Managing Backstage View in Word 

Please note this tip contains information for all users as well as specific methods of managing views in Microsoft Word with a Screen Reader.  

Introduction

Often it is the small things that make the difference.  It can be a setting or a little tweak that makes life (or technology) a bit easier to manage. 

This article will explore some settings that may help make your experience with Word more streamlined and comfortable.  

The Options Dialogue

The Options Dialogue is used to set preferences for how you interact with Word.  To open the Options Dialogue:

1. Press Alt + F to open the Backstage View or click on the File Menu.

2. To open the Options dialogue, press the letter T. 

• If you prefer, you may arrow or scroll down in the view until you see “More”, click on it, then scroll down to “Options". 

Layout of the Options Dialogue

Visually, the Options Dialogue has two main areas.  On the left are the various tabs.  Each tab has a title and controls the options that are grouped within that tab. 

As soon as the Options Dialogue is opened, the cursor is focused in that list of tabs.  Use arrow keys to select the appropriate tab.  There are eleven different tabs that may have focus.  Some examples include General, Display, Proofing , Save, Ease of Access, and so on. 

Once the desired tab has focus, the user may use the Tab Key to navigate to the portion of the dialogue containing various settings and options located within that tab.  At that time, the user should use the Tab Key to navigate to each of the adjustable settings and checkboxes. 

Below are some specific settings the user may wish to adjust.

Show the Start Screen when Opening Word

When Word is opened, it can either open a new document or open the Start Screen.  The Start Screen places the user in a view of Word that shows recent files, templates to pick from, and a template gallery. 

The default for Word is to show the Start Screen.  To turn this off and open a blank Word document instead, follow the directions below:

1. 1. Press Alt + F to open the Backstage View or click on the File Menu.

   2. To open the Options dialogue, press the letter T. 

   3. You will be focused in the tree view pane on the General tab.  Press Tab to navigate to the pane containing the options and press the letter H.

      1. 1. • Alternatively, you may continue to press the Tab Key to navigate among the many available options until you arrive at the checkbox noted below.

   4. You are now focused on a checkbox that says “show start screen when this application starts”.  To check or uncheck the box, press the Space Bar. 

   5. To close the dialogue, press the Tab Key until you hear OK button and press Enter to activate it.

Saving and Opening Files Without the Backstage View

When using a screen reader, or even sometimes if you are not, the Backstage View of Word (which is the area that shows up when pressing Alt + F) can be a bit overwhelming.  Some individuals choose to open and save using Windows Explorer.  For those not familiar, Windows Explorer is the program used by Windows to manage files.  That is the program that opens when you open your documents folder, downloads folder, etc. 

Those who used a computer before Office 2010 was released used Windows Explorer much more.  But when the Backstage View was introduced and the “drop down files” disappeared, Microsoft moved away from using Windows Explorer and Word in that way.  The new experience offered more space to display different options.  Honestly, at the time, most people either loved it or hated it.  Most screen readers were irritated by the Backstage View because they had to perform a whole new set of keyboard navigation commands they did not need to use before. 

There is a way to ask Word to bring back using Windows Explorer to open and save files from within Word:

1. Press Alt + F to open the Backstage View or click on the File Menu.

2. To open the Options dialogue, press the letter T. 

3. You will be focused in the tree view pane on the General tab.  Navigate down to the Save tab by using the Down Arrow or by pressing S to go directly to the Save area. 

4. Press Tab to navigate to the pane containing the options.  You may use the Tab key to navigate to the checkbox called “Don’t show the Backstage View when Opening or Saving Files Using Keyboard Shortcuts” or you may press the letter S to navigate directly there.  Use Space to check the box (by default, it is unchecked).

5. To close the dialogue, press the Tab Key until you hear OK button and press Enter to activate it.

Save to Computer by Default

Whether or not you have enabled or disabled the Backstage View when saving files, the default for Word (and all other Office applications) is to offer the option of saving a file to your OneDrive.  Most of our staff prefer to save to their computers instead of the cloud.

Word can be customized to offer to save documents for you locally rather than in the cloud by default.  This gives you fewer items to navigate when you want to save to a physical or network drive.

To enable Word to present you with saving to your computer’s hard drive rather than the cloud, follow these instructions:

1. 1. Press Alt + F to open the Backstage View or click on the File Menu.

   2. To open the Options dialogue, press the letter T. 

   3. You will be focused in the tree view pane on the General tab.  Navigate down to the Save tab by using the Down Arrow or by pressing S to go directly to the Save area. 

   4. Press Tab to navigate to the pane containing the options.  You may use the Tab key to navigate to the checkbox called “Save to Computer by Default” or press the letter C to jump directly to that checkbox.  Use Space to check the box (by default, it is unchecked).

   5. To close the dialogue, press the Tab Key until you hear OK button and press Enter to activate it.

Key Takeaways

1. The Backstage View is the area that appears when you either press Alt + F or click on the File Menu item along the top of the screen

2. To personalize Word, you may get to the Options Dialogue by opening the Backstage area and pressing T

   1. • You can also get to Options by opening the Backstage View, arrowing down until you hear More, pressing Enter, then arrowing down to Options and pressing Enter.

3. The Options Dialogue contains two panels: A list tree view pane and a pane containing radio buttons, check boxes, and combo boxes. 

4. Several settings can be changed using the Options Dialogue

Resources:

• JAWS Tip: I Want the Save and Open Dialogues Back

• JAWS Tip: Turning off the Backstage Menu

• Options in Word: General

• Customize the Save Experience in Word