All about Microsoft Office for Apple Mac. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook on macOS, Microsoft 365 for Mac, Office 2021 for Mac and earlier versions.
HP Plus is an expensive way to stop your HP printer working
It’s one thing for a printer maker to add expensive and limited ink ‘subscriptions’ but HP have gone way too far by permanently disabling a printer if the customer stops the monthly plan. And there’s excessive monitoring of how you use your printer. HP+ Smart Printing System (aka HP Plus or just HP +) seems […]
All the left pointing hand symbols in Word and Office
Word and Office have several left “pointing hand” symbols available in some fonts. Here’s the Unicode options explained and shown. We’ve also looked at the options for All the RIGHT pointing hand symbols in Word and Office Want more arrows or pointers? Check out all 200+ Arrow or Hand pointing symbols and more in a […]
Right arrow → symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Insert the Right arrow → into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. The official Unicode name is ‘Rightward Arrow” → but it can be called ‘Right pointing’ ‘Right facing’ or just ‘Right Arrow’. Want more arrows or pointers? Check out all 200+ Arrow or Hand pointing […]
All the right pointing hand symbols in Word and Office
Word and Office have several right “pointing hand” symbols available in some fonts. Here’s the Unicode options, index, backhand, sideways in white or black, all explained and shown. Want more arrows or pointers? Check out all 200+ Arrow or Hand pointing symbols and more in a searchable list. Index, Backhand or Sideways? The Unicode system […]
Microsoft Word vs Spelling Bee quiz
How does Microsoft Word’s spell check work against ten difficult or unusual words from a New York Times spelling bee quiz? What’s in a Word is an interesting quiz of words used in past Scripp’s Spelling Bee’s and, as usual, we’re interested in how many of the words are recognized in Microsoft Word’s spelling. Word […]
Three ways to run an Office macro direct, from the ribbon or toolbar
There are three main ways to run a macro in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook). From the Macros list, from a button on a ribbon or from the Quick Access toolbar. We previously spoke about how to install an Office VBA macro, here’s how a macro can appear on the ribbon or Quick […]
Make the Office ribbon more useful, add your choice of buttons
Any Office ribbon tab can be more useful for you. By trimming some of the buttons you don’t need, making room for the buttons you want. We’ll show you how to remove some of the less needed ribbon sections (likely from the Developer tab) to make more room for your own buttons. Previously we’ve explained […]
Add Chess Piece symbols to Word, PowerPoint and Office
Insert any of the chess piece symbols available in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and other Office apps. King, Queen, Bishop, Knight. Rook and the lowly Pawn all with different looks, depending on the font plus three pieces available in Microsoft Office icons and the single chess piece emoji. Chess Pieces – the full list Here’s the […]
Visio Data Visualizer converts Excel into a diagram
A new Excel add-in converts an Excel 365 worksheet into a Visio diagram. You don’t need to buy Visio to use the Microsoft Visio Data Visualizer in its simple form, just Excel 365 for Windows/Mac or Online. It’s an interesting tool and worth checking out if you make diagrams or flowcharts. The add-in inserts example […]
Three traps in a printer ink subscription
We’ve always been suspicious of printer toner/ink subscriptions and there are at least three traps in these heavily marketed offers. What is a printer ink subscription? Ink subscription plans, like HP’s Instant Ink, work with the customer paying a monthly fee for ink/toner to be supplied as required. The internet connected printer sends a message […]
HP messes up their printers – twice
HP is getting publicity for their printers in all the wrong ways with two faulty firmware updates. One update stops HP Printers from using non-HP ink cartridges while another update stops some printers working at all! “Dynamic Security” for HP Printers HP’s update to printers add what they call “Dynamic Security” – which is now […]
Easily install an Office VBA macro
Here’s how to easily install VBA code or macro in Microsoft Office. Adding some code you’ve seen on a web site or been given is simple once you know the little tricks. Often people are given some Office VBA code to use with Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook but without instructions for how to install […]
Changing Measurement Units in PowerPoint
Changing the measurement units in PowerPoint is possible but unnecessarily complicated, we’ll show you how in both Windows and Mac. The Measurement Units show up in the ruler and also in places like the size and exact positioning of images. Measurement option – US or Metric Ideally you want to change between the main measurement […]
Beware, Microsoft is looking in password locked ZIP files
Microsoft is now looking at the contents of password protected ZIP files stored on OneDrive, Sharepoint and other cloud services. Maybe with honorable intentions but there are serious privacy concerns that haven’t been acknowledged. For a long time, Microsoft’s antivirus and safety systems have opened up compressed ZIP files to check the contents for nasty […]
Check, tick and cross symbols galore
There are different check mark, tick or cross symbols available in Word, PowerPoint or other Office apps. Here’s an easy searchable list of all Unicode symbols plus in modern Office ✅✔️☑️ is called a ‘check mark‘ or ‘check‘ in some places and ‘tick‘ in others. Same symbol, different English names. ❌X╳ has many more symbols […]
Nine easy statistics in Excel
There are at least NINE simple statistics formulas and functions in Excel that can summarize a list of numbers into something easy to understand. Often Excel has lists of numbers or money that makes little sense until you add a summary like this: We have a table called CountbyState and want to know something about […]
