Outlook 365 Ribbon, etc

Copper Contributor

The ribbon on Outlook 365 looks different after a restart this morning. For example rather than a X (cross) for Delete it now a symbol of a rubbish bin. Also other symbols have changed on the ribbon to this style of look and even things like reply purple arrow.

 

Any idea how to get back to the original classic look?

53 Replies
That’s the way office is going to look. You can’t really change it. Your only option is to turn back your release to a release that hasn’t brought these updates to it like current etc. see this post for registry to edit.

http://tomtalks.uk/2016/01/choose-office-2016-branch-local-group-policy/

Hey Chris, thanks for the reply. So do you know when did this particular feature get deployed, only saw it after an Outlook restart a few hours ago. Any details/link on this particular feature release? This doesn't really match up with what I am seeing: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/your-ribbon-icons-have-a-new-look-c6bc4cd8-d151-41d3-8276-f...

 

It seems to impact many other areas too outside of ribbon bar like Send symbol for new email, etc. Seems to be a whole new theme of some description.

 


@Chris Webb wrote:
That’s the way office is going to look. You can’t really change it. Your only option is to turn back your release to a release that hasn’t brought these updates to it like current etc. see this post for registry to edit.

http://tomtalks.uk/2016/01/choose-office-2016-branch-local-group-policy/


 

Can you share a screenshot of what you see?

That's the blog post where i heard about Outlook redesign first time https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Outlook-Blog/Designed-for-Simplicity-User-experience-updates-...

But, for me it updated icons in whole Office (Excel and Word also) and my ribbon is not compact yet. Just a regular ribbon with new tabs animation and icons.

 

I don't like the new design much either. Especially that it had slowed down my Office significantly (new animations are too slow). But that's Microsoft's decision and i don't think it will change. So installing older build is not an option, as you would have to go to the latest builds eventually to get security updates.


Do you know how to change the new ribbon bar to the single line/row ribbon - cannot see how to switch to this mode.
@wroot wrote:

That's the blog post where i heard about Outlook redesign first time https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/Outlook-Blog/Designed-for-Simplicity-User-experience-updates-...

But, for me it updated icons in whole Office (Excel and Word also) and my ribbon is not compact yet. Just a regular ribbon with new tabs animation and icons.

 

I don't like the new design much either. Especially that it had slowed down my Office significantly (new animations are too slow). But that's Microsoft's decision and i don't think it will change. So installing older build is not an option, as you would have to go to the latest builds eventually to get security updates.


 

I don't know and i think this is not available yet.


@wroot wrote:

I don't know and i think this is not available yet.


Certainly single-row ribbon bar is discussed heavily on the announcement of the "new features" - crazy they have updated all and not included the ability to choose this option.

Hello Juan Carlos,

 

I have exactly the same problem and I can provide you with a screenshot of the hideous new look my Outlook suddenly has.

 

outlook.jpg

 

I am very bothered that I wans't asked about this change / update! I think the design is horrible and it is definitely ruining the whole office 365 experience for me.

 

How can I undo the changes and go back to the previous UI ? These kind of undates should be optional.

Microsoft is not going to ask every individual user of millions they have. They can gather feedback via feedback dialog, feedback hub type of apps, etc. I think they are already set in stone to go with this redesign. So i doubt you will have an option to use older version (unless HUGE amount of users complain and some big companies). Having to support two UI variants is also not efficient.

 

You can go to the previous build using this instructions https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2770432/how-to-revert-to-an-earlier-version-of-office-2013-... but you will not receive new security updates and other updates this way.

 

Having a redesign at some point is how tech works. We are not using same websites and programs designed 20 years ago. Everything evolves and changes..

Come on. It’s not THAT bad or different. You guys are over reacting a little bit. But same thing happened with the ribbon design. People will get used to it and move on. Everyone had their own opinion. I personally like the changes.

What bothers me is that all icons feel the same, they all are black and white on top of a very bright / pale grey background. Thin lines and a very very simplistic design, almost sterile. You know what came to my mind when I fist saw it??

 

system-1.png

When I saw the primitive icons, I thought it was a technical fault, as if it had reverted to some archaic form of Office. As they say, "s**t happens", and in this case, it's happened.

Strange. I have the new ribbon in Outlook, but not in Word, Excel or PowerPoint.

Is this because I also have Visio and Project installed?

However, another PC of mine does have all new Ribbon. Office is reporting same build numbers as of 10/10/2018

I also have Visio and had Visio 2013 (now it's Office 365) and had Project installed as a test a few weeks ago. My colleague has Visio also, but for him only Outlook icons have updated. Although in Word it shows new first page layout.. 

I think my biggest grief with the new icons is that they /feel/ larger; which in turn makes the ribbon feel taller (taking up more space).  I don't know if they actually are larger, but that's my initial reaction to them.  Seems like the interface got a little more touch friendly, much to the chagrin of keyboard/mouse users.

 

Edit:  The ribbon definitely feels larger because the tabs are now the same color as the ribbon rather than a contrast color.

I have two laptops, sharing an Office subscription, and with all the same settings and programs installed - I keep them in synch.  At least I thought they were completely in synch.  Both have been updated to the latest version in the last couple of days.  One is showing the original ribbon in Outlook, the other is showing the funky new ribbon.  I don't know what the new ribbon style adds to the user experience - it looks very retro.  I don't like it but no doubt will get used to it.  I don't know why my two laptops are now different though.

I have another computer with Visio and project and that has the full new ribbon bar across the main office apps of Outlook, word, excel and PowerPoint.
My half in half out version has the new ribbon UI in Outlook and has since 1st Oct 2018, but not for Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
My file menu seems to show a slightly different UI.

It’s annoying because it’s different on different installs using the same account.

I like the new clean UI and would lover to be able to force the change to my main machine.

D. Bentley....The update they show in the video would be fine. They missed your point and I have the same problem.  See picture...

 


@Dale Helvig wrote:

D. Bentley....The update they show in the video would be fine. They missed your point and I have the same problem.  See picture...

 


The single-row ribbon bar discussed on the announcement of the "new features" certainly would be good to have the ability to select compared to this wide  ribbon bar complete with throwback style symbols, Strange many days later since release they have updated all except not included the ability to choose this option.

My Word, Excel, etc are still the old classic ribbon bar, only Outlook has seen the update applied. certainly is an unusual way to rollout a major change to these products.