Release notes for Current Channel

Article
09/29/2023

These release notes provide information about new features and non-security updates that are included in Current Channel updates for Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise, Microsoft 365 Apps for business, and the subscription versions of the desktop apps for Project and Visio.

Note

We often roll out features to Current Channel over a period of time. This allows us to ensure that things are working smoothly before releasing the feature to a wider audience. If you don't see something described below, you'll get it eventually.
Microsoft Teams Admin features can be found here.

Version 2309: September 28

Version 2309 (Build 16827.20130)

Feature updates

Excel

Control your data conversions: You’ve been asking for more control over how Excel automatically converts your data to specific formats. We delivered! You now have the ability to disable specific types of automatic data conversions; this way, you won’t need to worry about Excel converting your data to a format that you didn’t want and weren’t expecting.
See details in blog post

PowerPoint

Present a local file in PowerPoint Live: The "Present in Teams" button now supports presenting local files in PowerPoint Live in Microsoft Teams.

Resolved issues

Outlook

We fixed an issue where the setting to control how Outlook opens previous items at start-up was missing from the Options window.
We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to exit unexpectedly when searching a shared or delegated mailbox.

Word

We fixed an issue where Editor pane category labels were always showing in English, despite the UI language setting.
We fixed an issue where the Add-ins tab was not visible when using custom toolbar information.

Version 2308: September 12

Version 2308 (Build 16731.20234)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Outlook

We fixed an issue where an out-of-memory error would appear when sending email after seeing the WaitOnSend dialog pop up.
We fixed an issue where the External Sender tag was not showing.
We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to close unexpectedly when viewing an email.
We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to close unexpectedly in some search scenarios.

PowerPoint

We fixed an issue where the Notes Pane was in the wrong order with no ability to edit the slide when pressing the F6 key.
We fixed an issue where the presenter view slide section zoomed in and out when zooming in the notes section.

Version 2308: August 28

Version 2308 (Build 16731.20170)

Feature updates

Excel

Data Validation dropdown list autocomplete: Dropdown lists are a handy way to make data entry and validation more efficient in Excel. We’ve now added AutoComplete functionality, which automatically compares the text typed in a cell to all items in the dropdown list and displays only the items that match. You’ll spend less time scrolling through lists, dealing with data validation errors, or writing complex code to handle this task.
See details in blog post
Paste values directly into your workbook using a keyboard shortcut: The keyboard shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+V lets you quickly Paste Values rather than having to choose Paste Values from the menu.
See details in blog post
Updated encryption for Microsoft Purview Information Protection: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 256-bit key length in Cipher Block Chaining mode (AES256-CBC) is now the default Microsoft Purview Information Protection encryption mechanism for Microsoft 365 Apps documents and emails. Learn more.
Protect your most sensitive content with double key encryption: Double Key Encryption (DKE) provides organizations with a second encryption key for your most sensitive content. Learn more about DKE and whether it's suitable for your organization at https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/compliance/double-key-encryption.

Outlook

Updated encryption for Microsoft Purview Information Protection: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 256-bit key length in Cipher Block Chaining mode (AES256-CBC) is now the default Microsoft Purview Information Protection encryption mechanism for Microsoft 365 Apps documents and emails. Learn more.
Protect your most sensitive content with double key encryption: Double Key Encryption (DKE) provides organizations with a second encryption key for your most sensitive content. Learn more about DKE and whether it's suitable for your organization at https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/compliance/double-key-encryption.

PowerPoint

Updated encryption for Microsoft Purview Information Protection: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 256-bit key length in Cipher Block Chaining mode (AES256-CBC) is now the default Microsoft Purview Information Protection encryption mechanism for Microsoft 365 Apps documents and emails. Learn more.
Protect your most sensitive content with double key encryption: Double Key Encryption (DKE) provides organizations with a second encryption key for your most sensitive content. Learn more about DKE and whether it's suitable for your organization at https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/compliance/double-key-encryption.

Word

Updated encryption for Microsoft Purview Information Protection: Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 256-bit key length in Cipher Block Chaining mode (AES256-CBC) is now the default Microsoft Purview Information Protection encryption mechanism for Microsoft 365 Apps documents and emails. Learn more.
Protect your most sensitive content with double key encryption: Double Key Encryption (DKE) provides organizations with a second encryption key for your most sensitive content. Learn more about DKE and whether it's suitable for your organization at https://learn.microsoft.com/microsoft-365/compliance/double-key-encryption.

Resolved issues

Outlook

We fixed an error that users were hitting when they tried to override a Policy Tip detection or to report it as a false positive.
We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to exit unexpectedly when users executed a search with the "All Mailboxes" scope.
We fixed an issue that caused the application to close unexpectedly when clicking on non-HTTP links.
We fixed an issue that caused the incorrect workdays to be displayed on shared-in calendars.

Version 2307: August 08

Version 2307 (Build 16626.20170)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an issue where certain macros used for updating charts caused Excel to close unexpectedly.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to fail to show Top Search Results in some views.
We fixed an issue where Microsoft 365 links failed to launch properly.
We fixed an issue that caused users to receive errors about having too many Actionable Messages open more frequently than expected.

