What you need to know
- The visually refreshed Office apps won't be available for testing until later this week.
- Microsoft initially anticipated the refreshed apps to roll out to testers last week.
- Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher, and Visio have all been refreshed with a new look.
Microsoft was set to start testing the visually refreshed versions of its Office apps last week. At the last minute, the company had to push back the initial release of the preview apps. An updated Insider page explains that the refreshed apps should instead arrive for testers this week.
The support page used to read, " This visual refresh will be available to Beta Channel users running build Version 2107 Build 14228.20000 or later on Windows 11 or Windows 10."
Now it states, "(7/2) UPDATE: We apologize for the delay in making this much anticipated visual refresh available to you. We expect to release a new build, with this update, next week."
The update was added late last week, so the apps should roll out to testers this week.
Microsoft never publicly committed to a firm date to start testing the refreshed Office apps, so this isn't much of a delay.
The refreshed Office apps are built to "shine on the new Windows 11 OS," according to Microsoft, but they will also roll out to Windows 10.
Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, Project, Publisher, and Visio all have a visual refresh on the way. The apps will use Fluent Design principles and align with the look of Windows 11.
To test out the refreshed Office apps, people need to be Beta Channel users of Office. We have a guide on how to enroll in the Office Insider program if you aren't a tester yet.
