All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Busting the myth about Two-Factor Authentication
Don’t fall for the myth that’s stopped you from more secure online accounts. For some years we’ve been banging on about Two-Factor Authentication. ‘2-fac’ is one of the main protections against online hacking and identity theft. Savvy online users have 2Fac for their main online accounts: Microsoft/Office 365 account, Google. Facebook, banking and especially any […]
New Windows 11 option: Update both Windows and Office
A new Windows 11 option will let you update Windows, Microsoft Office and other Microsoft apps at the same time. Is it such a good idea? In the latest Windows 11 Insiders there’s a new choice “Receive updates for other Microsoft products” which defaults on. Find it at Settings | Windows Update | Advanced options. […]
Transform a photo with Restyle Image in Designer
Ever wanted to make a drawing from a photo? Now you can with a new Microsoft Designer feature “Restyle Image”. It turns any photo into an image in a variety of styles. “Restyle Image” lets you upload a photo, choose a drawing style and then the Designer AI system will mash to two together to […]
What’s in and out of the new Microsoft 365 Basic
There’s a fairly new Microsoft product called Microsoft 365 Basic featuring 100GB of OneDrive and a 50GB mailbox for under US$20 a year. There’s a hidden opportunity for anyone with non-subscription Office 2021/2019 too. What’s in Microsoft 365 Basic Stripping away all the hype and marketing blurb, the Basic plan has two main elements: There’s […]
How to select more than one Office document to open
How to choose more than one Microsoft Office file or document to open at the same time. One of the frustrations about the ‘pane’ interface in Office for Windows is the failure to include all the features that customers were accustomed to from the standard File dialog boxes. Microsoft added new and useful features like […]
Rose 🌹 emoji in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
How to insert a Rose 🌹 emoji, symbol or icon into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Use the Rose 🌹 symbol on a romantic card, PowerPoint slide or anywhere that needs a flower icon. How Rose 🌹 looks in different fonts. Two standard Windows fonts have […]
Make a Jigsaw Puzzle in PowerPoint
Make your own jigsaw puzzle in PowerPoint to gradually reveal a photo or logo hiding underneath. We’ll show how to make the pieces plus a download sample PowerPoint file for our loyal subscribers. You can use a jigsaw puzzle PowerPoint slide as a powerful storytelling tool, ideal for illustrating how different parts of a story […]
The truth behind the Word controversy “Economically disadvantaged” vs “poor”
A minor social media storm over another suggested word change by Microsoft Word. The word ‘poor instead of ‘economically disadvantaged’. Which has some people complaining about Microsoft forcing changes in what we write. On Tiktok, the user @itschicabtw posted a video noting a wording suggestion made by Microsoft Word. It proposes that ‘economically disadvantaged’ be […]
Beware malware in Microsoft Office installations
New malware is spreading under the guise of a Microsoft Office download and installation. Just the latest example of why Office should only be downloaded from Microsoft. This new way of distributing malware poses as a version of Microsoft Office or Windows activation tool. They might do that but also install nasty intrusions on your […]
Windows Recall must be a choice
One part of Microsoft’s AI push should scare the hell out of anyone interested in their privacy but Microsoft is ignoring that with their upcoming Recall feature. Recall is one of the upcoming AI features in Windows 11. It’s supposed to help people search through their past actions by snooping on the computer every five […]
Surprise! Microsoft recommends Windows 11
This should surprise no-one … Microsoft says that it recommends Windows 11 over Windows 10. Even though end-of-support for Windows 10 is over a year away (October 2025), Microsoft is pushing people to switch now. Why? Microsoft is continually frustrated by the reluctance of their customers to move from Windows 10. Windows 11 has been […]
Goggles 🥽 emoji in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Put on the Goggles 🥽 symbol/emoji into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Goggles 🥽 symbol is used for safety signs or maybe an alternative to the Glasses or Eyeglasses 👓 symbol How Goggles 🥽 looks in different fonts. Take a screen shot of this table […]
Beware the unexpected when copying an image from Word/Office
When you’re copying an image out of an Office document something unexpected happens that you should be aware of. The size (height/width) of the copied image is NOT the original size (i.e the size of the stored picture) – which is what you might expect. The image is copied according to the displayed dimensions in […]
How to make a Gantt Chart in Excel
Gantt chart for project management or event scheduling are possible in Excel. Here’s the step-by-step help plus a complete sample worksheet for our subscribers. Gantt chart can be widely used in project management for visualizing project schedules. They break down a project or event into tasks or activities as horizontal bars on a timeline. Each […]
A $125 Billion lesson in why cloud backups are vital
Google Drive accidently deleted a $125 Billion dollar pension fund. It’s an extreme example of why it’s important to have your own backups of cloud stored files. Don’t rely entirely on one company, including Microsoft’s OneDrive. Cloud storage is great but nothing is 100% perfect so it’s essential to have your own backups of all […]
How Word pastes into your document
Pasting text in Word might seem like a simple thing but there’s a lot of important and smart options available to suit what you need to see and where the content is coming from. Don’t get too worried about all the different paste choices. The main thing is to be aware that there are various […]