Version 2307: July 27

Version 2307 (Build 16626.20134)

Resolved issues

Office Suite

This update fixes an extended range of supported characters to prevent display issues in Office apps.

Version 2307: July 26

Version 2307 (Build 16626.20132)

Feature updates

Excel

PivotTable overlap improvements: We have improved the experience when PivotTables overlap other content in your workbook.
Performance improvement related to fonts: If you do not use printer fonts or have not heard of printer fonts, unchecking the setting in File/Options/Advanced/[Include fonts that are stored on the printer] can help speed up font related operations such as choosing a font from font drop down, or formatting a cell by bolding/italicizing a cell's font, etc.

Word

Improved Coauthoring Error Recovery Experience: Collaborating with others while working in Word is a vital productivity tool for many users, and disruptions can be extremely frustrating. We’ve now developed an improved recovery experience to quickly restore users back to a connected state after experiencing coauthoring errors. This automatic refresh synchronizes all changes among different authors, so you’re seeing the most up-to-date document possible. Conflicts between different authors and changes not saved to the server will show as tracked changes.

Office Suite

Ability to insert live camera feed in all slides with one click: Now, one can insert a PowerPoint Cameo in all slides using the Insert > Cameo > All Slides command on the PowerPoint ribbon. Further, a user-customized camera style and location can be applied to all slides using the 'Apply to All Slides' option in the Camera Format ribbon.

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an issue where sensitivity labeling was unavailable for documents opened from SharePoint on-premise servers.

Outlook

We fixed an issue where opening links in Edge would cause the side pane to not be visible.
We fixed an issue where Outlook would prompt the user to save changes to a meeting when no changes were made.

PowerPoint

We fixed an issue where sensitivity labeling was unavailable for documents opened from SharePoint on-premise servers.

Project

We fixed an issue in Project where content was missing after scrolling.

Word

We fixed an issue where document rendering caused overlapping artifacts from one part of the document to appear on top of other.
We fixed an issue where sensitivity labeling was unavailable for documents opened from SharePoint on-premise servers.
We fixed an issue where the character spacing is wrong after a cloud font download.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue where broken SVG assets didn't fall back on their raster image counterparts.
We fixed an issue where default sensitivity labels were not displayed until after a save event. The sensitivity bar in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint for Windows now indicates that a default label will be applied on the next save for new and previously unlabeled files.

Version 2306: July 11

Version 2306 (Build 16529.20182)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an alert to better communicate our text support for picture to drawing object conversion.

Word

We fixed an alert to better communicate our text support for picture to drawing object conversion.

Version 2306: June 26

Version 2306 (Build 16529.20154)

Feature updates

Outlook

Block emails with sensitive labels: Implement pop-up messages in Outlook that warn, justify, or block emails being sent based on sensitivity labels.

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an issue where using "Alt + P" as a hot key for Previous was conflicting with "Alt + P" for the Replace tab.

Outlook

We fixed an issue where the Me control showed the wrong display name in Office apps.

Word

We fixed an issue where doing a mail merge would display the error, "Microsoft Word is required to run the Mail Merge Wizard".

Office Suite

We fixed an issue where sensitivity labeling was unavailable for documents opened from SharePoint on-premise servers.

Version 2305: June 13

Version 2305 (Build 16501.20210)

Security updates listed here

Version 2305: June 01

Version 2305 (Build 16501.20196)

Feature updates

Excel

Faster filtering when cells contain unique or duplicate rules: When your workbook contains many unique or duplicate conditional formatting rules, it can often slow down the app’s performance. No longer! By optimizing the underlying comparison algorithm, we’ve enhanced the performance and sped up the filtering process.
Desktop Excel Action Recorder: You can now record Office Scripts in Desktop Excel! Perform the actions you want in Excel, and the recorder will create an Office Script to replay those actions for you.

Outlook

Accessibility Ribbon in Outlook for Windows: The Accessibility Ribbon brings together in one place all the tools you need to make your emails accessible.
See details in blog post

PowerPoint

PowerPoint Accessibility Ribbon: All of the tools to help you make your presentation accessible in one place.
See details in blog post

Resolved issues

Access

We fixed an issue where refreshing an ODBC connection to an Access database would cause the operation to stop working after refreshing the link several times.
We fixed an issue where OLEBD/ADODB interfaces exposed by the Access Database Engine from Excel may be significantly slower in recent versions of Office.

