All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Beating the Personal Vault limit of 3 files for free OneDrive accounts
OneDrive Personal Vault is limited to 3 files for anyone with a free OneDrive account. It’s very easy to bypass that limitation, store as many files as you like and even add another security layer. See OneDrive Personal Vault, deep inside and tricks There are several ways to store multiple files inside a single files. Use […]
Microsoft 365 Basic finally gets all the security features
The low-cost Microsoft 365 Basic plan is now getting all the security features that were promised back in January when the plan was released. Microsoft 365 Basic’s main features are 100GB of OneDrive storage and a 50GB Outlook.com mailbox for US$20 a year. In January 2023 the plan was announced with vague promises of advanced […]
Use a Hidden Registry Hack to Improve Your Privacy with Microsoft Office
Use a hidden registry hack to protect your privacy by reducing the amount of private info Microsoft Office apps send to Microsoft. Dr Aleksandar Milenkoski, working for the German Federal Office for Information Security, has produced a report on what information Microsoft Office software sends back to the company. That’s information about when and how Office […]
How to disable the Windows shortcut key to Office apps
You can disable the “Hyper” “Office” key or Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Win shortcuts to open Microsoft 365 and Office apps. We’ve told you about the Office Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 11 and 10 which start by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Win together. That clumsy four-finger shortcut is an alternative to the Office key which Microsoft tried to introduce back in 2019 to almost […]
Stethoscope 🩺 emoji in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
How to insert the Stethoscope 🩺 symbol/emoji into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Trivia: the stethoscope was invented by a Frenchman who was embarrassed putting his ear upon a lady’s chest to hear her heartbeats. His original was a simple tube, not the dual-ear device we […]
Bharat or Bhārat (India) in Microsoft Word
The alternative name for India is Bhārat and that term is now being used, somewhat controversially, by the government. How does Microsoft Word handle “Bharat” and what are your choices for either using the word or not. Even if you’re not interested in the name change, it’s a practical lesson in what’s possible in the […]
What is Dall-E and what it’ll do for Microsoft 365 customers
Microsoft is adding Dall-E to new services for Microsoft 365 (Designer), Bing and Office (starting with Word). Let’s look at what Dall-E is, what it can do for you and the fun to be had. In short, Dall-E turns text into an image with often good and sometimes funny results. Dall-E converts a text request […]
Interesting extras coming to Windows 11
Microsoft has announced some of the extras coming to the next version of Windows 11, rolling out from September 26 onwards. Here’s a quick look at some of these changes, in particular those which can improve your Office docs, sheets, slides and emails. Paint Paint app receives a major upgrade for better digital drawing and […]
Listen to free audiobooks from Microsoft and Project Gutenberg
Microsoft and Project Gutenberg have joined to create thousands of audiobooks for free, using modern ‘text to speech’ technology that’s amazingly good. And we have some tips on how to create audiobooks with more variety in voice, accent and pace. Since 1971, Project Gutenberg has compiled a wide range of copyright free ebooks in many […]
Microsoft’s font substitution for Aptos really sucks
Microsoft’s alternatives for the new Aptos fonts range are very poor. In some cases, the substitutions make no sense at all. We’ve looked at what happens if a document with Aptos fonts is opened Office 2016 and earlier versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Aptos fonts are the new default for Microsoft 365 and […]
Two Important Differences to Know about the Python Excel Trial Release
The trial release of Python in Excel is very interesting but it’s not the usual “Insiders” feature release with two important differences that will cost you later. “Insiders” is Microsoft’s name for their beta testing option to try upcoming features to the public Office apps. Excel gets Python – who, when and why Usually features […]
Join the ‘Office Insider’ Movement: Uncover the Surprising Benefits and lesser-known Risks!
Microsoft has many little ‘ads’ or suggestions that Microsoft Office 365 users (Windows or Mac) join the Microsoft 365 Insiders program (formerly Office Insiders). Is it safe to become an ‘Office Insider’ and why is Microsoft pushing it so much? Office Insiders is the testing program for new Office features. It’s what used to be […]
Discover Office Keyboard Shortcuts in Windows 11 and 10
There are some keyboard shortcuts to open or switch to Office apps in Windows 11 and Windows 10, if you have enough fingers! They are all based around the Ctrl + Alt + Shift + Win combo plus a letter. That might seem like a keyboard shortcut for an octopus but it makes a little […]
Microsoft fixes a big hassle with Excel’s great Lambda()
Microsoft has fixed the big hassle that comes with the otherwise excellent Lambda() feature in Excel 365 with the new Advanced Formula Environment. Office Watch has sung praises over the power that Lambda brought to Excel. It’s the ability to write custom functions within Excel but without VBA macros. Proper IDE for Excel formulas But […]
Copying images from Designer to Office documents
Unfortunately, copying an image made in Designer isn’t as simple as it should be. Here’s how to grab images made with Designer to use in your own Office documents. Don’t wait, start using Microsoft Designer now It’s easy to paste an image into Designer. Just copy the image from your app (like Word or PowerPoint), […]
Designer mobile now on iPhone and Android
Here’s how to get the new Microsoft Designer app for iPhone and Android smartphones. Also how to share designs between the mobile app and the full Designer web app. Get the Designer app Go to https://designer.microsoft.com/install and scan the QR code provided on that page That will open the App Store or Google Play to […]
