From Clunky to Funky: Word, Excel and PowerPoint for the web

Matthew shares his observations about working in the browser 

Reading time: 3 minutes

The web versions of the Word, Excel and PowerPoint often come under fire as lacking features, but I am a fan. 

Granted when they first arrived, they were basic, however over time they’ve developed significantly quietly in the background. I’ve switched over to doing quite a considerable amount of work in them, in particular in Word. 

Flow vs. Slow 

I initially started using them when I moved to Teams, I found that opening documents in Teams itself was too disruptive to my flow, yet opening in the desktop app was too slow. So as a compromise, I set the default to open to the browser. (If you didn’t know you could change that take a look in Teams in Settings > Files and links) 

I value the ability to hop between tabs when I’m working on multiple documents, especially handy if I’m drafting content for our website or social media posts, it’s also much quicker than jumping between apps.  

Yes, I do need to switch to the desktop app for more complex working. But for drafting, reviewing and quick edits the web versions are great. 

Nice new look 

A change, that I think is a nice touch is the new File menu and nearby changes that are rolling out now.  

Firstly, taking a look at the File menu. I like how uncluttered this now looks. Simply to get to what you want to do. I believe it’s a great move to replace Save As, with some new clear actions that let you create a copy online or export. When you create a copy, you can rename the copy and choice another location in your OneDrive, Teams or SharePoint. 

It’s great that you can see where the document is held, and have an obvious link to the save location, that opens in a new tab. 

My only observation is I’d probably look for download in Export, it’s actually under Create a copy (I can see the connection). 

Another tweak that I like is being able to click the filename to rename the file. Really quick and easy, not perhaps obvious but a super-helpful pop-up lets you know every time your cursor is nearby! 

If you’re still avoiding the web versions because of previous bad experience, perhaps give them an explore to see how they’ve moved on from the early days? Do you use the web apps, let us know? 

Matthew 

Matthew Burrell is a consultant at Your 365 Coach

Published 6 September 2024

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