Excel

We fixed an issue where Conditional Formatting rules were not being preserved after closing and reopening a workbook.
We fixed an error that occurred when publishing as a web page (.htm or .html) to a cloud location.
We fixed an issue where using "Alt + P" as a hot key for Previous was conflicting with "Alt + P" for the Replace tab.
We fixed an issue where cell values remained visible on the grid after deleting the row, until the cells were scrolled off the screen.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused users to see the error, "We cannot render Actionable Messages right now" when reading some email messages.
We fixed an issue where Outlook would close unexpectedly when Microsoft 365 apps in the Navigation Pane were closed.
We fixed an issue where the application would close unexpectedly when searching using dates.
We fixed an issue where the links associated with known issues were not shown to customers who were using the Contact Support feature.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue where users who selected Colorful, Precision, or Dark theme prior to enabling the Fluent Visual Refresh would get switched to Dark Gray theme when the dialog welcoming the user to the Fluent Visual Refresh reached page two.

Version 2304: May 09

Version 2304 (Build 16327.20248)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused users of the Event-Based feature to be unable to utilize some of the new APIs included in Mailbox Requirement Set 1.13.

Project

We fixed an issue where users were unable to connect Project Client from the desktop to a Project Web Access site in Project Server 2016.

Visio

We fixed an issue where Autocad drawings would not open in Visio Plan 2.

Word

We fixed an issue where drafting a new email and @mentioning an Outlook contact group (a contact group that is created locally) in the email body wouldn't add the contact group to the ‘To’ field.

Version 2304: April 25

Version 2304 (Build 16327.20214)

Feature updates

Access

Modern Web Browser Control: The Access team is releasing a new web browser control version that supports Edge! Our existing, Internet Explorer browser control remains in the platform as-is.

Outlook

Inheritance of attachment labels to email messages: For email messages with attachments, apply a label that matches the highest classification of those attachments.
We added a registry key that hides the “Try the new Outlook” toggle: Registry Key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Outlook\Options\General REG_DWORD “HideNewOutlookToggle” 0 (default) - “Try the new Outlook” toggle, if available in selected update channel, is displayed to users. 1 - “Try the new Outlook” toggle is hidden. To learn more about the new Outlook for Windows, please click here. For additional information on managing mailbox access to the new Outlook for Windows, please click here.

PowerPoint

Closed Captions for Audio in PowerPoint: Add closed captions to audio objects in PowerPoint to make your presentations more accessible.
See details in blog post

Resolved issues

Access

We fixed an issue that may cause the application to close unexpectedly when exporting from an SAS application to a Microsoft Office format.

Excel

We fixed an issue where a file could not be previewed in File Explorer if the file's extension included a capital letter such as XLSX, or Xlsx.

Outlook

We fixed an issue with the sensitivity label not being applied to protected messages.
We fixed an issue where some users may be unable to view or access group email messages and calendars in the Outlook desktop client.
We fixed an issue where the “From” field and Signatures were not working while using Google Workspace Sync for Microsoft Outlook.

PowerPoint

We fixed an issue where the application may close unexpectedly when opening a file.
We fixed an issue in which SlideShow slide transitions would draw incorrectly when displayed on a very high-resolution display.
We fixed an issue where PowerPoint would hang for a few seconds when the user clicks on an extremely complex shape.

Word

We fixed an issue where users would see the window flash white when closing an item using Windows High Contrast mode.
We fixed an issue where the right side of the email body was cut off when printed and in print preview.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue where right clicking a folder in Outlook could cause Office applications to close unexpectedly.

Version 2303: April 11

Version 2303 (Build 16227.20280)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Access

We fixed an issue that may cause the application to close unexpectedly when exporting from an SAS application to a Microsoft Office format.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused some users to see the wrong Data Loss Prevention policy annotations in a multi-account profile.

Version 2303: April 04

Version 2303 (Build 16227.20258)

Resolved issues

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused the new labels to fail to appear for some users of the Label Inheritance feature.
We fixed an issue that caused the Suggested Replies feature to not be disabled when connected experiences are disabled.

Version 2303: March 28

Version 2303 (Build 16227.20212)

Feature updates

Excel

Reducing unwanted fragmenting of conditional formatting rules: Check out the speed up in workbooks with lots of unwanted fragmented conditional formatting rules. When a workbook is opened this feature will merge those fragmented conditional formatting rules that are identical, within a contiguous range of cells, and with unchanged priority ordering. It excludes rules whose evaluation relies on a selection range like Above or Below average, Unique or Duplicate, Gradients, etc. and rules in PivotTables.
Assign a sublabel as the default when a parent label is selected: When using built-in sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365 Apps, admins can specify a sublabel to get applied automatically when a parent label is selected. This takes effect only when users select a parent label manually.
Sensitivity Label scoping between files, emails and meetings: Office applications can now filter out sensitivity labels based on the document type. For example, Outlook email will no longer show labels that only apply to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.
Blocking XLL add-ins from the Internet: To address the increasing number of malware attacks in recent months, we are implementing measures that will block XLL add-ins coming from the Internet.
See details in blog post
Track tasks with @mentions: Use @mentions in comments to create, assign and track tasks within your workbook. Learn more
Formula evaluation tooltips: Select a part of your formula and you'll see a tooltip showing the current value of just the part you've selected.
See details in blog post

Outlook

Sensitivity Label scoping between files, emails and meetings: Office applications can now filter out sensitivity labels based on the document type. For example, Outlook email will no longer show labels that only apply to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.
Assign a sublabel as the default when a parent label is selected: When using built-in sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365 Apps, admins can specify a sublabel to get applied automatically when a parent label is selected. This takes effect only when users select a parent label manually.

