All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Why can’t I see all the features in Microsoft Teams?
Microsoft regularly promotes new or updated features in Teams, but there’s no sign of them for many people – there’s two different reasons. Teams features might not be available because it’s a free account (‘Teams Free’) or the user has Guest access to a paid Teams channel. All Microsoft announcements are very carefully worded and […]
Easy face mask graphics for Word and PowerPoint
Join us in a hunt for face mask graphics and icons to use in Word documents and PowerPoint slides. Use fask mask icons in signs. See Social Distancing signs in Microsoft Word More ideas for social distancing signs Icons The obvious place for Office 365 customers to look is Microsoft’s Icon feature. This is a […]
Tips and help for COVID-19 Vaccination Stats download in Excel
Some of the features, tips tricks in our new COVID-19 vaccination statistics workbook for Excel 365. See Get COVID-19 vaccination stats and more from Excel for info on the workbook and what it does. We’ve made this workbook as a practical example of some important recent Excel features and how they can be used. Open […]
Get COVID-19 vaccination stats and more from Excel
We have a new COVID-19 statistics workbook with a new automatically updating Excel spreadsheet that shows the latest cases and vaccination rates by country and region. All our Office Watch readers can get the entire workbook today. We’ve made this workbook as a practical and timely example of some important recent Excel features and how […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Share Draft Outlook emails on Apple, Android and desktop
Make a draft email on a phone or tablet (maybe some quick notes) to later revise and send from Outlook for Windows/Mac. Once that was a problem but not any more, as long as you’re using Outlook mobile apps. Syncronizing the Drafts folder is really useful. You can write a partial message or reply on […]
‘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 […]
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 […]
Xi upper Ξ or lower case ξ symbol in Word and Office
Insert the Xi upper case Ξ, and Xi lower case ξ symbols in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Xi (uppercase Ξ / lowercase ξ) is the 14th letter of the Greek alphabet. The symbols are used within various contexts. The uppercase letter is often used in pure […]
