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.
