All about Microsoft Office for Apple Mac. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook on macOS, Microsoft 365 for Mac, Office 2021 for Mac and earlier versions.
Microsoft treats its customers like fools
Sometimes it hard to know if Microsoft is suffering from ‘cognitive dissonance’ or deliberately treat their customers like fools that will accept anything the company says, no matter how nonsensical it is. Captain Worf has some words of wisdom … More that a few Office Watch readers asked about this conflicting message from Microsoft. First […]
Why Word prefers corporate speak and how to change it
The reason Microsoft Word prefers ‘corporate speak’, phrases and language but there is more than one way to change Word’s grammar and style suggestions to suit you. Quite often on social media there are complaints about Microsoft Word’s grammar and style suggestions like this one. “MS Word suddenly dislikes the phrase “in order to.” Who […]
Would you like some Ramen with your font?
Check out this headline ‘ramen’ font that looks great and has a clever name – Times New Ramen. Seine Kongruangkit made a font from photos of noodles, nifty use of Photoshop and an undying love of Ramen noodles <g>. Times New Ramen – you have to love it, just for the name alone! The photorealistic […]
Cheap phone calls now Skype is ending
With Skype ending what are the choices for making cheap phone calls, especially saving money on international calls? The ability to link computers and devices to regular phone numbers is something that Skype excelled at. You could call phone numbers from a device or setup a phone number that people could call for you to […]
Get two free months of Microsoft 365 Family or Personal
Get two extra months of Microsoft 365 Personal or Family for no charge. Microsoft can offer a ‘free’ extension to your plan if you try to do something the company doesn’t like. There are some parts of Microsoft 365 Personal or Family that make the plans very profitable for Microsoft. If you try to change […]
How to use Word’s Master Documents safely
Don’t be scared of Master Documents – just very, very careful. Master Documents is useful and sometimes essential but it’s not the most stable or reliable part of Microsoft Word. What is a Master Document? In Microsoft Word, a Master Document is a Word document which has links to other documents – called sub-documents. Each […]
Skype is dumped by Microsoft
Microsoft is dumping most of their Skype service in May 2025, ending a very useful option for people around the world, especially who use a regular phone for communication. Here’s the ending timeline, an important extension for Microsoft 365 customers and alternatives (official and others). Skype has been around since 2003 and was bought by […]
Better cloud security from Apple … will Microsoft follow?
Apple gives their iCloud storage full encryption, meaning only the user can access their backups, photos and other data. Microsoft 365 customers should be asking Microsoft to do the same (don’t hold your breath). Advanced Data Protection is an option that encrypts all the customers information and files on Apple’s servers. Only customers can access […]
Apple blocks their best security feature in the UK
Advanced Data Protection, the best security option for Apple iCloud is now blocked for UK customers. A real blow to individual privacy and citizens’ rights but there are options for our British friends to keep their files safe. Advanced Data Protection is Apple’s option to fully encrypt data saved on their iCloud storage. An option […]
Beware the hidden traps in Classic Microsoft 365 plans
Choosing the cheaper and Copilot/AI-free Microsoft 365 Classic plan might seem like a good idea but beware the hidden traps in that choice. Plenty of online ‘experts’ are urging Microsoft 365 Personal or Family customers to switch to the Microsoft Classic plans (Personal or Family) option because its: Before changing to Classic, consider the downsides […]
Making QR Codes for Word and Office
QR Codes are those funny little boxes you see in apps and signs. They were once a bit unusual but COVID have made them part of our lives. You can add them to your Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. Scan that code with your smartphone camera and it’ll read information, most commonly a web link. […]
Fast change Outlook calendar views
The Outlook Calendar views can change quickly with some shortcuts that work for both Outlook for Windows (classic and new) plus Outlook for Mac. The shortcuts follow the order of the Home | Arrange buttons in Outlook for Windows. Day – Ctrl + Alt + 1 Work Week – Ctrl + Alt + 2 Week […]
Quick View shortcuts for Outlook
Quickly change between Outlook views using these keyboard shortcuts that work for three different Outlook’s, Windows classic and new plus Outlook for Mac. With all the changes in Outlook for Windows or Mac, it’s nice to see that some keyboard shortcuts have survived all the upheavals. This works with both Outlook for Windows classic and […]
Clipchamp goodies, shapes, gradients and more
Clipchamp is getting a decent color selector (hooray!), resizable shapes, gradient background, text styles plus more stock images and videos. As usual with a Microsoft announcement, the devil is in the detail and there’s precious little detail in the announcement. All these Clipchamp improvements have conditions that the company drops at the end, we’ll put […]
How to recall an email message in Outlook
Outlook for Windows and now Mac have a ‘Recall Message’ option for messages already sent but is now not needed, been replaced or you’ve realized was a mistake. But Recall isn’t all that Microsoft says it is. A ‘recall’ request message either to delete the message or sometimes replace it. How the recall request is […]
Microsoft’s Defender VPN ending
Microsoft is ending their VPN part of Microsoft 365 Defender for no good reason. At the end of February 2025, the VPN (Virtual Private Network) service in Microsoft Defender for individuals will be stopped. Microsoft reason is a typically contradictory word salad that means nothing: “Our goal is to ensure you, and your family remain […]
