What about “Compatibility Mode” in Microsoft Office

When you open a document created in an older version of Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint in a modern version of Office, you may see “Compatibility Mode” appear after the name of the document in the titlebar. This changes the way the document appears and prevents you from using some modern features.

What Is Compatibility Mode?

Modern versions of Microsoft Office have introduced new features that aren’t compatible with older versions of Microsoft Office. Modern versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint also handle document formatting a bit differently from older versions.

When you create a new document in Office 2013 or 2016, it’s created as a modern document with access to all these new features and the latest formatting styles. However, when you open a document created with Office 2010 or an older version of Office,when  it’s opened in Compatibility Mode to ensure it looks the same in those old versions as it does in the 2013 or 2016.

For example, if someone creates a document in Word 2007 and you open it in Word 2016, Word 2016 will prevent you from using features that Word 2007 wouldn’t understand. You can then save the document and send it back to the person who sent it to you without running into problems. If Word 2016 let you use modern features, the other person may not be able to view the entire document.

How to Find Out Which Compatibility Mode a Document Is Using

You can find out which Compatibility Mode a document is in. To do so, open a document that’s in Compatibility Mode and click File > Info > Check for Issues > Check Compatibility.

Click the “Select Version to Show” box

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How to Update a Document and Leave Compatibility Mode

To get a document out of Compatibility Mode, open it in the appropriate Office application and click File > Info > Convert. This will convert the older document to a modern type of Office document.

Don’t do this if you (or someone else) needs to work with the document using an older version of Office, like Office 2010 or an older version. If someone sent you a document in Compatibility Mode, you shouldn’t update it before sending it back to them. 

After you agree, “Compatibility Mode” will vanish from the title bar. You may want to quickly look through the document to confirm that there are no layout changes you need to fix. 

What To Do If New Documents Are in Compatibility Mode

If every document you create is in Compatibility Mode, your Office application is likely set to create documents in an older file format.

To check this, head to File > Options > Save. Click the “Save files in this format” box and ensure it’s set to the modern type of document. For example, select “Word Document (.docx)” for Word. If you select “Word 97-2003 Document (.doc)” , Office will always save files to the older file format, which means they’ll always be in Compatibility Mode by default.