand how important this functionality is for your workflow. However, since I work independently of the product team, I don't have visibility into internal design decisions or the ability to adjust how the feature behaves. If this issue is affecting your workflow, I sincerely encourage you to submit feedback directly to the team through the official Word feedback community: Word · Community. The product team doesn't actively monitor issues on this forum, so submitting feedback through official channels ensures that your input is truly communicated to them.

    I understand this may not be the answer you were hoping for. As a forum moderator, I don’t have the ability to modify built‑in Excel behaviors, I can only help confirm how the product currently works and make sure you have clear information.

    I really appreciate for taking your time bringing this up. I'm sure there are other users who have been in the same situation but don't know where to share their feedback, so hopefully you will upvote this post as helpful if you can. This will help pin the post to the top, making it easier for other users who may be experiencing the same issue to find your post, understand the context, and support your feedback. Your voice matters, and collective feedback is one of the most effective ways to drive meaningful improvement.

    Thank you again for your time and for raising this important usability concern.

    Wishing you a great day ahead.

    Note: If you wish to receive email notifications related to this thread, please follow the steps in our documentation to enable email notifications.

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  2. Q&A Assist
    2026-04-16T14:42:51.2333333+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    In Word documents opened from Teams, the Alt+Left/Alt+Right navigation shortcuts are handled by Microsoft Teams as app-level navigation (Back/Forward in Teams), not by Word. This is why the Back/Forward icons and keyboard shortcuts work for the same files when opened from a local drive, but not when the files are opened via Teams.

    In the Teams desktop app, Alt+Left and Alt+Right are reserved for navigating back and forward within Teams itself, as documented for Teams keyboard shortcuts. When Word is hosted from Teams, those key combinations do not reach Word’s own navigation commands on the QAT.

    There is no configuration in the provided documentation to override or remap these Teams-level shortcuts so that they work inside Word when launched from Teams. For now, the only reliable way to use Word’s Back/Forward navigation is to work with the file in the full desktop Word app opened directly (for example, from a local drive or by opening the file in Word outside of the Teams host) rather than relying on the Teams-hosted instance.

    To request that Teams allow these Word navigation shortcuts to work when editing files from Teams, use the in-product feedback options (Help > Feedback) or the public feedback channels referenced in the Word and Teams documentation.

    References:

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