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

Anonymous
2015-09-28T09:13:42+00:00

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

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2015-09-28T13:49:12+00:00

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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Jay Freedman 208.2K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2017-06-13T19:32:24+00:00

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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  1. Anonymous
    2015-11-17T13:26:51+00:00

    You're correct. It seems unnecessarily restrictive and complicated. It also slows the file open/save process as by default it uses the cloud location.

    In most cases I work on the local file/folder copies and I'm happy for OneDrive to manage the sync process (if the folder is one that is synced to the cloud) in the background.

    Folders (local and networked) should be accorded the same status as cloud locations. It would be logical to allow folders to be added as places in the file open/save dialog.

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  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.2K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-10-23T21:09:12+00:00

    While this would undoubtedly be helpful, I venture to say that most power users avoid the Open tab of the Backstage entirely; the Open dialog does permit using the Favorites. But you can post your suggestion at http://word.uservoice.com/ (search the posted suggestions first to make sure no one else has already suggested it).

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-10-23T16:00:45+00:00

    This tip is extremely useful, but I still hope that in a future update of Office 2016 the Add places option in the Open menu will indeed include also local folders on the user's PC.

    Thanks,

    Marco

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