Grab photos from Android direct to Word or PowerPoint
A new way to insert a picture directly from an Android device into a Word document or PowerPoint slide on a Windows or Mac computer. Plus alternatives you can use now and might be more reliable. How it’s (supposed) to work In the online (browser) versions of Word and PowerPoint, Microsoft is gradually rolling out […]
Set your own Shape default settings in Microsoft Office
You’re not stuck with the Microsoft automatic settings when inserting a new shape. Change the defaults to whatever you like for faster shape formatting in Office; Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. When you Insert | Shape, something like this probably appears. Blue fill, 1pt black single line outline, no effects and Text Wrapping in front […]
Change the PowerPoint audio/music speaker icon
In late 2016, Microsoft removed the PowerPoint audio ‘Change Picture’ option from the right-click menu for the music icon and they show no interest in bringing the choice back. The feature hasn’t gone away, it’s just not on the right-click menu where it should be. The workaround is on the Audio Format | Adjust ribbon where the Change […]
Bypass Office Backstage and get to ‘real’ Open or Save dialogs
If you don’t like the large Office Backstage pane, the older and more powerful Open and Save dialog boxes are still available via shortcuts or changing a Microsoft Office setting. Microsoft has spent a lot of time and effort changing the Word, Excel and PowerPoint File panes to add more features and unsubtle hints to […]
Viva Magenta! Pantone’s 2023 color in Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Pantone has announced their “Color of the Year” for 2023 is “Viva Magenta” and, as usual, we’ll explain how to use that exact color in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. And we’ll look at the purple prose that’s become a hallmark of Pantone’s annual promotion. The color of 2023 is … Viva Magenta As usual […]
Word: Finding and Fix Highlighted text
One major use for Find and Do in Microsoft Word is to find highlighted text and let you change them. Highlighted text is often used to mark parts of a draft that need more work. There’s always the risk that the final document will go out with highlighted, unfinished, text still in place! This […]
Use PowerPoint to make a quick photo collage
Powerpoint is a quick way to make a photo collage or presentation that you can use as a separate photo for any purpose, including as a virtual background! Today is the 80th birthday of an amazing man. We’ll be meeting up on Zoom to celebrate the big day and we’d like to make a special […]
Does an Office licence work for two users on a computer?
Microsoft Office rules might let two users or more use the same copy of Office on a computer. It depends on which type of Office you have on a Windows or Mac computer. Office can work for multiple separate users on the one computer. Most commonly, there are separate Windows or Mac logins for the […]
Having Microsoft Office problems? Try these tips first
If you’re having trouble with Office for Windows, try these tips first. They might fix the problem or help narrow down the cause. You’ll often get these suggestions from Microsoft Support or forums. They are things to try before asking for help with a Microsoft Office problem for two reasons: Support staff might make these […]
Fixing a broken Reuse Slides feature in PowerPoint
What to do if you get the “Sorry, something went wrong” error message trying to use PowerPoint’s Reuse Slides feature. This error message might appear if you’re trying to use PowerPoint’s Reuse Slides feature. It seems to happen only for non-business users (for example Microsoft 365 Family/Personal plans). The current error message is both non-specific […]
Reuse slides in PowerPoint, the good and the annoying
There’s a faster way to clone or reuse slides from existing PowerPoint presentations. Reuse Slides lets you pick a slide and copy it in a flash. Which sounds great unless you’re an unlucky person who hits a useless and unhelpful Microsoft error message. Reuse Slides is mostly promoted as a tool for organizations with shared […]
PowerPoint gets a Portrait mode for iPhone and iPad
PowerPoint is getting a Portrait or vertical orientation option for PowerPoint mobile on Apple iPhone and iPad. Portrait mode is already in PowerPoint desktop (Windows/Mac) though it’s hidden. Portrait mode for slides and videos is quite common these days (TikTok and similar are all portrait) even though it offends purists like your humble correspondent. Design […]
Complete Christmas emoji, fast find and copy
Need a Christmas emoji or symbol? Here’s a quick and searchable list of all the Xmas emoji for documents, sheets, slides, emails or messages that you can use or copy. This list has all the Christmas related emoji we can think of, the broadest sense both secular and religious. These emoji are supported (with different […]
Use the six Soccer icons in Microsoft Office
In the Microsoft Office Icons there are six Soccer (football) related graphics, a ball, running player and a goal net with two variations on each. Start with those plain icons to make more colorful designs with a few clicks. There are also some Soccer ⚽ emoji in Office Along the way, we also found a […]
Handwritten document editing without pen or paper
It’s possible and practical to make ‘handwritten’ notes or edits direct on your Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. Instead of printing them out and using a pen/pencil, do it on-screen with a digital pen. Here’s a real-world guide to how you can do it, leaving aside the hype and flashy demos. Even these days, it’s […]
Two ways to get one line of Word with left and right aligned text
Two ways to put left and right aligned text on the same line in Microsoft Word. There’s the commonly used option and the less well-known choice. BONUS: putting left, center and right aligned text on one line. We’ll show how to make Left and Right aligned text looking like this. You’ll often see it in […]
