What's new?

This table shows a history of recent updates to the Microsoft Writing Style Guide.

Date Article Change
October 16, 2024 drive resource Renamed topic and altered guidance to drive resource.
October 16, 2024 quotation marks Clarified guidance regarding default use of straight quotation marks and the Segoe font.
October 16, 2024 storage, storage space Changed topic title (previously storage, storage device). Updated guidance to use storage space.
October 16, 2024 disk space Updated guidance to recommend using storage or storage space; updated guidance to recommend use of drive in most cases that are not physical disks.
August 26, 2024 [Announcement] The Microsoft Writing Style Guide has now aligned with Merriam-Webster as its dictionary of references. Links and mentions have been fixed globally.
June 25, 2024 prompt, prompting Updated guidance to address new concerns about AI prompts and provide resources for prompt writing.
May 9, 2024 Accessibility terms Added guidance to avoid the use of "special needs."
April 19, 2024 Copilot, copilot Created new topic with information on how to use Microsoft Copilot versus third-party copilots in naming and descriptions.
April 18, 2024 Militaristic language Created new topic with guidelines on avoiding overly violent and militaristic language.
February 26, 2024 see, see also, and similar phrases Created new topic regarding visual-based phrases and accessibility.
February 22, 2024 Formatting titles Streamlined guidance to generally recommend sentence-casing; updated to recommend bold instead of italics for titles for enhanced readability and accessibility.
February 22, 2024 multi- Updated to only include examples where the MWSG deviates from the American Heritage Dictionary.
December 22, 2023 notification area Updated guidance to reflect that this now only applies to OS versions prior to Windows 11.
December 22, 2023 system tray Updated guidance to reflect change with Windows 11.
November 15, 2023 enable, enables Updated guidance to avoid use of enable, provided links to related topics.
November 15, 2023 percent, percent sign (%), percentage Streamlined guidance, removed examples to focus on exception to the percent rules.
November 15, 2023 Windows 10, Windows 11 Updated guidance and title to reflect the deprecation of Windows 7 and 8.
June 20, 2023 Accessibility terms Updated guidance concerning neurodiversity.
June 6, 2023 Bluetooth Updated guidance to use registered trademark symbol on first mention.
May 22, 2023 disable, disables (functionality) Changed topic title to separate out functionality from accessibility meaning. Updated guidance to suggest alternatives for functionality. Provided an exception for admin use cases.
May 22, 2023 disabled (person) Changed topic title to separate out functionality from accessibility meaning. Updated guidance to reflect people-first language is preferred, but not always required if context is provided.
May 22, 2023 turn on, turn off Updated guidance to suggest as a replacement for enable, disable.
February 22, 2023 Accessibility terms Updated guidance to align with Accessibility (nuanced discussion of identity-first language); created new table of examples; adopted new table formatting for screen-reader compatibility.
February 22, 2023 objectives and key results (OKR) Created new topic.
February 22, 2023 key result (KR) Created new topic.
February 22, 2023 key performance indicator (KPI) Created new topic.
October 18, 2022 Formatting text in instructions Clarified the guidance on using dialog.
June 24, 2022 Date and time terms Reverted guidance (removed mention of ratio symbol in clock time).
June 24, 2022 Colons Reverted guidance (removed mention of ratio symbol in clock time).
June 24, 2022 Nouns and pronouns Added guidance regarding capitalization of proper nouns; added link to Person section for discussion of using pronouns in product UI.
June 24, 2022 Person Revised guidance to move away from first-person singular pronouns (with one notable exception when distinguishing ownership of content in shared visual space); updated examples for use of first- and second-person pronouns to reflect more use cases in UI; added guidance about pronouns in AI-generated content.
May 13, 2022 Lists Added another example of a bulleted list. Expanded the Exception and added examples to address gaps in guidance regarding lists that do not complete an introductory phrase, but whose items are all short, complete sentences.
May 13, 2022 Periods Added link to Lists topic in guidance.
May 13, 2022 Numbers Added new section on phone numbers.
