April 2021 updates for Office 365, 2019 and 2016 – Windows
Details and warnings about the April 2021 security and non-security updates for Office 365, Office 2019 and Office 2016 for Windows. There are some side-effects to watch out for. All these update will, or have been, pushed to your computer already. We’ve included a tip on how to force an update to the latest release. […]
April updates for Office 2016, Office 2013 and 2010
Here’s all the security and general bug fixes for April, aimed at Office 2016, Office 2013 and Office 2010 for Windows. Most customers will have their Office updated automatically unless you’re one of the cautious who wait a little while to see if there’s any bugs in the bug fixes. See Why updating Office is […]
Double Vertical Bar ‖ in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
How to insert the Double Vertical Bar ‖ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Double Vertical Bar ‖ symbol is used to represent norms in mathematics, (for example ). It can also be used to signify parallel lines. It can be used as a visual […]
Who is suing Microsoft for millions over Office licencing?
Here’s an interesting switch, a UK company is suing Microsoft over their licencing rules for Office. Usually it’s Microsoft suing others about licences, not the other way around. ValueLicensing is claiming UK₤270 million (US$370m ) in damages from Microsoft for trying to squeeze out the second-hand licence market. Organizations that upgrade their software licences, are […]
Cross of Lorraine ☨ symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Type the Cross of Lorraine ☨ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Cross of Lorraine ☨ symbol was originally a heraldic cross. In more recent times it was used in the global distribution systems, Sabre, Apollo, and Wordspan, as a delimiter in a variety of input […]
Can’t send Outlook email? The fix has arrived, at last
Microsoft has finally released a fix for what can only be described as an ‘unforced error’ or bug in Outlook that stopped some messages going out. They’ve left an unanswered mystery. The problem started after an early 2021 public update to Outlook 365 for Windows. Some messages refused to be sent out with only this […]
Why don’t Outlook calendars and contacts show in Windows?
Windows has some nice features for quickly showing your appointments, calendar and contacts/people lists so why don’t they show that information that’s in Outlook for Windows on the same computer? In Windows 10, clicking on the date/time in the bottom right-corner (the taskbar) you’ll see the monthly calendar and either a ‘Get Started’ prompt or […]
Word’s =Rand() around the World
=Rand.old() is a Word trick which adds common sentences that use all, or most, of the letters in that language’s alphabet. Here’s what Word does in English, French, German, Danish, Polish and many other languages. It’s useful filler text for testing formatting or other Word features just like “Lorem Ipsum …”. The sentence changes for […]
Exchange Server attacks aren’t over … until all the checks are done
The fallout continues from the recent ‘Hafnium’ Exchange Server attacks. There are warnings from Microsoft for administrators who might think they are safe from infection of their systems. According to Microsoft 94% of Exchange Server systems are now protected from attacks caused by a bug in the Microsoft software. That’s great but you have to […]
Deleting Microsoft accounts gets man two years jail
A man has been jailed for two years after sabotaging a company by deleting 80% of their Microsoft 365 accounts – email, calendars, contact lists, docs, the lot. What did he do and what organizations should do to prevent a similar catastrophe. Deepanshu Kher worked for an IT consultancy and was deployed to work at Carlsbad […]
A risk of spam filters – you might miss a real prize!
Aggressive spam filters can stop you getting messages you really want to get. One Australian author found that out the hard way when she almost missed out on a genuine $150,000 prize. The email notifying her of the valuable and prestigious prize ended up in her Junk Email folder. The problem of spam filters ‘false […]
Message Trace – the way to find missing Microsoft 365 emails
Trying to find a missing message or why an email is in a particular folder? For Microsoft 365 hosted accounts the place to start is Message Trace Microsoft 365 / Exchange Server admin has a system for tracking all messages. Other Exchange Server systems have a similar feature for administrators. Maybe someone swears they sent […]
Black Right Pointing index ☛ symbol in Office
How to insert the Black Right Pointing index ☛ into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Black Right Pointing index ☛ symbol can be used for pointing a direction on a sign or as a different bullet symbol. There’s also a similar, lesser known symbol Black […]
Microsoft 365 cloud outages, what happened and what you can do
Another bad week for Microsoft’s customers who rely on the Microsoft 365 hosting and other cloud technologies. There were global outages for more than half a day in Teams, Azure, Xbox Live and many other Microsoft Cloud services. All should be restored by the time you read this but there are still questions about what […]
Outlook for Mac vital tips and traps with Gmail
Outlook 365 for Mac has a more complete connection to Gmail accounts which includes calendar and contacts. But it’s not a simple link and there are so many ‘gotchas’ we wonder if it’s worth the trouble. Microsoft is hyping an Outlook for Mac feature that synchronizes not just mail, but also calendar and contacts. But […]
Exchange Server users pay the price for Microsoft’s delays
Microsoft’s customers have paid a heavy price for Microsoft’s delays in releasing fixes for the security holes in their Exchange Server technology. According to various reports, the company wanted to delay releasing the so-called ‘HAFINIUM’ patch until the March ‘Patch Tuesday’. That self-serving pause gave hackers an opportunity to steal vital data that customers rely […]