PowerPoint

Assign a sublabel as the default when a parent label is selected: When using built-in sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365 Apps, admins can specify a sublabel to get applied automatically when a parent label is selected. This takes effect only when users select a parent label manually.
Sensitivity Label scoping between files, emails and meetings: Office applications can now filter out sensitivity labels based on the document type. For example, Outlook email will no longer show labels that only apply to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.

Word

Assign a sublabel as the default when a parent label is selected: When using built-in sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365 Apps, admins can specify a sublabel to get applied automatically when a parent label is selected. This takes effect only when users select a parent label manually.
Sensitivity Label scoping between files, emails and meetings: Office applications can now filter out sensitivity labels based on the document type. For example, Outlook email will no longer show labels that only apply to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents.

Resolved issues

Access

We fixed an issue where users would get an ERROR: 3155, ODBC--insert on a linked table [table name] message when inserting a new row into a linked SQL Server table that has an INSERT trigger.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused users to see an empty From field drop down when their profile included an SMTP address with an asterisk in it.
We fixed an issue that caused users with an Outlook.com account in their profile to be prompted for their password and to receive the following error message: "You cannot log in with a personal account. Use your work or school account."
We have resolved an issue affecting users of the Label Inheritance feature, which led to incorrect sensitivity label extraction from unencrypted files when co-authoring was enabled.
We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to close unexpectedly when using Loop Components in an email.
We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to close unexpectedly when opening emails with a Data Loss Prevention policy applied.
We fixed an issue where some settings did not roam between machines when switching to Focused Inbox.
We fixed an issue that caused the Sub-folders search scope to be broken when searching in the Online Archive.

Project

We fixed an issue where the task pane add-in API for Microsoft Project was not returning the proper value for the Summary, Milestone, and Active properties.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue where spaces were not inserted properly when inserting text with dictation.

Version 2302: March 20

Version 2302 (Build 16130.20332)

Resolved issues

Outlook

We fixed an issue where some settings did not roam between machines when switching to Focused Inbox.

Project

We fixed an issue where the task pane add-in API for Microsoft Project was not returning the proper value for the Summary, Milestone, and Active properties.

Version 2302: March 14

Version 2302 (Build 16130.20306)

Security updates listed here

Feature updates

Excel

Disable the Azure Information Protection Add-in by default: Office apps will now automatically disable the legacy Azure Information Protection add-in and use the built-in sensitivity labels to view and apply labels powered by Microsoft Purview Information Protection.
Prevent data leaks more easily with the new Sensitivity toolbar: Sensitivity labels powered by Microsoft Purview Information Protection are now displayed alongside the filename in the app's title bar, allowing you to easily recognize and adhere to your organization's policies. The sensitivity toolbar is also available while saving new documents or renaming existing ones, helping you keep information security at your fingertips.
See details in blog post

Outlook

Disable the Azure Information Protection Add-in by default: Office apps will now automatically disable the legacy Azure Information Protection add-in and use the built-in sensitivity labels to view and apply labels powered by Microsoft Purview Information Protection.
Prevent data leaks more easily with the new Sensitivity toolbar: Sensitivity labels powered by Microsoft Purview Information Protection are now displayed next to the message Subject line, allowing you to easily recognize and adhere to your organization's policies.

PowerPoint

Disable the Azure Information Protection Add-in by default: Office apps will now automatically disable the legacy Azure Information Protection add-in and use the built-in sensitivity labels to view and apply labels powered by Microsoft Purview Information Protection.
Prevent data leaks more easily with the new Sensitivity toolbar: Sensitivity labels powered by Microsoft Purview Information Protection are now displayed alongside the filename in the app's title bar, allowing you to easily recognize and adhere to your organization's policies. The sensitivity toolbar is also available while saving new documents or renaming existing ones, helping you keep information security at your fingertips.
See details in blog post

Word

Disable the Azure Information Protection Add-in by default: Office apps will now automatically disable the legacy Azure Information Protection add-in and use the built-in sensitivity labels to view and apply labels powered by Microsoft Purview Information Protection.
Prevent data leaks more easily with the new Sensitivity toolbar: Sensitivity labels powered by Microsoft Purview Information Protection are now displayed alongside the filename in the app's title bar, allowing you to easily recognize and adhere to your organization's policies. The sensitivity toolbar is also available while saving new documents or renaming existing ones, helping you keep information security at your fingertips.
See details in blog post

Resolved issues

Access

We fixed an issue where users would get an ERROR: 3155, ODBC--insert on a linked table [table name] message when inserting a new row into a linked SQL Server table that has an INSERT trigger.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused users in Government Community Cloud tenants to be unable to launch To-Do in Outlook.
We fixed an issue that caused users to see an inaccurate count of the number of new notifications present when opening the notification pane.

