A new way to reach Outlook and Office in a browser
Microsoft has added new web links to access Microsoft 365 mailboxes in a browser as well as some other unpublished new domains to reach Office apps in a browser. The web links are https://Outlook.cloud.microsoft or https://Outlook.microsoft Use one of those links and login to your Microsoft 365 mailbox (e.g. Business, Enterprise or other plan). It […]
Emoji Panel is part of Windows that totally sucks
Windows 11 and 10 has the Emoji Panel. What a pity that it totally sucks and is incredibly dumb. Emoji Panel is better than what we had before (nothing) but not by a lot. We’re talking about the Emoji Panel or ‘keyboard’ which appears in Windows 11/10 when you press Win + . (Windows key […]
Debug to understand and fix Excel formulas
Excel Labs has just added a nice formula Debug option that helps you understand the steps inside a formula and fix errors. There are already three ways to look inside a formula; Evaluate Formula, F9 to calculate part of a formula and the recent Visual Preview. Now Microsoft’s Excel Labs Advanced Formula Environment has a […]
Check these Excel Power Query settings before it’s too late
There are two important changes coming to Get & Transform (Power Query) in Excel. Both changes are probably already covered by the current setup but you should check any external data links now to avoid an unwanted surprise. These changes apply from 11 March 2024. Microsoft is a little vague about one of them (TLS […]
Notes vs Comments, understand the difference in Excel
Microsoft messed about with Notes and Comments in Excel 365. Here’s what’s happened, name changes, overlapping functionality and how Excel has gone from ‘Notes’ to ‘Comments’ and now back to ‘Notes’ again! There are now two different ways to add text notes or comments into an Excel 365 cell. The choice of Comments or Notes. […]
How to add notes inside Excel formulas
Here are three ways to add an explanation or note within an Excel formula itself, instead of separate notes. The ‘Achilles Heel’ of Excel or any spreadsheet program has always been explaining or commenting of cell formulas. Adding comments is an important part of any code including Excel’s VBA but it’s MIA from formulas themselves. […]
A better way to view formulas in Excel
Here’s a far better way to view and edit formulas in Excel than the small formula bar. It’s a free add-in from Microsoft’s Excel Labs called Advanced Formula Environment (AFE) Understanding Excel formulas can be difficult, even ones you’ve written yourself. Imagine trying to work with a monster formula like this: Happily, there’s an easier […]
Pantone’s 2024 color ‘Peach Fuzz’ in Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Pantone’s color of the year for 2024 is “Peach Fuzz”. You can use that exact color in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Designer using the Hex/RGB color code. And we’ll look at the flowery prose that’s become a hallmark of this annual promotion. The color of 2024 is … Peach Fuzz As usual what’s more […]
Excel on the web has easier ways to insert functions
Excel’s web version now has some better ways to insert functions direct from the function search window. Also easily see the open/close bracket pairs. Insert Function ‘wizard’ Insert Function has expanded into a little ‘wizard’ (remember those?) after finding the function, a second pane lets you insert parameters with some guidance. Go to Insert | […]
Croissant 🥐 emoji in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Add the Croissant 🥐 emoji into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. I have to declare a personal interest in this article because the Croissant 🥐 is an essential part of my breakfast. No morning is complete without the “Three C’s” – Coffee, Computer and Croissant […]
Sketchy line option in Office for Windows and Mac
Office for Windows and Mac has three special outline styles for the borders of shapes and text boxes. Called ‘Sketched’ or ‘Sketchy‘ because they have a hand-drawn line look. It’s a nice little addition to Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Outlook. Let’s see how it works plus some details and limitations that Microsoft hasn’t mentioned. All […]
Sketchy or wriggly lines in Icons and SVG graphics
Microsoft Office Icons and other SVG graphics can be improved a lot simply with Sketchy or Sketched lines. They turn an icon or graphic from something formal into a hand-drawn and casual look. Sketchy lines is the ‘hand-drawn’ line option available in Microsoft 365 for Windows or Mac plus Office 2021. It lets you change […]
Better Icon, illustration or SVG editing trick in Office
Get more from Microsoft Office Icons, Illustrations, Cartoon People and other SVG graphics by turning them into Office Shapes which opens up many more options for editing and recoloring the graphic. That includes ‘splitting’ a single graphic into parts that can be changed separately. Microsoft 365, Office 2021, 2019 and 2016 for Windows/Mac have an […]
How hackers trick you to open infected documents
Here’s how to avoid the tricks hackers use to infect your computer via Office documents. Microsoft has added features to Office that should make it harder to infect your computer via a Word, Excel or PowerPoint document. Hackers have found ways to trick people into bypassing those warnings and enable the viruses in the document. […]
Office Application Guard is on the way out
Microsoft Application Guard for Office is being ‘deprecated’ (phased out) in Windows 11 and Windows 10 after only a few years. No official reason has been given and the excuses don’t make sense. Back in 2019 Microsoft announced Application Guard as a new way to isolate macro enabled documents from unknown sources. Suspect documents are […]
Telephone location ✆ emoji in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Insert the Telephone location ✆ symbol into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Telephone location ✆ symbol is supposed to be used as a sign for a phone box or booth but can be used for any ‘phone’ purpose. See also: Telephone Receiver 📞 Emoji In Word, Excel, […]