Convert Office docs to text with Markitdown
Check out this clever Python tool that converts Word documents, Excel sheets, PowerPoint decks and PDFs into a plain text format. Markitdown is a Python library released by Microsoft via Github, converts many documents into nearly plain text (called MarkDown). It’ll convert all these formats into text. Some conversions need extra pip flags like ([pdf], […]
Get Office Startup Boost for any Office app and any version
The Startup Boost feature coming to Word 365 is really a sly trick by Microsoft. It’s a trick that anyone can do with any Office app and any version of Office. Startup Boost starts the app but hides it away. Word lurks in the background until the user clicks on a Word icon (or starts […]
Fix F9 Fn Keys don’t work in Word, Office or Windows
Office Watch reader Steve G is having a problem in Word. The F9 key isn’t updating fields in a Word document. He suspects a buggy patch of Windows or Office. Here’s how to find the source of the Function key or any keypress problem and fix it. Hint – it’s probably not a bug or […]
Microsoft Pushes Out Emergency fix to Stop Office 2016 Crashes
If your Microsoft Office 2016 apps suddenly started crashing last week, you’re not alone. Fortunately, Microsoft has rolled out an emergency fix to help users get back on track after one of their security update caused Outlook and other Office 2016 apps to stop working. The troubles started began after a recent Patch Tuesday update […]
Stricter requirements for mass mailings to Microsoft mailboxes
Stricter requirements are coming on mass mailings to Microsoft hosted mailboxes including Outlook.com. The new rules also affect anyone with a Microsoft managed Inbox. Any organization (domain name) sending “over 5,000 emails daily” will have to comply with new rules from 5 May 2025. At the same time, Microsoft is changing how ‘unverified’ emails are […]
Important changes for your Microsoft and Outlook.com email
Emails you want to see might end up in Junk Email as Microsoft imposing new standards to ensure emails are legitimate. Microsoft isn’t allowing any way to bypass their new rules for emails you want. The new standards apply to senders but there are important and less well promoted effects for anyone using Microsoft hosted […]
Office help on the right-click menu ‘Search the menus’
There’s a little undocumented surprise on the right-click menu. Tucked away at the top is ‘Search the menus’ help. Sadly the underlying help system is still woefully inadequate. Right-click in a document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook) and the top item isn’t ‘Cut’ but a “Search the menus” box. This is different from the main […]
‘Show in Calendar’ pros, cons and ads in new Outlook
Outlook (new) has some more ads appearing in it as well as a handy way to add calendar events from an email. An incoming email to Outlook (new) can have a “Show on Calendar” option at the top when the software detects an event like a flight booking. Look for the “Show on Calendar” slider. […]
Copilot loses an AI writing competition
The Washington Post has done an interesting comparison of AI services and their email drafts for some difficult situation. Microsoft’s Copilot came last. Check out “We asked 5 AI helpers to write tough emails. One was a clear winner.” (login may be required) The headline is a little misleading. Copilot came last in this comparison, […]
Group and Ungroup objects in Word, PowerPoint and Office
Shapes, images, and other items can be grouped together and often should be in Word, PowerPoint and other Microsoft Office apps. When you group shapes or objects, you can move, resize, rotate, flip them all at once, as if they were a single object. If you’ve ever had trouble moving something in Office but found […]
Fix for Apple Mail bug with Microsoft mailboxes
For the last three days (since 3rd March) the Apple Mail app for iPhone and iPad hasn’t always been able to connect to Microsoft hosted mailboxes. While Microsoft delays, here’s the fix they won’t mention. Since Monday, many Apple Mail users have been pestered with login requests for their Microsoft hosted mailboxes. No matter what […]
Outlook (new) gets “Mail Merge” sorta, kinda
The new Outlook for Windows has what Microsoft calls “Mail Merge” which could be useful but bear NO relation to the standard Word/Outlook “Mail Merge” to send many emails. In the new message Options for Outlook (new) is an enticing button “Start Mail Merge” but don’t get too excited. This button is not related to […]
Outlook classic dropped from Microsoft 365
Outlook (classic) for Windows, the one we’ve all used for many years has been dropped from some Microsoft 365 installations even though the replacement Outlook (new) is still a “work in progress”. Here’s how to still get the ‘real’ fully-functioning, classic Outlook. Outlook (new) is the eventual replacement for what’s now called Outlook (classic). This […]
Stop Copilot appearing in Microsoft 365
Here’s how to stop Copilot prompts appearing in your documents, sheets and slides. Microsoft 365 customers are now seeing “Copilot Clutter” appearing in their Microsoft 365 apps, Word, Excel and PowerPoint. There is now a way to Disable Copilot available to some Microsoft 365 customers A Microsoft executive expressed surprise that customers didn’t want Copilot […]
Two new features in Outlook mobile apps
Outlook mobile for Apple iPhone and Android devices have two new features. Minimizing draft emails and, at last, Recall sent messages. Minimize draft emails It’ll soon be possible to minimize a draft email then resume writing the new or reply message later. This is a good change but not a big innovation because draft emails […]
Fast change Outlook calendar views
The Outlook Calendar views can change quickly with some shortcuts that work for both Outlook for Windows (classic and new) plus Outlook for Mac. The shortcuts follow the order of the Home | Arrange buttons in Outlook for Windows. Day – Ctrl + Alt + 1 Work Week – Ctrl + Alt + 2 Week […]
