Fix the default mail link back to Outlook
How to make mail links on web pages or emails open in Outlook for Windows instead of some other mail app. Fix this in Windows 11, Windows 10 and earlier Windows. Sometimes Outlook ‘forgets’ that it’s the place for all email work. You click on an email address and get some other app or nothing […]
Why are there now two “Outlook for Windows”?
Microsoft is hyping a new “Outlook for Windows” as a coming replacement to the familiar Windows program giving both the same “Outlook for Windows” name even though the two programs are completely different and the proposed replacement is quite crippled. Let’s start with a little naming explanation because Microsoft seems determined to continue making the […]
What’s in and out of the new Outlook
Microsoft’s proposed “Outlook for Windows” replacement has some additional features but still lacks features that most people would think are essential for any mail program. This “New Outlook” can’t do things that the Outlook apps for Windows, Mac, Apple and Android could do from the start. The “New Outlook” is a totally different type of […]
Show Unicode number for a character in Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word has a simple and quick way to reveal the Unicode value or character number for any letter, symbol or emoji using the Alt + X shortcut. As you may know, each character shown on a computer is really a number. There’s an accepted list of symbols called Unicode which lists thousands of characters […]
File menu change for the better in Office 365
A small but very welcome change to the File menu in Office 365 for Windows to handle the overflow at the bottom of the window. It’s one of those changes that Microsoft doesn’t promote or even mention. Maybe because it’s quite small or perhaps because it fixes an embarrassing design flaw. The File menu scrolled […]
Easily apply the same picture format to many images in Word or PowerPoint
Here’s how to apply the same formatting, borders and picture styles to more than one picture or graphic in Word, PowerPoint or Excel. There’s an unexpected and easy way to do it. Picture Format tools don’t have custom styles (Microsoft please note) only the in-built pre-sets. If you want to apply the same formatting to […]
Reference Mark ※ in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Put the Reference Mark ※ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Reference Mark ※ or reference symbol is used in Asian writing (Chinese, Japanese, Korean) like the Asterix * in western languages. It marks some additional notes to text. It’s called komejirushi (Japan) , chamgopyo (Korea) or […]
Quickly type Euro € sign in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Quickly type the Euro € currency sign into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Euro € symbol is easy on some keyboards but for other keyboards there’s no specific key for Euro. You can [copy content=”€” text=”click here to copy Euro € to clipboard 📋” copied-text=”Euro […]
Two new PowerToys useful for Office users
Two new Windows PowerToys are especially useful for many Microsoft Office users. One is a better way to type accented characters, the other grabs text from images. Quick Accent, Text Extractor and, to a lesser extent, Screen Ruler are all additions to the PowerToys collection that can be useful for Office users. PowerToys are available […]
To Do app now in Outlook desktop – sorta, kinda
Outlook 365 for Windows now has the Microsoft To Do service, at least that’s what Microsoft is boasting. It’s not a proper integration into Outlook and there are dangerous limitations. To Do is a relatively new Microsoft cloud service. It’s quite different and more powerful than the Tasks part of Outlook. With a Microsoft hosted […]
Discover inside Microsoft To Do
Tasks in Outlook have been given a major update with the development of Microsoft To Do. To Do is way better than the old Tasks with more options, its own app and web page options. It’s available for everyone but works best with a Microsoft hosted mailbox (Outlook.com, Microsoft 365 with mail hosting). To Do […]
Three Microsoft Office function key alternatives
Function keys can be a hassle, specially on smaller laptop keyboards without a dedicated F key row. Happily there are two alternatives for Microsoft Office user plus another for both Windows or Mac generally. Many laptop users avoid the Function keys because they aren’t directly available on the keyboard. Instead you need to press the Fn […]
What are email Plus addresses and how to use them
‘Plus’ email addressing (aka sub-address or disposable email) is a really useful option for managing your incoming messages, if your mail host allow them. The + trick lets you change the email address given out while still letting the messages to a single mailbox. A ‘plus’ email address looks like this fred+sheep@fredagg.com – the real […]
Discover the mailbox connection details in Outlook
Here’s how to discover what type of connection Outlook for Windows is making to each mailbox. That’s occasionally important information but it’s hidden in an unexpected place. Connection Status has vital details to know if support asks what type of mailbox connection Outlook is using. At the moment, Microsoft is shutting down access to older […]
Opening the Outlook Connection Status box
How to open the Outlook Connection Status box to see what type of connection Outlook for Windows is making to each mailbox. It’s hiding on an Outlook menu most people don’t even know about. Microsoft’s instructions aren’t complete, try this: Outlook for Windows must be running Open the notification pane on the bottom right of […]
Division ÷ symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Type the Division ÷ symbol into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Division ÷ symbol is an alternative to the / character. Made up of a dash and two dots. ÷ symbol isn’t recommended these days. It’s not universally known and mostly used to mark division […]
