The Office Button is probably the most misunderstood feature of Microsoft Office 2007.
Familiar menus were eliminated in Office 2007 and replaced with tabs on a ribbon, except for the File menu, which was placed under a multi-colored button.
I’m sure many users assume it is a logo or decoration, not a pivotal part of the Office programs.
Where is the Office Button in Word 2010?
You will be happy to know Microsoft Office 2010 uses a File tab instead of a button. You can find the File tab right next to the Home tab on the ribbon.
What is the Office Button?
The button, which is located in the top left corner of the ribbon next to the Quick Access toolbar, is a link to the “missing” file menu, which is now referred to as the Office Menu.
Additionally, it contains items that were found under the Help and Tools menus in previous versions.
So let’s investigate what is hiding under this mysterious button!
The Word 2007 Office menu
First, let’s take a look at a side-by-side comparison of the File menu from Microsoft Word 2003 and the Office menu from Word 2007.
In the images below, you can see many items, such as New, Open, Save, and Save As show in both lists. In Office 2007, there are new menu items that did not exist in 2003, such as Prepare, Publish, and Business Contact Manager, as well as links to Office Live (which is now called OneDrive).
What’s missing in 2007 are the Version and File Search tools. There is no equivalent version tool. File Search was actually a hyperlink to the Windows Search tool, which is found by clicking the Windows Start button and selecting Search.
Exit has been replaced by Close, which closes the active file, but does not exit the program.
The Properties menu item is located under Prepare in Office 2007.
Word 2003 to 2007 Reference Guide
Would you like help finding Microsoft Word 2003 menu items? Download the Microsoft Office Interactive Word 2003 to 2007 Command Reference Guide.
Other items of interest under the Office Button
Items from the Tools and Help menus in Microsoft Word 2003 are now located under the Office Button. These items include the Tools/Options menu, Help About, and other resources. However, they are not easy to find! You must click the Word Options button to access them.
The final shortcut is an Exit button. Clicking the Exit button closes all open files and the program. You will be presented with the option to save changes in your documents before they are closed.