How to Turn on Focus Mode in Microsoft Word

This wikiHow will show you how to enable focus mode in Microsoft Word. Focus mode hides the taskbar (or dock on Mac) and the ribbon and only shows your Word document, which reduces distractions and helps you focus on the document.

Steps

  1. Image titled Turn on Focus Mode in Microsoft Word Step 1
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    Open a Word document. These documents end in .docx or .doc You can also open up a new blank Word document by starting Word (the app with the blue gradient squares).

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:
Turning on Focus Mode

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    Click on the focus button. This button has a document surrounded by a box and is located on the bottom toolbar.
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    2
    Click on the View tab. This tab is located on the ribbon at the top.
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    Click on Focus. This button has a document surrounded by a box. It is located in the "Immersive" group.
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    Type Focus into the search bar. This will show the "Focus mode" command that you can then click on.

Method 2
Method 2 of 2:
Turning off Focus Mode

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    Click on the top of the screen. On Mac, just move your cursor to the top of the screen.
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    Click on Exit focus mode on Mac. This will turn off focus mode on your Mac.
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    Click on the restore button on Windows. This will bring the window down, effectively turning off focus mode.
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    4
    Click on the focus button. This button has a document surrounded by a box and is located on the bottom toolbar.
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    5
    Click on the View tab. This tab is located on the ribbon at the top.
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    6
    Click on Focus. This button has a document surrounded by a box. It is located in the "Immersive" group.
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    Type Focus into the search bar. This will show the "Focus mode" command that you can then click on.

Community Q&A

  • Question
    I don't have the Focus button. Why is that?
    Zhongli, Archon of Liyue (Aasim)
    Zhongli, Archon of Liyue (Aasim)
    Community Answer
    If you do not have Office 365, you will not be able to use Focus Mode.
  • Question
    I have Office 365 for Mac. Still don't have focus mode. Why?
    Zhongli, Archon of Liyue (Aasim)
    Zhongli, Archon of Liyue (Aasim)
    Community Answer
    Focus mode is only available on Microsoft Word (not Word Online). You may not have the latest version of Word, either.

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About This Article

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, volunteer authors worked to edit and improve it over time. This article has been viewed 17,574 times.
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Co-authors: 3
Updated: October 12, 2020
Views: 17,574
Categories: Microsoft Word