Starting with Office 2013, there are two changes that some people will like and use, but that I hate and don't.

Startup Screen

I rarely need to open a template other than the blank one. However, the default Office behavior is to show a Van Gogh Starry Night of choices.

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Do this to disable the new startup screen and go immediately to a blank document, as it has been for two decades. Instructions are for Word 2016.

  1. Open Word
  2. Open a blank (or existing) document
  3. Choose File > Options
  4. In the General > Start up options, uncheck "Show the Start screen when this application starts"
  5. Click OK. Word now opens to a blank document.

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Backstage View (Save Screen)

Microsoft OneDrive is intended to be deeply integrated into MS Office. Microsoft wants you saving there by default. The Save screen reflects that when you save a new document (or Save As an existing one).

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However, many people prefer to save locally, even if that means saving to the local OneDrive folder for later synchronization.

Do this to show the file Save As dialog that you've seen since raptors tried to eat your computer.

  1. Open Word
  2. Open a blank (or existing) document
  3. Choose File > Options
  4. In Save > Save documents, check "Don't show the Backstage when opening or saving files"
  5. Click OK. Save/Save As shows the good, old dialog.

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Hello, old friend.

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References

http://www.howtogeek.com/tips/how-to-bypass-the-backstage-view-when-saving-new-files-in-office-2013/