Word 2016 and Excel 2016 - Customize the File > Open menu

Anonymous

Hello,

How can I customize the File > Open menu in Word 2016 and Excel 2016, please?

Add a Place works only for the cloud.

As for This PC, it shows me a list of folders I am not interested in, and that apparently I cannot remove.

On the contrary, I'd like to add different folders, which are not even in the C drive but on a D drive.

The only customization I found is in Options > Advanced > File Locations, in there I changed the location for Documents to my D drive, but it does not affect the File > Open menu at all.

And in Excel 2016, this command is not even there under Options.

Thanks and regards,

Marco

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Answer accepted by question author

Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K MVP Volunteer Moderator

You can bypass this entirely by checking the box for "Don't show the Backstage when opening or saving files" at File | Options | Save. You can then use Ctrl+O or an Open button on the Quick Access Toolbar to go directly to the classic Open dialog, which is an Explorer window in which you can add Favorites to the Navigation pane. When you start Word, the Open dialog will default to the folder you have specified as the default location for your documents; if you open a file from a subfolder, it will become the default for the next open operation.

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Answer accepted by question author

Jay Freedman 208.2K Volunteer Moderator

When you "add Favorites to the Navigation pane" (renamed as Quick Access in Windows 10) and pin them there, they show up in the Open and Save dialogs of Office programs. That is equivalent to pinning them on the File > Open page of the Backstage, the thing that has been (unfortunately) removed. That's one of the reasons to avoid the Backstage as Suzanne suggested.

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84 additional answers

Anonymous

2016-06-23T15:23:27+00:00

If you position the mousepointer over a folder, do you get a pin character at the end?

![](http://fud.community.services.support.microsoft.com/Fud/FileDownloadHandler.ashx?fid=da56a1c9-6c50-4f5f-9655-e07c522b0067)

I do not have Word 2016 on my computer because I don't think it is finished yet. I use Word 2010 and 2003 to get my work done.

![](http://fud.community.services.support.microsoft.com/Fud/FileDownloadHandler.ashx?fid=593a2a8e-aecb-4463-bddb-378278c37ef8)

It does show up in my right-click menu; I've always simply clicked on the pin character, though.

![](http://fud.community.services.support.microsoft.com/Fud/FileDownloadHandler.ashx?fid=0f8f8129-0d28-449c-b890-2fd9a9cfc9ab)

I am wondering if the recent files (or folders) list is being removed from Office 2016.

HI,

I do get that little pin in the Open menu, but not in the Save As menu, which is where I want it. They've accommodated it in one but not the other; seems like a bit of an oversight.
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Charles Kenyon 170.8K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator

2016-06-23T14:57:04+00:00

If you position the mousepointer over a folder, do you get a pin character at the end?

I do not have Word 2016 on my computer because I don't think it is finished yet. I use Word 2010 and 2003 to get my work done.

It does show up in my right-click menu; I've always simply clicked on the pin character, though.

I am wondering if the recent files (or folders) list is being removed from Office 2016.
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Anonymous

2016-06-23T13:41:24+00:00

You can pin folders to the recent folders list. That process was described earlier in this thread.

Yes, that 'solution' was the reason I posted in the first place. That post says to right click and it says there are options that don't exist when I right click. All I get is 'Open' or 'Copy path to clipboard;' there is no option to pin to the recent folders list.
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