May 13, 2022 phone, phone number Changed title of topic to include "phone number." Revised guidance to include mobile phones and to address phone number formatting.
December 15, 2021 Cloud-computing terms Revised guidance to terms in the cloud-computing collection.
December 9, 2021 SQL, SQL server Revised guidance to use the article "a" with SQL and updated examples.
August 26, 2021 multi- Added multicloud exception to guideline.
August 26, 2021 touch-sensitive Added new topic.
August 25, 2021 Bias-free communication Added inclusive language section.
August 12, 2021 colons Updated guidance on use of colons in clock time.
August 11, 2021 numbers Replaced colons with ratio symbols.
August 10, 2021 date and time terms New section on clock time.
May 31, 2021 workstream New guidance on spelling and use.
May 31, 2021 wellbeing New guidance on spelling and use.
April 30, 2021 invite New topic.
April 30, 2021 dark mode New topic.
April 30, 2021 SMB New topic.
March 31, 2021 bits and bytes Updated guidance on when to abbreviate certain terms.
March 31, 2021 dialog box, dialog, dialogue Updated guidance on use.
March 29, 2021 check, checkbox, check mark Updated guidance on use.
March 26, 2021 dropdown Updated guidance on spelling and use.
March 16, 2021 Welcome page Updated Welcome page.
January 15, 2021 blacklist Updated guidance on spacing for alternative term, blocklist.
January 15, 2021 environment variable Updated topic guidance.
January 15, 2021 whitelist Updated guidance on spacing for alternative term, allowlist.
November 24, 2020 Accessibility terms Updated topic to include guidance on using words such as "see", "read", and "look".
November 24, 2020 global Updated guidance wording to be more clear.
November 24, 2020 URLs and web addresses Updated example in References to specific sites and domains section.
November 24, 2020 worldwide vs. international Updated topic's wording and added example.
August 4, 2020 Bias-free communication Updated guidance regarding unconscious racial bias and associated examples.
August 4, 2020 blacklist Updated guidance regarding usage and examples.
August 4, 2020 master/slave, master/subordinate Updated topic name, guidance, and examples.
August 4, 2020 whitelist Updated guidance regarding usage and examples.
June 30, 2020 above Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 below Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 destination Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 earlier Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 Formatting punctuation Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 hot link Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 hot spot, hotspot Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 jump Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 later Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 navigate Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
June 30, 2020 shortcut, shortcut menu Updated guidance by replacing hyperlink with link.
April 29, 2020 Describing alternative input methods Updated example.
April 29, 2020 either/or Updated example.
April 29, 2020 Formatting text instructions Revised table. Clarified wording for Dialogue boxes entry.
April 29, 2020 mixed reality, mixed-reality Updated topic; removed acronym guidelines.
April 29, 2020 pane Added guidelines regarding preposition use; "Use the preposition on when referring to the contents of a pane."
March 31, 2020 Capitalization Added guidance for hyphenated compound words
March 31, 2020 Hyphens Updated list of examples.
March 31, 2020 later Updated list of examples.
March 31, 2020 multifactor authentication Added guidance for multifactor authentication.
March 31, 2020 Nouns and pronouns Added guidance for they.
March 31, 2020 Numbers Updated guidance on comma usage.
March 31, 2020 runs vs. runs on Updated list of examples.
March 31, 2020 Units of measure terms Updated examples on Speed frequency. Also updated comma exceptions and examples.
September 21, 2019 Mouse and mouse interaction term collection Added guidance for scroll.
September 21, 2019 Start button, Start menu Updated the guideline for when to use bold formatting for Start.
September 21, 2019 Describing interactions with UI Deleted press and hold. Clarified that select and hold is the correct term to use to describe pressing and holding a UI element. Added examples.
September 18, 2019 Numbers Added guidelines for using K, M, and B as abbreviations for thousand, million, and billion.
September 17, 2019 Microsoft Added a guideline about when to include Microsoft in references to product names.
September 13, 2019 Bias-free communication Clarified and expanded the guidelines for gender-neutral writing.
August 16, 2019 registry, registry settings Updated the examples.