Project

We fixed an issue that caused a manually-scheduled task’s start date to be after its finish date when an XML file was opened in Project.

Word

We fixed an issue where the error message "The last time you opened filename, it caused serious error. Do you still want to open it?" may appear when creating Word documents through automation using templates.

Version 2302: February 28

Version 2302 (Build 16130.20218)

Feature updates

Excel

Reducing slowness and freezes when multiple workbooks are open: This feature reduces slowness and freezes experienced when working in a workbook due to calculations occurring in other unrelated workbooks also open at the same time and in the same Excel.exe instance. It achieves this by optimizing global automatic recalculation to the workbook being worked in, and its interdependent workbooks also open at the same time.
See details in blog post
User-defined permissions now support domain name restrictions: When you choose a sensitivity label configured for user-defined permissions, domain names can now be used to restrict file access to all individuals from that domain. For example, you can specify “someone@example.com” or “@example.com,” and permissions will be restricted based on either the individual or all individuals within the example domain.

PowerPoint

User-defined permissions now support domain name restrictions: When you choose a sensitivity label configured for user-defined permissions, domain names can now be used to restrict file access to all individuals from that domain. For example, you can specify “someone@example.com” or “@example.com,” and permissions will be restricted based on either the individual or all individuals within the example domain.

Visio

See files others have shared with you: It’s now easier to find key documents in Visio. Any documents shared with you will automatically show up in your list; typically, the most relevant documents to you appear at the top of the list. Note that you'll only see the specific files people have chosen to share with you, so that their other files remain secure. To experience this feature, simply click on the Home tab or the Open tab and select Shared with Me. Now you can find all files shared with you in one place!

Word

User-defined permissions now support domain name restrictions: When you choose a sensitivity label configured for user-defined permissions, domain names can now be used to restrict file access to all individuals from that domain. For example, you can specify “someone@example.com” or “@example.com,” and permissions will be restricted based on either the individual or all individuals within the example domain.

Resolved issues

Excel

Pivot Tables connected to Power BI datasets now have proper date support. Previously, dates were treated as strings, but they now are treated as datetime objects that allow for proper filtering and sorting of the data. If you do not yet have the feature, you will be able edit your existing PivotTable.
We fixed an issue where the File > Get Add-ins button hotkey had a conflict with the Save As button due to an incorrectly set keytip when opening the Control Get Add-ins button. The modified button (Get Add-ins) will use B as the hotkey.
We fixed an issue that when clicking on an email notification with @mention in a comment, caused Excel to close unexpectedly if the workbook was already open and was in a hidden window.

Version 2301: February 14

Version 2301 (Build 16026.20200)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Excel

Pivot Tables connected to Power BI datasets now have proper date support. Previously, dates were treated as strings, but they now are treated as datetime objects that allow for proper filtering and sorting of the data. If you do not yet have the feature, you will be able edit your existing PivotTable.
We fixed an issue when clicking on an email notification of at mention in a comment, the Excel app would close unexpectedly if the workbook was already open and was in a hidden window.
We fixed an issue that compiled VBA macros more often.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused users to experience the application to close unexpectedly when clicking on some non-HTTP links.

Project

We fixed an issue where upon opening an MPP file, you see the following error:

"An import error occurred.

Check row 1 column 5.

To continue importing with additional error messages, click Yes. To continue importing with no error messages, click No. To stop importing, click Cancel."

Office Suite

Fixed an issue that caused sync and co-auth failures in Office apps.

Version 2301: January 26

Version 2301 (Build 16026.20146)

Feature updates

Excel

PivotTable overlap improvements: We have improved the experience when PivotTables overlap other content in your workbook.
Excel PivotTable version compatibility user messaging: Excel now gives alerts about PivotTable compatibility issues and provides informative documentation and workarounds. When your version of Excel is unable to read data in a workbook, we present users with documentation that provides options to proactively troubleshoot and resolve the issue. In addition, we also allow users to upload their Excel document to OneDrive so they can seamlessly open the file in Excel for the web.
Date Support for Pivot Tables Connected to PowerBI: In PivotTables that are connected to Power BI datasets, dates are now supported for analysis as the data type is no longer a string. For example, filtering data on specific timeframes is now possible.
See details in blog post

Outlook

Loop Components in Mail: Loop components are live, interactive objects that you can embed across Microsoft 365 canvases such as chats and email to provide real-time collaboration. This feature brings support for loop components in the email messages.

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an issue when you insert a People Graph add-in in RTL Excel, the application closes unexpectedly.

PowerPoint

We have fixed an issue where user is not able to add or copy/paste a new slide to the presentation.

Version 2212: January 10

Version 2212 (Build 15928.20216)

Security updates listed here

Version 2212: January 04

Version 2212 (Build 15928.20198)

Feature updates

Access

Enable the ability to code sign your Microsoft Access database and VBA code: This update enables the Tools/Digital Signature command within the VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for current Microsoft Access database formats. Signing a database will allow VBA code in the database to be run even if Trust Center settings specify that only digitally signed code should be enabled.

