All about Microsoft Office Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook, Microsoft 365, Office 2021 and earlier versions.
Discover who is sharing your Microsoft 365 Family plan?
If you’re the owner of a Microsoft 365 Family plan how can you find out who the plan is shared with and control their access? Microsoft 365 Family plans can be shared among six people, after a while it can be hard to remember who you’ve shared with and exactly which email address (Microsoft account) […]
Microsoft’s waffle about the Office ‘new look’
The Coming Soon pane in Office 365 is supposed to help people use upcoming features. For the interface changes, the pane is just marketing waffle and misdirection straight from an advertising copywriters desk. Click on the Coming Soon megaphone shows this pane with the option to “Try the new experience” There’s nothing in the text […]
Inside the new look and defaults in Office 365
The look of Microsoft Office 365 for Windows is changing with new features beyond the simple design changes. Here’s what you can do with the new look, mostly changes to the Quick Access Toolbar and important changes to Office default settings. Note: what you see in Office 365 might not match our description. The Office […]
Approximately Equal or image of ≒ in Word and Office
How to insert the Approx Equal or the image of symbol ≒ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Approximately Equal To or the Image Of ≒ symbol is commonly used Japan, Korea and Taiwan to indicate two values are approximately equal, but not exactly equal. How Approximately Equal ≒ looks in different fonts. Here are some examples […]
Really fancy and clever Drop Caps in Word
Drop Caps are very old fashioned, there’s space left for them in the oldest printed books in the world, the Gutenberg Bibles. You can do the same thing, a lot more easily, in Microsoft Word. In this Office-Watch.com article we’ll go beyond the simple ‘how to’ for Drop Cap. There’s the basic settings supplied by […]
Fast typing the same thing across many Excel cells
Sometimes when you are filling out the cells in an Excel worksheet, the same thing must be written repeatedly. There’s a fast way to do it using a surprising Excel shortcut. Luckily, there’s an easier shortcut around it. Previously we have spoken about Auto Fill hidden tricks in Excel, but you might not be aware of this simple trick. Firstly, […]
Common Sound effects for PowerPoint
A PowerPoint presentation sometimes needs that extra oomph, such as an occasional sound effect. Here are a few common ones that you’ve heard from movies and TV shows. You can use them as a trigger sound, or novel background noise. It’s all about the sounds: Wilhelm Scream – stock sound effect used in several TV shows and movies, originally from the […]
Make your Mouse Cursor easier to see in Windows 10 and 11
A very small set of mouse cursor options is included in Windows 11, but they are fairly simple and basic. Perhaps you’d like something easier to see? A larger or more colorful mouse pointer? There are options to change the colour of your mouse, and even adjust the size, however if you wanted to add some more fun or […]
Fancy Themed Mouse Cursors for Windows 10 and 11
Make your extra fancy mouse cursors using a feature buried in Windows 11, Windows 10 and earlier Windows too Download mouse pointer themes for free, from sites like Open Cursor Library. Microsoft has made the option to change your Pointer Icons a little tricky, it takes a few steps, but is fairly easy to manage once you’ve downloaded your theme. As Microsoft has left little creativity when it comes to cursor themes, it’s important […]
Nine hidden tricks for Auto Fill in Excel
Typing or formatting cells of repetitive data can be very boring, but Excel has an Auto Fill feature to make it easier by automatically filling in data for you. We thought we knew Auto Fill, but just found nine surprising and useful tricks. Auto Fill goes beyond simple incrementing numbers or dates which is what […]
Save $60 on Microsoft 365, if you know the trick
NewEgg has a promising 15-month deal for Microsoft 365 Family charging $69.99 instead of over a hundred dollars. It’s a good deal and, we’ll show you the trick to save another $10 on their headline price. Office Watcher, Richard H, sent us a tip about a good Microsoft Office deal. We love when readers do […]
Solving “There’s already an account …” Microsoft login problem
Trying to login to Microsoft can get into a strange loop being told “there’s already an account” but then “That Microsoft account doesn’t exist.” for the same address! Amazingly both messages are right but not well worded. How can a Microsoft account login (email address) both exist and not exist at the same time? Has […]
New look Office 365 isn’t loved by Microsoft’s paying customers
The new look Office 365 and Office 2021 is rolling out and the complaints are coming thick and fast. We’ve been working thought the messages we’ve received and tried to figure out the problems and possible solutions. Missing Quick Access Toolbar? It might seem like the Quick Access Toolbar QAT and all its buttons have […]
Two Microsoft 365 deals to get, while they last
Walmart’s $70 deal for 15-month of Microsoft 365 Family has gone but there are still two other offers available to extend or start a Microsoft 365 Family plan. As often happens a very good offer for Microsoft 365 Family doesn’t last long before it’s replaced (using the same link) with a higher price. If you […]
Reversed Tilde ∽ symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Type the Reversed Tilde ∽ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Reversed Tilde ∽ symbol is the vertically flipped version of the usual tilde ~ symbol. A tilde starts with the downward curve while the reversed tilde has a rising curve at left. How Reversed […]
White Chess Queen ♕ symbol in Word, PowerPoint and Office
How to insert the White Chess Queen ♕ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. White Chess Queen ♕ symbol is useful for users that want to represent the chess piece as a symbol, rather than an image. Or just a generic ‘Crown’ graphic. How White Chess […]
