To do so, open a document that’s in Compatibility Mode and click File > Info > Check for Issues > Check Compatibility.Ĭlick the “Select Version to Show” box. You can find out which Compatibility Mode a document is in. How to Find Out Which Compatibility Mode a Document Is Using Microsoft offers a complete list of Word features unavailable in Compatability Mode. These features require Word 2013 or newer. The exact features that are disabled in Compatibility Mode depend on which Office application you’re using and which type of Compatability Mode a document is using. For example, if you’re using Word 2016 and you open a document that’s in Word 2010 Compatibility Mode, you won’t be able to use Apps for Office or embed online videos.
This mode is intended to ensure users of different versions of Microsoft Office can continue working together and documents created with older versions of Office won’t look any different when they’re opened in future versions of Office. If Word 2016 let you use modern features, the other person may not be able to view the entire document. You can then save the document and send it back to the person who sent it to you without running into problems. 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. However, when you open a document created with Office 2010 or an older version of Office, it’s opened in Compatibility Mode to ensure it looks the same in those old versions as it does in the 2013 or 2016.Ĭompatibility Mode also disables access to new features.
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.
Modern versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint also handle document formatting a bit differently from older versions. Modern versions of Microsoft Office have introduced new features that aren’t compatible with older versions of Microsoft Office.