One of the sillier online debates is an argument about the usefulness of algebra and other maths skills in a world where Excel is available on almost any screen. To us this is silly because it’s not a simple either/or choice. It’s about balance, a concept that’s not fashionable these days, sigh. This all started […]
Microsoft has updated their Online Services Terms to clarify some privacy issues but concerns remain. They’ve also added yet another document to the confusing mix of legalese customers are expected to understand. Back in August 2019 the Dutch Ministry of Justice released a report that recommended against using Office online or Office apps because Microsoft […]
The US National Security Agency (NSA) discovered a serious security bug in Windows and, for the first time, told Microsoft so the company could fix it. That bug could also affect Microsoft Office or other programs. It’s important to update your Windows 10 asap, that’s not our opinion, it’s the US government. The NSA found […]
Microsoft Word has a powerful grammar checking system but how does it handle changes in English usage like the rise of non-binary or non-specific pronouns like ‘they’ and ‘them’? We took put sample words and sentences in Word to see how ‘woke’ it is. As a bonus, we’ll explain Pibling and Nibling that are already […]
Here are two options to stop Microsoft Office for Windows from automatically updating itself and why you might want to do that. Office for Windows All versions of Office that have current support (currently Office 2010 and later) get: updates to fix bugs in the software patches to stop security bugs that might allow access […]
Excel’s new Sheet View is Microsoft’s fix for a problem when sharing an Excel list or table among many people. We’ll explain how it works and what’s happening behind the scenes. A shared Excel list can be sorted or filtered in many different ways. It’s quite possible that two people can look at the same […]
Here’s a better and more flexible version of the Calendar Creator with both Sunday and Monday start of week. We’ve told you about The Mystery of Excel’s Calendar Creator template which doesn’t always work as it should. Office Watch reader, David Peel, has made a better, more compatible Calendar Creator. We added some different versions […]
He’s done it again, David Peel has quickly made up a new version of his Excel Year Planner that starts the year from any month you choose. Great for academic years (start in August) or financial years (e.g. Aussie start in July). The year selector is top left of the main worksheet. Change the starting […]
Here’s how to find and add the US National Flag into Office documents, Word, Excel or PowerPoint then use some Office picture tools to enhance the image. The same help can be used for any other national flag, just look for a different source. Get the US Flag image There are many, many copies of […]
Here’s the bug fixes and changes in Office 2016 just released by Microsoft with a summary of what caught our eye. Outlook 2016 – secure email changes KB 4484212 The default hash algorithm for S/MIME changes. The default is SHA1 except when a new registry key is present. Details in the KB. Bug fix: “When […]
The second Access memory leak has finally been patched by Microsoft, almost a year after a very similar problem was discovered. These bugs have been around since 2002 and the effects are still in some Access files. Both are faults in the way Access saves data to memory locations in ways that hackers could exploit. […]
Here’s what to do if you get the dreaded Microsoft Office 365 Unlicensed Product / View only error message. Assuming you have a current Office 365 subscription (we’ll show you how to check that, below). The unlicenced product warning usually happens if you’ve started Office after a break of several weeks and there’s a problem […]
Here’s a great Excel yearly planner that we’re delighted to share. It’s works for 2020 or any other year you like. Office Watch friend David Peel from the UK made this workbook and let us share with our readers. Year Planner uses simple, fairly common Excel features. That means it’s easy to adapt to your […]
There’s a limitation in Word’s Table Styles; no individual cell styles within a Word table We’ll explain the problem and several options to workaround it. Along the way it’s a chance to dig into some interesting parts of Word and Office and make them do things that might not have occurred to you. There’s a […]
It’s possible to apply individual cell formatting in Word consistently using a little VBA code. In effect it makes styles for cells in a way that Word itself won’t do. Reuse this code to apply the same formatting to many cells. Cell Format Special We’ve made two VBA functions for two different cell formatting settings; […]
Hidden Text Printing in a Word document is possible but is more complex than it should be. Here’s how to change the setting quickly from the ribbon or change the print setting just for one print job. By default, the hidden text will not be printed, but you can choose to print it if you […]
There are 2020 calendar templates available for PowerPoint, giving you landscape oriented calendars but less options overall. Landscape calendars PowerPoint calendars aren’t just for presentations. They offer printable landscape orientation calendars not usually available in Word or Excel. Just like Word calendar or Excel calendars, ignore the labels like ‘Succulents’, ‘Floral’ etc. Instead look for […]
How to lock your Excel worksheet from editing – the whole thing or some cells. Allow some people to edit a few cells, leaving the rest of the cells and formulas untouchable by others using the worksheet. Here’s a very simple example: Anyone opening the worksheet can enter a US dollar amount to see the […]
The only specific 2020 calendar template in Microsoft Word is an academic calendar from August 2019 to July 2020, here’s how to use it and make it better. In File | New search for ‘academic calendar’ there are a few options. We’re looking at ‘Academic year calendar’. A few notes before moving on. Despite the […]
Excel has a Calendar Creator template which might work or might not. Why it doesn’t work is a mystery. The ‘Calendar Creator (any year’) template sounds great … a one-page year calendar. Find it from File | New then search for calendar creator. When the template is opened, it should display a calendar for the […]
