All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Don’t trust any text message
The safest thing to do is NOT trust any text/SMS message from a bank, delivery company etc. The message might be real but could be a scam and you can lose thousands. Fake bank text messages, usually designed to make you panic and call immediately, are still catching thousands of people every year. This report […]
How the change to new Outlook for Windows will work
Microsoft has announced some of their plan for the changeover to the newer, totally rebuilt, Outlook for Windows. The changeover plan will be in four stages; Opt-in, General Availability, Opt-out and finally Cutoff. There are no specific dates given, just a broad structure but the whole switch from ‘classic Outlook’ to ‘Outlook (new)’ will take […]
Five fast Clear options in Excel
Excel has some nice choices for clearing out cells quickly. You can remove the contents, the formatting only or both contents and formatting plus choices for deleting just notes, comments and cleaning up links. As you can see the drop-down menu Home | Editing | Clear offers options such as: Clear All, Clear Formats, Clear […]
PowerPoint – switch away from Aptos fonts
Here’s how to switch away from the new Aptos fonts in Microsoft PowerPoint and back to the old Calibri fonts or something else. Microsoft has forced a change to Aptos as the new default font in PowerPoint but that change doesn’t suit everyone. In particular, Aptos doesn’t make much (or any) visible difference for bold text. Both the paragraphs […]
Remove that big AutoSave from the Office toolbar
Get rid of the over large ‘AutoSave’ slider on the Word, Excel or PowerPoint status bar. The Autosave button (strictly a label plus slider) takes up a lot of room on the top row of modern Office apps. That space is quite crowded and you need it to fit as many ‘Quick Access Toolbar’ (QAT). […]
Image restyling in Copilot
Copilot can change the style or look of an AI generated image to make endless variations on the same theme with a few clicks. We’ll show you how it really works and how to make it work even better. Ask Copilot for an image such as “make image of a Koala in the desert”, select […]
Table cells can now Split and Merge in PowerPoint for iPad
Cells in a PowerPoint slide table can be split or merged (combined) in PowerPoint for iPad. Word for iPad can already combine or split table cells and now the PowerPoint app works the same way. Select two or more cells in a table and choose Merge | Merge Cells from the table toolbar. Choose a […]
Use WhatsApp to send stuff between your devices
WhatsApp can send any file, photo, video or text notes to yourself, in other words between your computers or devices. Files up to 2GB can be moved quickly and securely between machines. Sometimes you need to copy something between two computers or devices you have. That could be a little text (a password or web […]
Print selection, sheets or tables in Excel
Excel has some useful options for printing less than an entire workbook. Printing a selection, active sheets or just a table. As Office-Watch.com has discovered before, there’s a lot more available in Office than a quick look suggests. See Print options are at File | Print then choose the menu that starts with Print Active […]
Eight WhatsApp formatting shortcuts including four new ones
There are shortcuts that automatically format bold and italic text in Word. The same shortcuts and more work in WhatsApp texting as well. There are now four more formatting options; bullet lists, numbered lists, quotes and inline code. AutoFormatting Bold and Italics as you type In Microsoft Word and Outlook it’s possible to make words […]
Use the world’s ugliest color in Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Make an unpleasant point with the world’s ugliest color. A ‘drab dark green’ can be used in any Word document, Excel sheet or PowerPoint slide. And we’ll explain the recommended complement color and font. It’s not our opinion, but the market researched result of an effort to find the most unappealing color. A three-month study […]
What Microsoft Word does with “Drunkonyms”
The British have 546 ‘drunkonyms’ or words for drunkenness according to a new academic study. We could not resist seeing how the Microsoft Word handles them (after we’ve had a quick drink to get us going 😀) We compiled a list of 55 drunkonyms and ran them past the Word 365 spell checker using UK, […]
Copilot gets image background editing
Copilot now has some in-built editing of the background of an AI made image, some borrowed from similar features in Designer. Request an image from Copilot e.g. “Make an image of a koala in the desert”, select one of the thumbnail pictures to see the full size version. Click on the image to select an […]
Buying old versions of Microsoft Office
How can you buy an older version of Microsoft Office to fit in with your other computers? Fran, a loyal Office-Watch.com reader has that problem getting an older version of Office. “ I have Office 2013 on two computers now. Is there a way to get another copy for the new Microsoft Surface I just bought for less […]
How to check if your emails are sent with DKIM
Here’s a way to ensure your outgoing emails include DKIM and SPF details all setup correctly. DKIM email verification is becoming more important for deliverability of emails. This is mostly for anyone using Microsoft 365 email hosting, especially individual or small business users who have change their email verification setup. Once you’ve enabled DKIM for […]
What do fonts say to each other?
Ever wondered what fonts say to each other. How newcomer Aptos treats Calibri? How Dingbats dance and what Comic Sans wears? Elle Cordova answers these and other important typographical questions in two Instagram videos. Fonts Hanging Out part 1 https://www.instagram.com/p/C2cZBIAr24m/ Fonts Hanging Out part 2 https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2sxcszyLnN/ Enjoy … Excel – switch away from Aptos fontsMicrosoft […]