August 8, 2019 author Expanded this topic to say don't use author as a verb when you mean in general "to make something." Use a more precise verb.
August 8, 2019 Code examples Clarified the approach to creating code examples, including planning for and writing. (No change to the guidelines themselves.)
August 8, 2019 Formatting developer text elements Added updated examples and fixed some errors.
August 8, 2019 Reference documentation Updated contents. Updated and added more examples.
July 25, 2019 Describing interactions with UI Clarified the use of select and enter in describing user actions in instructions. Added examples.
June 27, 2019 and so on Clarified that these terms shouldn't be used. Added examples of alternative wording.
June 27, 2019 sign in, sign out Added sign into and log into to the list of terms that shouldn't be used. Updated the examples.
May 28, 2019 "appears, displays" and "displays, appears" Deleted these topics from the A–Z word list. Microsoft style no longer makes a recommendation for these terms.
May 28, 2019 hard-code, hard-coded, hard-coding Renamed the "hard-coded" topic so that the guideline applies to the additional word forms.
May 28, 2019 passwordless Added a topic to the A–Z word list.
May 6, 2019 Names and contact information Added global considerations for content that addresses the customer by name, such as in email or the product UI.
April 4, 2019 Date and time term collection Added guidelines for abbreviating days of the week. Changed the guideline for month abbreviations to say don't use a period.
April 1, 2019 mixed reality, mixed-reality Added a topic to the A–Z word list.
April 1, 2019 fail over, fail back, failover, failback Added a topic to the A–Z word list.
April 1, 2019 single sign-on (SSO) Added a topic to the A–Z word list.
March 11, 2019 Commas Added guidelines for when to use a comma in a series of two or more adjectives that precede a noun.
February 28, 2019 Computer and device term collection Added guidelines for using desktop as a hardware term. Updated the guidelines for computer, PC, machine, and other device terms.
February 27, 2019 blade Clarified what the UI element called a blade is. Deleted the guideline to define blade on first mention.
February 22, 2019 AI and bot term collection Changed the name from "Bot term collection." Updated the guidelines for bot, chatbot, virtual agent, and AI. Added new guidelines for the terms intelligent/intelligence and Microsoft AI.
February 1, 2019 Formatting developer text elements Clarified the guideline for how to format UI text and updated the examples.
February 1, 2019 Formatting common text elements Clarified the guidelines for how to format error messages and UI text and how to refer to error messages in text. Updated the examples.
February 1, 2019 Formatting text in instructions Added guidelines for how to refer to palettes and toggles when they're referenced in instructions.
February 1, 2019 toggle Clarified the guideline for how to refer to toggle keys and switches.
February 1, 2019 palette Clarified the guideline for how to refer to palettes and updated the examples.
January 18, 2019 Internet of Things (IoT) Added a topic to the A–Z word list.
December 12, 2018 toggle Updated the guidance for using switch, turn on, and turn off when describing actions involving toggle switches and toggle keys. Added examples.
November 27, 2018 Mouse and mouse interaction term collection Updated the guideline to say that hover over is an acceptable alternative to point to and that hover is OK as an adjective. Added examples.
November 26, 2018 drill down, drill up, drill through Added a topic to the A–Z word list.
November 26, 2018 avg Added a topic to the A–Z word list.
November 8, 2018 e.g. Updated to say that for example, such as, and like are all OK to use instead of e.g.
November 7, 2018 Formatting text in instructions Changed the guideline for key names, combinations, and sequences to say don't put a space around the plus sign (+) in keyboard shortcuts. Also, use bold formatting for key names and keyboard shortcuts when they appear in instructions.
October 6, 2018 Tables Clarified that a table must have two or more rows and two or more columns. Otherwise, use a list.
October 4, 2018 Mouse and mouse interaction term collection Changed the guideline to say that mice is the preferred plural of mouse, not mouse devices.
September 11, 2018 org, organization Added a topic to the A–Z word list.
September 11, 2018 company vs. organization Added a topic to the A–Z word list.
September 10, 2018 e-sports Added a topic to the A–Z word list.