Touch Bar support added to Office 2016 for Mac Slow Ring Insiders

Why it matters to you

The MacBook Pro’s new Touch Bar just got more useful — Microsoft has added Touch Bar support for Office 2016 for Mac Insiders.

One of the more innovate and popular features that Apple added to the 2016 MacBook Air is the new Touch Bar, an OLED touchscreen display that replaces the old-school function keys and adapts to what a user is doing in MacOS or other applications. In order for the Touch Bar to be as valuable as possible, developers need to update their apps to support it.

Apple has added Touch Bar support to its own professional creativity applications, including Logic Pro X and Final Cut Pro X, and third-party developers are constantly adding support to their apps as well. Now, one of Apple’s most important third-party developers, Microsoft, has followed suit by adding Touch Bar support to its Office productivity suite.

More: 2016 Macbook Pros becoming more versatile as Touch Bar receives more app support

There’s a catch, however. If you want to use the Touch Bar in Office 2016 for MacOS, then you’ll need to be signed up for Microsoft’s Office Insider for Mac program. It’s the Slow Ring of that program that just received Touch Bar support, with the release of Office 2016 for Mac version 15.31 (170207).

You can sign up for the Office Insider for Mac program here. Once you’re an Office Insider, then you can choose to join one of two levels. The Office Insider Slow Ring is for those more risk-averse users who want early access to supported builds with minimal hassle. The Office Insider Fast ring is for risk takers who can live with more issues but want access to the absolute earliest preview builds.

If you’re already an Office Insider on the Slow Ring, then you might have already received the update automatically. If not, you can open any Office app. then go to Help > Check for Updates and kick off the update manually. Once you do, you’ll be able to more easily access Office commands using your MacBook Pro’s shiny new Touch Bar.