Everything you need to about Office 2021

Office 2021 may be the next form of Microsoft Office for consumers and small businesses -- coming out October 5, 2021.

In Microsoft Office 2021, you'll find new inking tools, functions, data types, translation and editing tools, motion graphics, ease-of-use features, and so much more!

And Office 2021 is available for Windows and macOS.

Here's what we should know to date.

Office 2021 Release Date
October 5, 2021

Microsoft will release Office 2021 to consumers and Office LTSC for commercial customers on October 5, 2021.

Within 24 hours Microsoft will release Windows 11, the most recent Microsoft Operating-system for consumers and businesses.

Both Office 2021 and Windows 11 will offer you a subscription-free option to Microsoft 365 and Windows 365, respectively.

Is office 2021 replacing Office 2019?

Yes, Office 2021 is the replacement of Office 2019.

Office 2021 is what Microsoft calls a 'perpetual license' version. It is a single payment for ongoing use of the software without any annual payments (subscription).

Office 2021 will be sold in retail to the people and smaller businesses.

A similar product, Office LTSC, will be sold to volume license customers or commercial customers.

They're both designed for those individuals and businesses who don't wish to subscribe to the cloud-powered Microsoft 365 variants.

Why should you buy office 2021?

Microsoft confirmed that Office 2021 could be released with a handful of additional features. And it has stayed true to its word.

The brand new features in Office 2021 include performance improvements, accessibility improvements across many apps, and other advanced features. These include:

Dark mode support
Dynamic Arrays & XLOOKUP() in Excel
Line Focus put into Word's Immersive Reader.
Record a slide show with narration in PowerPoint.

The dark mode had been obtainable in Microsoft 365, but this may be the first time we have seen it on the standalone version - office 2021.

The Dark Mode in 0ffice 2021 is definitely an even darker version of the original mode that was presented. The text along with other elements on the page will even shift to darker hues.

Microsoft has included a 'Switch Modes' button, which will be put into the vista menu over the document.

There are more new features within the commercial-focused LTSC version. There are accessibility and performance improvements across many apps as well as the advanced features.

What's new inside your favorite Office app?

Note: Microsoft notes that feature improvements, unless otherwise noted, will also be contained in Office LTSC for commercial customers and Office 2021 for Mac.

What's new in Office 2021 - Office 2021 additional features

Let's look at the new features for each specific app in Office 2021!

Visual Refresh

Office 2021 includes a new visual refresh that allows you to make use of a modernized Start experience and newly refreshed tabs in the ribbon.

You will now experience a clean, clear style with Monoline iconography that communicates action and features with simple visuals.

Visual refresh is new in: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook.

Stock media

Office Premium Creative Content collection has a facelift with increased rich media content. Now, there's a curated library of stock images, icons, and more which help you express yourself.

New in: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Visio

Microsoft Search

Now you can find what you'll need using the new Microsoft Search engine towards the top of your Microsoft Office apps on Windows.

Microsoft search is a powerful tool that helps you easily discover what you want, from text to commands to assist and much more.

New in: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Onenote

Performance improvements

Microsoft wants users to see improved performance, speed, and stability, across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

Now you can get faster calculations from common Excel functions like SUMIF, COUNTIF, and AVERAGEIF.

New in: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook

Updated Draw tab

The draw tab has got a facelift.

Access and change the color of all your inking tools in one location. Simplify how you use ink using new Draw tab additions: Point Eraser, Ruler, and Lasso.

New in: Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Improved Autosave

Autosave presently has a button.

You toggle the autosave button in order to save your changes as they happen in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Upload your files to OneDrive, OneDrive for Business, or SharePoint Online to ensure all your updates are saved automatically.

New in: Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Support for OpenDocument format (ODF)

Office 2021 now supports OpenDocument format (ODF) 1.3

The ODF 1.3 specification supports many new features and enables you to obtain a refreshed consumer experience.

Sketched style outline

In the new update, the Sketched style outline now allows you to provide a casual, hand-drawn turn to shapes in your presentations.

Different outlines like Curved, Freehand, or Scribble options, find the outline under Format Shape > Line > Sketched style.

New in: Word, Excel, PowerPoint

Select your own color

Now you can select the perfect color with the new input field within the Colors dialog for Hex color values.

Now you do not possess to invest time converting Hex color values into RGB values.

For any property where one can define color, now you can enter a Hex color value in the Hex box, for example, #0F4C81 or 444.

New in: Access, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Onenote, Visio, Project

Additional features in Office 2021 per app

New in Excel

XLOOKUP: Row by row, find anything you need in a table or range with XLOOKUP.
Dynamic arrays: You can now write one formula in Excel and return an array of values. Use Excel to expedite calculations and insights with 6 new functions: FILTER, SORT, SORTBY, UNIQUE, SEQUENCE, and RANDARRAY.
LET function: Microsoft has included the LET function in Office 2021. It assigns names to calculation results to store intermediate calculations, values, or defining names in the formula.
XMATCH function: The XMATCH function in Excel searches for a particular item in an array/range of cells and returns the item's relative position. XMATCH can also help you come back a value in a wide array.

New in Outlook

Translator and ink in Outlook: Translate email messages into a lot more than 70 languages and view the transcript?a all within Outlook.
Drawing/inking: Annotate email images or attract another canvas using your finger, pen, or mouse.
Instant search: use Instant Search in Outlook to quickly find emails. Select the search bar (located over the Outlook ribbon) to help find email messages any place in Outlook. Exactly like you do in, say, Gmail.

New in PowerPoint PowerPoint

New and improved Record Slide Show: You can now record Slide Show. Office 2021 now supports presenter video recording, laser pointer recording, and ink recording.
Replay your ink strokes: Draw and replay your ink strokes because they were drawn. This lets you illustrate things step by step or even show a thought process. You can also pause the replay and choose the point to start the replay.
Arrange elements on your slides for screen readers: Select elements in screen-reading order and rearrange them as necessary. This allows you to communicate your message effectively.

New in Access

Refresh, remove or relink linked tables: Access presently has an up-to-date Linked Table Manager in a central location for viewing and managing all data sources and linked tables within the database.
The new Date/Time Extended data type: Access comes with an updated Date/Time data type to boost syntax compatibility with SQL and increase accuracy and level of detail in records that include dates and times. Microsoft implemented the SQL DateTime2 data type into Access.
Tab manager: Monitor your database objects in Access. You can see the active tab, easily drag tabs to rearrange them, and close database objects with just one click.

New in Visio

New Azure stencils and shapes: Visio presently has a lot more stencils that will help you create up-to-date Azure diagrams. You are able to build Azure diagrams for network topologies, virtual machine configurations, operations, and much more.
New AWS stencils and shapes: Visio now has infrastructure shapes from Amazon Web Services (AWS). You should use stencils with the latest AWS shapes for you create diagrams.
Content for social distancing planning at work: With Covid-19, many workplaces need re-planning. They need to stick to the social distancing guidelines. This new Visio template, and also the Workplace Social Distancing stencil, provide several shapes, fill patterns, and line patterns, both scaled and unscaled, to help space replanning.