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.
Six useful Replace tricks in Word
Microsoft Word’s Replace does a lot more than just replacing one bit of text for another. It can quickly change formatting, enforce a style, paste from clipboard and use special characters. You’re probably familiar with the basics. Press Ctrl + H to open the Replace dialog. Type in the text to look for ‘Find what’ […]
Add more accounts to your Teams
It’s possible to have multiple logins for one person with Microsoft Teams, here’s how and what to do when it all gets too confusing. Teams is becoming so popular that many organizations, groups and even families use it (see Teams for Home). That means you’ll need several different logins for various Teams sites. There’s a […]
Microsoft’s mistake sends Outlook messages to Junk Email
Microsoft’s Exchange Server system had another snafu late last week, for a few hours all Inbox messages were sent to Junk Email instead! The problem affected users of Microsoft 365 mail hosting. It was caused by a ‘change’ that was applied to Exchange Server hosted by Microsoft. As with other times, the update had unforeseen […]
It only costs $2k for a Microsoft Office hack
For just US$2,000 you can buy a way to hack into a computer via Microsoft Office. All you need to make your own malware is the money and a willing seller on the dark web. A recent survey by Trend Micro and reported by Dark Reading searching posts that advertised software exploits that hackers use […]
Outlook now shows most recent login
Outlook 365 for Windows is getting an important security reminder, a message showing the last time someone logged into that account. Most Recent Login messages are a little security feature. It shows when and where the last sign-in to that account happened. A glance at that might be your first hint that someone has hacked […]
Drawing in all sorts of places Microsoft Office apps
Microsoft has been getting serious about drawing features in Office so we thought it was time to look at what’s available and possible across all the Office applications. Word, Excel, PowerPoint and some nice drawing stuff in OneNote Once upon a time, drawing onto a Word document or Excel worksheet was only possible with a […]
Faster ways to make a new email with Outlook template file
Here are four different ways to make a new email from an Outlook template file without the hassle of going deep into Outlook’s menus. You can choose to start a template based message from Windows or a button inside Outlook. See Email templates give you faster messages in Outlook for the basics on Outlook email […]
‘Friends’ logo or text complete in Word, PowerPoint and Office
Here’s how to add a taste of the logo or text from ‘Friends’ sitcom to a Word document, PowerPoint slide or other document. That includes the important dots between letters. 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 […]
Email templates give you faster messages in Outlook
For emails that you send regularly, there’s a way to have a ‘boilerplate’ email template with most of the details already filled in. Messages can be sent faster and be more consistent. Welcome to the little-known world of Outlook email templates. Outlook email templates can have all the message details completed including To: CC: BCC:, […]
Ransomware protection in OneDrive isn’t everything Microsoft says
Microsoft promotes OneDrive as protection against ransomware however our tests show it’s not always as practical or complete as the company boasts. One recovery feature works fine but the other isn’t complete. While updating our book Everyday Backups, we tested the OneDrive ransomware protections, not taking Microsoft’s word about how it works. We found that […]
Inside Excel’s newer and better Linked Data Types
Excel 365 for Windows is getting an expanded Linked Data Types feature with more categories of data and extra features. Here’s what’s possible and the traps that Microsoft doesn’t mention. Stock, Currency and Geography data types have been in Excel 365 (Windows and Mac) for some time. Now it’s expanding into other areas via Wolfram […]
Be careful with Excel 365’s Linked Data Types
Sometimes Excel 365’s Linked Data Types are great (Stock and Currencies) and other times they’ll drive you crazy or lead you to use wrong statistics. Here’s some problems we found trying out the, supposedly, simple City data type compared to the similar Geography and Location data types. Just getting the right data can be a […]
Excel 365 now has Nested Linked Data Types
Something new in Excel 365 Linked Data Types is nested data types. If a data field can itself be linked to another data type, Excel will add it automatically. See the ‘Director’ names (from the Movie data type) have little icons next to them? That’s because Excel has added the People data type when we […]
Psi upper Ψ or lower ψ symbols in Word and Office
How to insert the Psi upper case Ψ, and Psi lower case ψ symbols in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Psi (uppercase Ψ / lowercase ψ) is the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet. The symbols are commonly used within physics to represent wave functions in quantum […]
Beware fake OneDrive file deletion warning
A hacker trick is sending fake ‘file deletion’ email, taking advantage of a useful Microsoft service for all Microsoft 365 and OneDrive customers. If many files are deleted from a OneDrive account, Microsoft sends an email warning to the customer. It’s possible that the deletion was accidental, caused by ransomware or an intruder on your […]
Time durations are possible in Excel
” How can I enter a duration in Excel with the format days:hours:minutes:seconds ? If I enter 5:32 Excel converts that to 5:32am but I want to record 5 hours and 32 minutes.” Time durations aren’t very clear in Excel, but they are possible. The time features are mostly aimed towards date and time so […]
