Microsoft’s Office Apps Are Getting a New Default Theme in September

Microsoft is preparing to roll out a new default theme across its Office apps in September. The new theme will introduce a changed color palette, updated default line weights, as well as Aptos, the new default font Microsoft unveiled last month.

This new Office theme is currently available for Office Insiders in the Beta channel on Windows, macOS, and Android. Testers can see it across Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook, with iOS support coming later.

Microsoft detailed what to expect on its Microsoft 365 Insider blog last month, and the Microsoft 365 roadmap entry (via The Verge) now indicates that the public rollout will start in September 2023. You can see the changes in the default colors and outline weights below.

The Office team emphasized that the new default styles in Word will make text easier to read and that emails in Outlook should also benefit from this. Aptos, the new default font that is replacing Calibri, is actually Bierstadt, which was the most popular choice from Office users among 5 replacement candidates.

“As the theme rolls out, all new documents, presentations, worksheets, and emails you create in Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook will use the new theme,” the Office team explained. However, existing Office documents won’t be altered once the new theme starts rolling out next month. The current Office theme will remain available under the “Office Theme 2013-2022” name.