Word

Tag your team members with tasks: Create and assign tasks without leaving Word. Simply add a comment, @mention your team member, press Ctrl + Enter, and check Assign. Your comment becomes a task, and your work is done!
See details in blog post

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an issue when you right click on a chart and select edit, the application closes unexpectedly.

Word

We fixed an issue in which users might see a dialog with the message "Contacting the Server" when attempting to open a file.
Resolved an issue where tab stop marker would not work using the ruler.

Version 2211: December 13

Version 2211 (Build 15831.20208)

Security updates listed here

Version 2211: December 06

Version 2211 (Build 15831.20190)

Feature updates

Excel

Insert in-cell images with the new IMAGE function: Your images can now be part of the worksheet, instead of floating on top. You can move and resize cells, sort and filter, and work with images within an Excel table.
See details in blog post
Touch Improvements to Ribbon: We’ve improved the spacing of buttons in the Ribbon when the device is being used in Tablet posture.

Outlook

S/MIME as an Outcome for labelling - Win 32: Providing S/MIME encryption and signing functionality as an outcome of labelling - Outlook Win32.
See details in blog post

PowerPoint

Save Media with Closed Captions: Now when you save media to a file in PowerPoint, the closed captions associated with the media are also saved.
Touch Improvements to Ribbon: We’ve improved the spacing of buttons in the Ribbon when the device is being used in Tablet posture.

Word

Touch Improvements to Ribbon: We’ve improved the spacing of buttons in the Ribbon when the device is being used in Tablet posture.

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an issue when toggling the visibility of the ribbon with sheet tabs hidden the application would close unexpectedly.
We fixed an issue where Clipboard locked alert is disrupting workflow for some users.
We fixed an issue when you right click on a chart and select edit option the application closes unexpectedly.
We fixed an issue in Word in which applying sketched outlines to pictures and saving, resulted in the file not being usable when copied and pasted into PowerPoint and Excel.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused the focus on the message list to be lost when using CTRL+Tab to navigate from a folder in one mailbox to a folder in another mailbox.

PowerPoint

We fixed an issue in Word in which applying sketched outlines to pictures and saving, resulted in the file not being usable when copied and pasted into PowerPoint and Excel.

Word

Resolved an issue where changing the reading speed for Read Aloud would cause Word to stop working.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue preventing the font dropdown's scroll bar from correctly appearing in Office 2016 and Office 2019.
We fixed an issue where a manually applied sensitivity label could be overridden by an automatic label if the automatic label has higher priority.
We fixed an issue where "connecting to" dialog box was shown during Save/Save-As when a UNC path was set as default save directory.

Version 2210: November 08

Version 2210 (Build 15726.20202)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

OneNote

We fixed an issue when scrolling with touch.

Word

We fixed an issue when using Admin Managed Plugin and utilizing Group Policy "Block all unmanaged add-ins", registry key name was case-sensitive.

Version 2210: October 27

Version 2210 (Build 15726.20174)

Feature updates

Excel

Get data for your workbooks by importing an image: Turn images with text into content you can edit in Excel. With the Data from Picture feature, you can convert the information in an image to data on a worksheet. Learn more
See details in blog post
Automate tab in Excel for desktop: You can now access the Automate tab not just in your web browser, but also in your spreadsheets in Excel for Windows and Mac.

Outlook

Reactions: This feature allows users to apply emotive reactions (e.g., 👍, ♥, 🎉) to email messages and see what reactions have been applied by other people as well.

Office Suite

Local AI: Office desktop apps on Windows now perform inference of local AI models out of process in ai.exe.

Resolved issues

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused emails to get stuck in the outbox for some profiles with multiple Exchange accounts configured.

PowerPoint

We fixed an issue with updating links when the linked file is already open.

Project

We fixed a second issue where Project was unable to connect to Project Server when forms-based authentication was used. In some cases, users who were able to connect, for example, the day before were unable to connect the next day. Deleting the server connection profile temporarily fixed the issue.

Word

We fixed an issue in the Word dark mode theme where you are unable to see editable text in documents with restricted editing because the highlight color is too similar to the text color.
We fixed an issue where pasting keep source formatting results into content controls would display characters such as a question mark (?) or a blank square.
We fixed an issue where the file could not be opened when using the command "update linked information in a Word source document" on documents saved in the cloud.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue with URL handling by Visual Basic macros.

Version 2209: October 11

Version 2209 (Build 15629.20208)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Access

This update fixes an issue that may cause the error "The operating system is not presently configured to run this application." when trying to use DAO (Data Access Objects) from an application that is not a Microsoft 365 App.

Excel

We fixed an issue where some content could stop working and not appear correctly after zooming with touchpad.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused emails to get stuck in the outbox for some profiles with multiple Exchange accounts configured.

Project

We fixed an issue where Project was unable to connect to Project Server when forms-based authentication was used. In some cases, users who were able to connect, for example, the day before were unable to connect the next day. Deleting the server connection profile temporarily fixed the issue.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue where Office will stop responding while using narrator when inside of a comment.

