All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Keyboard Shortcuts for Styles in Word
You can set up your own shortcuts to quickly apply any style in Word. You’re not limited to the in-built shortcuts for Normal and a few Headings. You may be familiar with using keyboard shortcuts to such has Ctrl+B or Ctrl+I to quickly change text to bold or italic but those don’t apply styles, just individual character formatting. We’ve explained […]
Easier ways to setup and test Skype
We can say plenty about Skype, but it’s setup and testing is easier than most. Here’s how to get ready for Skype calling on Windows, Mac and others. While Skype’s text messaging service is awful (clumsy and insecure with Microsoft reading every message!), it’s video and voice calling are good. There’s also a live translation […]
No nonsense guide to fixing Windows audio problems – speakers
When the speakers or headphones don’t work on a Windows computer don’t make a noise, fixing the problem can be frustrating. Here’s our no nonsense guide to the problem and finding a fix. The problem with Windows audio Windows audio support is a mess. Anyone who has tried to get a speaker or headphones working […]
Coronavirus scams and nasty Word documents
No surprise that criminals are using Coronavirus/COVID-19 as a way to trick people into opening nasty Word document that could infect your computer. All the usual suspects are trying to take advantage of Coronavirus to sell stuff. Plenty of fake ‘cures’ being touted, usually existing ‘miracles’ rebadged to take advantage of the unwary. Just one […]
New Word security bugs are more ‘interesting’ than usual
Microsoft has just fixed the latest security bugs discovered in Word. They caught our eye because it’s more widespread than usual which is ‘interesting’ in the way of the old proverb*. The bugs are called CVE-2020-0850, CVE-2020-0851 and CVE-2020-0852 Microsoft gives all the deliberately bland title “Remote Code Execution Vulnerability”. There have been many, many […]
Remote Access options to control a distant computer
There are several free options to access one computer from another. You can see the screen, type and mouse from a remote location, just as if you were in front of the real computer. Access work computer from home computer Use desktop computer from a laptop or tablet Interact with laptop machine from a desktop […]
Collaborate remotely on documents, spreadsheets and presentations
Working on an Office document can easily be done between many people no matter how far away they are. Most organizations will have some way to share documents remotely If not, there are clever options available. Instead of exchanging documents (we’ll get to that in a moment), save the document in a cloud location that […]
Prepare your computer for isolation or quarantine
There are many free tools available to make work and life continue if your movements are limited. Things you should do to prepare for a possible ‘work from home’, ‘no school’ or at worst ‘quarantine’ or ‘social isolation’ of some type. We know what we’re talking about because Office Watch has been working remotely for […]
Ignore Microsoft’s opportunistic marketing, Teams is not for everyone
Microsoft is cunningly pushing Teams as part of its COVID-19 preparedness recommendations. But Teams isn’t the best option for everyone, far from it. Promoting Teams is good for Microsoft and their sales partners but not necessarily their customers. At Microsoft.com there are now special banner ads promoting Teams as the solution for ‘working remotely’, clearly […]
Starting with Document Collaboration in Word, Excel or PowerPoint
Microsoft has been talking about document collaboration for a long time but now it’s available to everyone with a recent version of Office and OneDrive. So here’s a simple guide to opening the same document at the same time on multiple computers. You don’t need two people to try out document collaboration. You can try […]
Share a cloud stored document from Microsoft Office
Here’s how to share a Microsoft Office document that’s saved on a compatible cloud service like OneDrive or Dropbox. All you need is Office 365/2019 or 2016 for Windows or Mac. Document collaboration works in Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Sharing a single file via cloud storage is a lot faster and less trouble than exchanging […]
Outlook viewing – relaxed or tight?
Fit a little more onto your Outlook 365 for Windows display. Sadly the option doesn’t apply to the entire Outlook window. On the View tab, Layout there’s a choice Use Tighter Spacing with the choice of ‘Relaxed’ or ‘Tight’. What does that mean? The main list vertical spacing changes. With tight spacing one or two […]
RAT in Word document pretending to be Norton security email
Here’s another example of why older .DOC Word documents should be avoided. This time it’s a fake Norton LifeLock email and hacked document. The Word .doc document has a fake login dialog . Source: Unit 42 The document executes a known remote access tool NetSupport Manager. That tool has legitimate uses but has been used […]
Inside a ‘Microsoft’ Call Center
A BBC Panorama special ‘Spying on the Scammers’ is a view inside a ‘Microsoft’ call center which is really a scam to scare people, steal their money and infect their computers. The special is available in the UK on iPlayer. There’s also this six minute version available worldwide. “Panorama has obtained hacked CCTV footage from […]
A better Side-by-Side document view for Windows and Mac
We highlighted Word 365’s Side to Side view but there’s another side-by-side viewing trick that works for any two windows on either Windows or Mac. Side by Side or Split View is great for many situations. No fussing about switching between windows or getting lost with all the open application. For example, Word on one […]
Turn your iPad into a second screen with Mac touchbar
Office users often want a second screen, especially when using a laptop. We’ve discovered Duet, an efficient and elegant way to use an iPad as an extension screen for a Windows or Mac machine. Mac users get the bonus of the new ‘TouchBar’ for older Macs. Duet impressed with the useful resolution and power saving […]
