Microsoft 365 – the subscription / annual fee plan for Microsoft Office on Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and Android.
Includes Word 365, Excel 365, PowerPoint 365, Outlook 365 and many other ‘365’ programs, apps and services.
Make your own live Olympics medal tally in Excel
Our readers and supporters can now download a free Excel workbook which imports the latest Tokyo Olympics medal tally into Excel. All you need is a recent Excel for Windows with Get & Transform – Excel 365, Excel 2019 or Excel 2016 for Windows. (Alas, not Excel for Mac). There’s a simple table of the […]
Check out Sound Bible for your PowerPoint decks
Sound Bible has some useful, free music and sound effects that can jazz up a PowerPoint presentation. There’s a collection of free audio clips (various rights limitations) from here. In WAV or MP3 format, both compatible with PowerPoint. Many of the text labels are deliberatly bland to avoid copyright disputes. For example Cowboy Theme is […]
Discover Office Scripts, the new way to automate Office
There’s a new way to program or automate actions in Microsoft Office called Office Scripts. We’ll explain what it is, how it’s different from Javascript or VBA and who can get it. Office Scripts is available for some commercial users in Excel but it’ll spread to other Office apps and possibly/hopefully non-Business users. Even if […]
Om or Devanagari Om ॐ symbols in Word and Office
Type the Om or Devanagari Om ॐ symbol in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. The Om symbol is a divine sign that denotes the essence of absolute truth, Atman or consciousness. In Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. The syllable is chanted either separately or before a spiritual recitation. The Om symbol is independent […]
Excel’s better Average(), try TrimMean() instead
TrimMean() function is a slightly different and useful measure than the regular Excel Average(). It’s still an average/mean but without the high and low, extreme or outlier values in the list. Average() (and its partners AverageA() and AverageIFS() use all the values in the array or list provided. TrimMean() excludes the highest and lowest extreme […]
Microsoft Word vs the 2021 Words of the Champions
How does Microsoft Word’s spell check go with the 2021 Words of the Champions list from the US annual spelling bee? Each year the Scripps National Spelling Bee releases a Words of the Champions study list to educators, featuring up to 800 new words. We grabbed a selection of the most difficult words (called “Three […]
Why is the new Office 365 look so bland?
Office 365 for Windows is getting a ‘visual refresh’ a changed look to the ribbon and overall appearance of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook (the other Office apps will change later). This new look is currently in beta testing and may change a little before public release. It’s only fair to start by saying we […]
Weary / Distraught face 😩 emoji in Word and Office
Type the Weary / Distraught face 😩 into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Weary / Distraught face 😩 emoji is also called Wailing, Frustrated or Sadness. How Weary / Distraught face 😩 looks in different fonts. Here’s some examples of how Weary / Distraught face […]
Fast Word shortcuts for increase/decrease font size
Microsoft Word seems to have two pairs of shortcuts that do the same thing – increase or decrease the font size. This is how they are different. The shortcuts are: Ctrl + Shift + < or Ctrl + Shift + > – which are also buttons on the Home tab. Ctrl + [ and Ctrl […]
Office 2007-Office 365 – new look – same shortcuts
Office 2007 and later to Office 365 not only has keyboard shortcuts but in many ways they are better than previous versions of Microsoft Office. For the most part the shortcuts used in Office XP and Office 2003 still work in Office 2007 through 365 also – despite the very different look of the screen. […]
Office shortcut of the week – 2004 compendium
We place all of the “Shortcut of the Week” tips from 2004 in the one convenient place. Tip 1 – Undo The Undo function has become especially important over the years as Microsoft puts more ‘intelligence’ into their products. Sometimes it ‘corrects’ your spelling or re-formats something you were quite happy with, thank you very […]
Microsoft digs into their past for new Teams backgrounds including Clippy
Here’s new suggested backgrounds for Teams, Zoom or other calls, dug out of Microsoft’s not always illustrious past. In other words, they are trying to rewrite the history of Clippy, again. Clippy The new Clippy image is part of Microsoft’s ongoing revisionist history. This campaign seeks to convince people that Clippy wasn’t as bad as […]
Latest Amazon deal on Microsoft 365 Personal
While it lasts, there’s a deal available on Microsoft 365 Personal via Amazon US. Reduced prices on the Personal plan are rare so it’s a good chance to save on extending your subscription. Personal for $28 off Use this link to pay $41 instead of $69.99 Stocks are limited so check the price and availability […]
What’s going, going and gone from Windows 11
Any major Windows or Office update focuses on the new and changed stuff. Inevitably, there are also items removed or ‘deprecated’ (meaning they won’t be improved and will eventually be removed). See all the Office-Watch.com coverage of Windows 11 Windows 11 removes or moves quite a few features, some are a little surprising. Internet Explorer […]
New look emoji coming to Microsoft 365 and Office
Microsoft will be releasing a totally revamped set of emoji for Windows and Office. Some previews have been released including some new post-COVID emoji and the return of a loved(?) character from Microsoft’s past. The current emoji in Windows look tired and flat compared to what Apple users enjoy so a redesign is very welcome, […]
Windows 365, what is a Cloud PC and why bother?
Microsoft has now announced Windows 365, their ‘Cloud PC’ service for businesses. What is a Cloud PC is and why you might use one. A Cloud PC is a whole computer running ‘in the cloud’. You can access this computer from any device and operate it just like a normal computer. Not only can you […]
