There are options in Word to limit access a document in different ways. It’s more fine-grained control of what people can do in the document rather than the entire document permissions options we’ve mentioned before. Restrict Editing options let you collaborate on a document more broadly without the risk that important parts will be changed […]
There are many situations where you need to split up text into separate columns. Names, phone numbers, dates, addresses and lot’s more can be managed with Excel’s Text to Columns, Text to Columns allows you take data from one column, and split it out into multiple columns. This can be used to split full names […]
Here’s how to add a taste of the logo or text from ‘Friends’ to a Word document, PowerPoint slide or other document. All you need is available online plus a little Office trickery. Note for old-timers (like Peter, our Editor-in-Chief). ‘Friends’ was a televisual entertainment shown on broadcast networks in full color. The plots revolved […]
Outlook on the web is now blocking another 38 email attachments because they can be carriers of viruses. But Microsoft doesn’t block the most commonly used files for infecting computers. Far and away the most common infected email attachment is old-style Word documents, with .doc extensions. Excel .xls worksheets and PowerPoint .ppt presentations are similarly […]
Here’s a complete, searchable and sortable list of all the email attachments that are or soon will be blocked by various types of Microsoft Outlook. There’s confusion and inconsistencies in the Microsoft documentation and application of these new blocks. They have a list of blocked attachments for Outlook in “Office 365,, Outlook 2019 Outlook 2016, […]
There are new computers sold with ‘free’ Office 365, what does that mean and how does it work? The offer isn’t what a lot of people expect. Happily, Microsoft has a way to still use the offer even if you already have another Office 365 plan. It’s not ‘Free’ Let’s start with the obvious. It’s […]
NewsBiscuit.com is reporting that Microsoft will release a new Word template for Death Threats. ‘Grammar Nazis are welcoming the news that death threats issued by actual Nazis will soon be correctly spelt and with fewer redundant words after Microsoft announced a new Death Threat template to the latest version of Microsoft Word. A spokesman explained; […]
This is where the Excel Name Box gets really interesting. You can select a cell or range of cells, and give them a name. That name can then be used to find that data again, or in formulas instead of typing in the cell range. It’s the same as going to Formulas | Define Name […]
The Name Box is an unassuming little box at the top of your Excel worksheet that you may not have thought about much, but it has an amazing range of uses. The box is next to the formula bar, and usually displays the address of the cell that you are in. The Name Box can […]
Some ‘money saving tips’ for Office 365 aren’t what they seem. We’ve noticed some wrong tips that keep being repeated. Also a vital money savers that are usually not mentioned even though it’ll save you more money over time. Office Watch has specialized in Microsoft Office for over twenty years. We’ve seen all manner of […]
A recent forced disclosure by the US government demonstrates the use of NSL’s which access your personal data from Microsoft OneDrive and Outlook without a warrant or regular oversight, let alone notice to you. Microsoft, Google, Facebook and many other tech companies (including gaming services) have received National Security Letters which demand information about a […]
Office for Windows is now getting an extra on the Home pane – Recommended Documents which tries to suggest documents you’re involved with. Source: Microsoft Recent Documents has been in Office for a long time. That’s a longer list of recently opened documents. It’s quite different from the new ‘Recommended Documents’. Who gets Recommended Documents? […]
One of the ‘emergency’ options to remember is WordPad, which can open Word documents, available in modern Windows 10, 8.1 and 7. Often overlooked, WordPad can be very useful. It’s always available when Windows is running even in the Safe mode. No extra install or setup needed. It’s on the Start Menu as one of […]
The Upload Center, that annoying little extra in modern Office is being closed down. It’s being replaced with ‘in-system’ alerts in Word, Excel or PowerPoint. The Upload Center controls documents being uploaded from Office to online storage like OneDrive and SharePoint. If you haven’t noticed Upload Center, it appears as a little orange icon on […]
As we suspected, there are more holes in the Office Document Inspector. Our clever readers came up with some possibilities for revealing secrets in documents, worksheets and presentations. Document Inspector is good but could be better. As you’ll see, there really should be a warning about objects with multiple layers. The biggest problem with Document […]
If you want to add a bit of zing to your document, Word has a fun little feature that allows you to add color gradients to your text or background of a text box. You can even use it to add a rainbow effect, which is a bit gaudy but demonstrates the possibilities of more […]
Typing or formatting cells of repetitive data can be very boring, but Excel has an Auto Fill feature to make it easier by automatically filling in data for you. We thought we knew Auto Fill but it has some surprising and useful tricks. Auto Fill goes beyond simple incrementing numbers or dates which is what […]
Slowly but surely we’ve moving towards another name change for Office 365. The main Office consumer products are likely to be renamed ‘Microsoft 365’ and here’s just four indicators that a change is coming. This has been looming for some time. Microsoft has been mostly successful getting organizations and consumers onto annual payments ‘subscriptions’ for […]
Office’s Inspect Document is supposed to remove or scrub information being accidentally included in Word, Excel or PowerPoint files. It’s not perfect and misses out on some critical hidden information that can giveaway secrets. Details in images, layers and even highlighting. Document Inspector is at File | Info in Office for Windows. The feature was […]
Surface pens will now turn on the Draw tab in Word, Excel and PowerPoint automatically. When you pick up a Microsoft Surface Pen, the Draw tab in Office 365 will automatically appear to choose color, thickness of the digital ink. There are a few requirements, but they are pretty obvious: The Surface Pen has to […]
