Microsoft Office 365 apps now run natively on Apple silicon Macs

Universal versions of Excel, Onenote, Outlook, Powerpoint and Word are available.

In a blog post last month, Microsoft said that the core apps of Office 365 – Excel, Onenote, Outlook, Powerpoint, and Word – are now Universal apps that run natively on either Intel or Apple silicon.

To install the updated apps, check the Mac App Store, or open an Office app, click the Help menu and select Check for Updates.

A Universal version of Microsoft Teams is still under development.

In the meantime, Teams runs under Rosetta on Apple silicon Macs.

Microsoft also previewed many new features that are coming within a few weeks and in the early part of 2021. An upcoming update to Outlook will support icloud and UI enhancements to match the look of macos Big Sur. In January, Microsoft will release a revamped Office Start, which will incorporate Microsoft’s Fluent UI, so working in Office feels more Mac-like. Other new features include:

• Tell Me, a search tool to help you find tools or actions. Search in Outlook lets you use ‘language you use every day’ to find emails, events and files.

• Data from Picture, which can take information from a photo and turn it into editable data.

• Dictation toolbar, which allows for voice command input in Word and Outlook.

• Microsoft Editor, a Word tool for spelling grammar and writing style.

• Shared calendars in Outlook for Mac.

• ‘Modern commenting’ in Word, with support for @mentions.

• Excel sheet view, ‘to sort and filter your data without disrupting what others see’.

• Microsoft Information Protection sensitivity labels, which ‘allow you to classify and protect your organization’s data’.