Version 2209: September 26

Version 2209 (Build 15629.20156)

Resolved issues

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused users to experience a close unexpectedly when switching views in the calendar module.
We fixed an issue that caused Modern Groups related dialogs to be heavily broken.
We fixed and issue that caused users to experience a close unexpectedly shortly after boot.
We fixed an issue that caused users who disabled service notifications to see a deprecated UI showing notifications service disabled.
We fixed an issue that caused Outlook to close unexpectedly when submitting feedback.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue to default blocking macros from the Internet from executing.

Version 2208: September 13

Version 2208 (Build 15601.20148)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Excel

In Office 2016 and Office 365 with Visual Refresh, the visibility of hovered and pressed sliders in Colorful and White themes has been improved in task panes and dialogs.
In Office 365 with Fluent visuals enabled, the visibility of hovered and pressed sliders in Dark Gray and Black themes has been improved in task panes and dialogs.
In Office 365 with Visual Refresh Dark Gray theme, an issue preventing the border of the scroll buttons from appearing in the Ribbon Font Picker dropdown has been resolved.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused the Customization Quick Access Toolbar file (.exportedUI) to not import when the simplified ribbon is in use.

PowerPoint

In Office 2016 and Office 365 with Visual Refresh, the visibility of hovered and pressed sliders in Colorful and White themes has been improved in task panes and dialogs.
In Office 365 with Fluent visuals enabled, the visibility of hovered and pressed sliders in Dark Gray and Black themes has been improved in task panes and dialogs.
In Office 365 with Visual Refresh Dark Gray theme, an issue preventing the border of the scroll buttons from appearing in the Ribbon Font Picker dropdown has been resolved.

Word

In Office 2016 and Office 365 with Visual Refresh, the visibility of hovered and pressed sliders in Colorful and White themes has been improved in task panes and dialogs.
In Office 365 with Fluent visuals enabled, the visibility of hovered and pressed sliders in Dark Gray and Black themes has been improved in task panes and dialogs.
In Office 365 with Visual Refresh Dark Gray theme, an issue preventing the border of the scroll buttons from appearing in the Ribbon Font Picker dropdown has been resolved.
We fixed an issue where header styles were removed upon co-authoring.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue in Color Picker text selection scenarios with Shapes and SmartArt.
We fixed an instability issue related to animations for the user interface.
We fixed an issue related to rendering SVG graphics in Outlook.

Version 2208: August 31

Version 2208 (Build 15601.20088)

Feature updates

Excel

Supercharge your worksheets with fourteen new text and array functions: Use fourteen powerful new functions to easily split your text and rearrange your data. Try using TEXTSPLIT to split your text or VSTACK to combine multiple arrays.
See details in blog post
Protect your PDFs: Sensitivity labels are now available to protect your PDFs from unauthorized access. Applies to files created in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
See details in blog post

OneNote

Take notes with your voice: Take notes faster using speech-to-text instead of typing using Dictation. On the ribbon, select the microphone, then give OneNote permission to use your mic. Learn more
See details in blog post

PowerPoint

Protect your PDFs: Sensitivity labels are now available to protect your PDFs from unauthorized access. Applies to files created in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
See details in blog post

Word

Protect your PDFs: Sensitivity labels are now available to protect your PDFs from unauthorized access. Applies to files created in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.
See details in blog post

Resolved issues

Access

When a table with an Attachment or multi-valued field is selected, launching the Report, Label, or Query Wizard could cause Access to become unresponsive. This update fixes the issue so that these wizards work correctly again with all tables.
We fixed a recent regression where some users were unable to use DoCmd.TransferText with existing import/export specifications.
This update fixes an issue that could cause memory leaks when iterating over DAO recordsets in VBA code in Excel.

Excel

We fixed an issue when editing a newly created file a business bar label did not upload correctly.
We fixed an issue in Excel for images contained in filtered or hidden cells.

Outlook

This change enables the Every Meeting Online option for third party meeting applications.
We fixed an issue where Outlook can sometimes close unexpectedly when right-clicking on an app in the new app bar.
We fixed an issue that caused users to be unable to load linked images when replying to or forwarding a message.

Project

We fixed an issue where projects that worked properly before can no longer be opened. In this circumstance, Project closed unexpectedly.
We fixed an issue where the message "This project contains links to one or more data sources that may be unsafe and have been disabled. Would you like to enable these data sources? Only do this if you trust the source of the file." may appear when opening a project. The message appears even when the project doesn't have any active paste-links. Additionally, no active embedded objects are found in Gantt type views.
We fixed an issue for when assignment timephased actual cost values were viewed and reported on. The sum of these values may not have been equal to the scalar value (the value you see in a sheet view). As the timescale granularity went from very detailed such as daily to less detailed such as yearly, the differences between the summed and scalar values could be significant.

