Two better ways to Remove Background from images
Microsoft Office has a Remove Background tool for images but there are two better, faster and free ways to do the same job. Background removal lets you get an image with a transparent surround which can be merged/overlaid into any other slide or document more seamlessly (left) than a separate box with non-matching background (right). […]
Two faster ways to insert an image from the web into Microsoft Office
There are two quicker ways to insert an image or graphic from the Internet or web page into a Word document, Excel sheet, PowerPoint slide or Outlook email. The method most people are taught is to save an image to their computer then Insert | Picture | from this device to select that file. That […]
Insert the Spanish flag into Word, Excel or PowerPoint
Add Spain’s national flag into Office documents, Word, Excel or PowerPoint, then use some Office picture tools to enhance the image. Get the Spain Flag Image There are many, many copies of the Spanish flag available. We’ve opted for the Wikipedia site because it has an SVG scalable version (preferred) and PNG versions for older […]
More free Copilot tricks for Microsoft Office users
You don’t need to pay for Microsoft’s AI service, Copilot, to get some of its benefits in Microsoft Office, especially Word, Outlook and Excel. Try converting text to a table or vice versa. The trick to grabbing text from an image. Along the way you’ll also discover some of the limits and problems with the […]
Change a picture to a custom color in Office
Don’t miss this often overlooked Office trick, changing the color of an image or graphic in Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook. We did this in our article about inserting Prince’s ‘Love Symbol Number 2’ in Office documents. The image is available in various formats but always black, not purple. As usual, there’s more to color […]
Insert the English flag into Word, Excel or PowerPoint
Add England’s national flag “St George’s Cross” into Office documents, Word, Excel or PowerPoint, then use some Office picture tools to enhance the image. Not to be confused with the British “Union Jack” flag, the English flag is a simple red cross on a white field. Many online searches for an ‘England’ or ‘English’ flag […]
All about “Please check your network connection and try again” errors
Many of us have seen the error message “Please check your network connection and try again” when the Internet is definitely available. What does this Office or OneDrive error message really mean and what can you do to fix it? This error message appears in Microsoft Office help and other places like OneDrive. “Sorry, something […]
Bald Eagles aplenty in Microsoft Office
There are ten different bald eagles in Microsoft Office alone, as icons, stock images or even a 3D model, plus many other sources for photos and graphics online. We’re focusing here on the bald eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) which is native to North America and a US National Symbol. There are many collective nouns for eagles …. […]
Outlook for Windows gets a name change, at last
Outlook for Windows is about to become Outlook (classic). We’ll explain why the change is necessary and should have happened last year. The current Outlook for Windows is being renamed “Outlook (classic)” or more properly “Outlook (classic) for Windows”. That will properly distinguish it from the new, still in development, Outlook (new). Despite being a […]
Don’t Fall for This Fake Microsoft Email Scam
Here’s the latest example of a fake Microsoft email that slips past their anti-virus and security checks to end up in a Microsoft 365 mailbox. It might look like a real email at first glance but it’s not. The big clue to us was “Office 365” which is a name Microsoft rarely uses these days […]
Copilot comes to some Outlook for Windows
Outlook (classic) for Windows is getting Copilot AI features but only some people will get the summarizing, draft, rewrite and coaching benefits. You might have seen the news that the current Outlook 365 for Windows is getting Copilot but few mentioned the crucial detail that Microsoft put in the fine print. Before we explain what […]
How changes in Outlook login will affect you
There’s about to be a big change in how you login to Outlook.com (Hotmail.com, live.com email and it’s best to get ready now. We explain which email apps are already setup OK, some apps might need a simple change while others have to be replaced. From 16 September 2024, Outlook.com won’t just accept a simple […]
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 […]
Spam arrives in a brand new Outlook.com account – how?
How can spam email appear in a brand new Outlook.com account right away, before anyone has been given the address? Office Watch reader Sophie J setup an Outlook.com account and was shocked to see spam email appear in the mailbox within minutes. She hadn’t given out the email address to anyone (barely had time enough) […]
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 […]
