All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Why Office security patches should always be installed
An Office security breach, which was patched last year, is still being used to infect unpatched computers. Hacked documents using the vulnerability have been appearing in the last few weeks: SIMON WERNER GMBH – RFQ.doc ‘security instructions’ Visa.doc выписка.doc, 2017april.doc While the files have .doc extensions, they are really .rtf files. They all are variations […]
Keep the deleted Crayola color in your Office documents
One of the colors in the Crayola box is being dropped. Never fear, the color Dandelion can be part of your Office documents as can any other Crayola color. It’s not the same as the smell and feel of a Crayola crayon but it’s better than losing the color entirely. Dandelion is being removed from […]
The mistake in Microsoft’s ‘common grammar mistake’ list
As a publicity stunt, Microsoft published a list of common grammar mistakes made in Word. It’s strange that one of the listed mistakes is NOT detected even by the latest version of Microsoft Word. Office-Watch.com noticed this curiosity because we tested all Microsoft’s claims against their own Word software. We didn’t just copy the press […]
Safely using Docs.com
Even today, despite the public outcry, a document saved to docs.com will automatically be available to everyone. The privacy choices aren’t obvious and the ‘public’ default isn’t clear either. Here’s what you see when uploading to docs.com You have to click the ‘three dots’ menu button then scroll down a long list of options to […]
Protect your Docs.com account
If you’ve ever used http://docs.com it’s a good idea to check what’s saved there and what public access is set. Login with your Microsoft account (or other login) and check the list of saved documents (click on your name at top right. Depending on your wishes you can: Leave as ‘Public on the web’ Change […]
Oxford Comma costs $10 million but Word would not have helped.
The debate about the Oxford Comma continues with news that a Maine company has lost a court case for the lack of a vital extra comma. Oxford Comma is one of the lesser known grammar checks in Microsoft Word. Sadly, Word would not have warned of the problem and saved the millions. The court case […]
Video training help from Microsoft
Redmond has released more Office training videos to help newbie users. Get started with Office Intro to Office Basics Sign in to Office Get help and support Change your Office for Home password Change your Office 365 for Business password What is Office 365? What is Office 365? Get the most out of Office 365 […]
Get Office Picture Manager free!
Office Picture Manager, the much loved and simple image editor was dropped by Microsoft, but it’s still available. Picture Manager has some features that aren’t in Windows 10 to this day. Here’s how to get it for free. There are two ways to get Office Picture Manager (OPM). Both involve doing a custom installation of […]
Office 2016 book, 2nd edition or ‘What I did in Nepal’
Office 2016 for Windows is being updated by Microsoft so our Office 2016: the real startup guide has a 2nd edition to include the latest new features. The work was done by Peter Deegan in Nepal. Some people go to Nepal for trekking in the Himalayas, others to enjoy the lovely valleys and villages. Peter […]
Highlights of Feb 2017 updates for Office 2016 and Office 2013
Here’s the complete list of non-security updates for Office 2016 for Windows and Office 2013 plus our notes on some bug fixes that caught our eye. As usual, these updates will be pushed to most Office computers automatically. No action is necessary. Unexpected Issues Microsoft is always using different words to avoid saying ‘bug’. This […]
WhatsApp ‘2fac’ isn’t what you’d expect
WhatsApp, the popular messaging system, has added a new security feature that’s being called ‘Two Factor Authentication’ but it’s NOT. Really the new option is more annoying than helpful. We’re not the only ones critical of WhatsApp and it’s lip-service attitude to security. The company adds security features but too often they don’t meet the […]
LibreOffice gets the ribbon
LibreOffice, a free alternative to Microsoft Office, now has an optional ribbon interface. Version 5.3 is now available with many added features which will be familiar to Microsoft Office users. Write (equivalent of Word) now has Table Styles and a Go To box which have been in Word for some time. The Page Deck – […]
Office Lens, at last it’s available for iPad
Office Lens, a way to convert pictures of documents or whiteboards into text is finally available for Apple iPads. Back in 2015 Office-Watch.com demonstrated some of the clever crop and rotation tricks in Office Lens, plus the ‘convert to text’ option shameless stolen from OneNote. Source: Microsoft Images can be saved to OneDrive, OneNote or […]
Become an Office Insider for iPhone and iPad
Microsoft is extending their ‘beta testing’ of Office to Office for iPhone and iPad. The Office Insider Programs gives people access to test releases of Office software with new and changed features. The downside is reliability. The software doesn’t always behave the way it should and might even ‘crash’. Any Office add-ins might not work […]
What is a Style in Word, Excel or Outlook?
A style is a collection of formatting choices combined under a single name. Any word or even a single letter has a collection of formatting settings as well. Font: size, color, bold/italic/underline/strikethrough/subscript/superscript, highlighting and more. Position: Left, Center, Right, Justified. List: bullet, numbering. Line Spacing, Borders, Background color and a lot more details. Instead of […]
Excel to support Bitcoin
Excel will support Bitcoin in an upcoming release. According to Microsoft’s roadmap for Excel, Bitcoin support will: “… track, calculate and analyze Bitcoin data using native Bitcoin number formatting options. Feature is first being rolled out to Excel 2016 for Windows, Excel Online, Excel Mobile for Windows and Excel Mobile for Android.” What exactly that […]