Word

We fixed an issue causing an intermittent stop responding in Word.
We fixed an issue where user was unable to copy rows of a table from older versions in Version History to the current version.
We fixed an issue where Outlook couldn't open a message that was sent using Outlook on the web and contained a comment that was copied from Word.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue where operations would reinstall Office.

Version 2207: August 09

Version 2207 (Build 15427.20210)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused some people to experience a close unexpectedly shortly after boot.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue when recording a presentation where an error would occur and recording would stop.

Version 2207: August 03

Version 2207 (Build 15427.20194)

Feature updates

Excel

Optimized Excel recalculation on devices with constrained resources: On resource-constrained devices (two cores or less and eight gigabytes of RAM or less), Excel has now by default made recalculation more optimal by running calculation on a single thread. In most cases, users should see noticeably faster calculation on these devices. Note that in some cases that require compute-intensive calculation, users may want to consider overriding this default by setting Number of calculation threads to “2.” For more details, see the Formulas section of the Advanced Options page on the Microsoft Support site.

Outlook

Use suggested replies in Outlook: When you receive an email message that can be answered by a short response, Outlook can suggest three responses you can use to reply with just a couple of clicks. Learn more
See details in blog post
Turn off Suggested Replies: Outlook makes it easy to reply faster to emails by offering short suggested replies for messages that can be answered with just a few words. Some users may not want to see this option, so it’s now possible to turn the feature off. To do so, select File > Options > Mail, go to the Replies and Forwards section, and clear the Show suggested replies check box.
Dictation toolbar redesigned for efficiency, cleaner look: The Office dictation toolbar has been redesigned, featuring new visuals, a more responsive user interface, and a smaller size to stay out of the way of what matters—your content!
See details in blog post

Word

Typing with your voice just got easier: It's now easier to see what you're typing with the new low-profile Dictation toolbar located at the side of your screen. Plus, new animations help you make sure that every word is getting captured.
See details in blog post

Office Suite

Add SketchUp files to Office creations: SketchUp is a popular 3D graphics program that makes it easy to create shareable conceptual designs, such as fully textured architectural models and other graphics used in industrial design, product design, and civil and mechanical engineering. Now, for the first time, SketchUp graphics (.skp files) can be integrated into your creations in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook!
See details in blog post

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an issue where cell references in charts were displaying incorrectly.
We fixed an issue which caused Excel to close completely when choosing File > Close or pressing Ctrl+W to close the last workbook.
We fixed an issue where Excel could use an unexpectedly high amount of CPU when freeze panes were enabled, but not every freeze pane was on the screen.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that caused users to see the Journal module in their left rail navigation bar.
We fixed an issue that caused Exchange 2019 users to see Outlook to fail to display the reply indicator icon on messages in search results.

Project

We fixed an issue When assignment timephased actual cost values were viewed and reported on, the sum of these values may not have been equal the scalar value (the value you see in a sheet view). As the timescale granularity goes from detailed such as daily to less detailed such as yearly, the differences may have increased.

Word

We fixed an issue where an Outlook (WordMail) message would flash with a white background while zooming in or out.
We fixed an issue where printing pages with index may fail to print.
We fixed an issue where "paste as link" might not update automatically.
We fixed an issue where links to are not automatically updated to the embedded Word documents.

Office Suite

We fixed issues that address a number of cases where opening Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents from OneDrive or SharePoint would yield a close unexpectedly.
We fixed an issue where the video to introduce the new visuals was not displaying.

Version 2206: July 18

Version 2206 (Build 15330.20264)

Resolved issues

Access

We fixed an issue when opening an ACCDE/MDE file. Users may receive an error message with the text “Requested type library or wizard is not a VBA project.” Learn More

Version 2206: July 12

Version 2206 (Build 15330.20246)

Security updates listed here

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an issue where the app closed unexpectedly when interacting with fonts.

Version 2206: July 06

Version 2206 (Build 15330.20230)

Resolved issues

Excel

We fixed an issue where shared workbooks in .xls format may improperly merge changes.
We fixed an issue where an AMSI scan would cause the app to close unexpectedly.
We fixed a visual glitch in the Formula bar.
We fixed an issue that caused Excel to close unexpectedly when showing live preview of a chart.

OneNote

We fixed an issue that was causing the app to close unexpectedly.

Outlook

We fixed an issue that prevented the Room Finder from loading in the GCC-High environment.
We fixed an issue where users were not able to add room mailboxes to the calendar.

PowerPoint

We fixed an issue where changing the sensitivity label on a document while coauthoring with others might lose the picked sensitivity label.
We fixed an issue where mandatory sensitivity labeling was not required for save-as when using browse to a location.

Visio

We fixed an issue in Visio that caused the application to stop responding when repeatedly zooming in and out.

Word

We fixed an issue where nested fields in headers display incorrectly while scrolling.

Office Suite

We fixed an issue where we attempt font downloads in cases they are known and expected to stop working during downloading, which results in unnecessary resources being used.

Note

If you need help with an issue with using Office, we recommend that you post your question on Microsoft's Answers forum or Tech Community, or you can contact support.