New features in the Windows release include the ability to create, open, edit, and save files in the cloud straight from the desktop, a new search tool for commands available in Word, PowerPoint, Excel and Outlook named “Tell Me”, and co-authoring in real time with users connected to Office Online.

Other smaller features include Insights, a feature powered by Bing to provide contextual information from the web, new chart types in Excel (such as treemap, sunburst chart (also known as a ring chart), waterfall chart, box plot and histogram), and a data loss prevention feature in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The user interface design of Office 2016 is relatively unchanged from its predecessor, Office 2013. It retains the flat design that was introduced along with Microsoft design language, albeit a few modifications to the layout are made, in order to conform with the design of Microsoft Office Mobile. Office 2016 has three themes. The default theme, known as “colorful”, features a solid colour on the top band of the ribbon, corresponding to the colour of the Office app being used, for example, a solid dark blue is featured prominently in Microsoft Word. The theme had been described as useful in making the tab headings more distinct. In addition, both the “white” and “dark grey” themes from Office 2013 are available as well, though, no new backgrounds have been added, nor existing backgrounds removed.