Does Microsoft Word think ‘Walz’ is a spelling error?
Can Microsoft Word handle a newly famous name “Walz” or does Word think it’s a spelling error? What about the other VP candidate, “Vance”? In the last few hours, we’ve seen social media posts like this: “ Okay, word people, now would be a great time to put a “Walz vs. waltz” sticky note on […]
Saving Word document with automatic Document Inspector
Here’s how to save a Word document with the private and hidden details automatically removed. Normally, you’re expected to manually go to File | Info | Inspect document to check/remove things like comments, hidden text, header, footers or watermarks. What if you want it to happen automatically, whenever you save a file or just make […]
Replace Word document with anonymous text – complete Step by Step
Here’s the complete step-by-step manual method of replacing text with filler or anonymous words in Microsoft Word. This is quite easy, the main thing is to be careful with the Find and Replace expressions. It will work with any version of Word that has the ‘wildcards’ / Regex option which means Word 2003 or later […]
How a file name can reveal your secrets
A US government department has accidentally revealed a secret by overlooking the obvious in Office document security, the file name. Microsoft Office helps you scrub documents of private or secret information before sending. It’s easy to overlook the obvious data leaks that ‘Inspect Document’ doesn’t cover. ‘Inspect Document’ checks for hidden information in the document […]
Does Microsoft Word know how to say “Kamala” properly?
Pronouncing the name “Kamala” is a source of confusion even to Microsoft Office’s Read Aloud feature which needs a little tweaking. How does Word’s grammar check handle the possessive, it is Harris’s or Harris’? Kamala Harris has a Sanskrit based name which is simple to pronounce once you know the correct way. We checked the […]
WebP support available in Microsoft Office
Microsoft added support for WebP images in Microsoft 365, allowing users to insert WebP pictures into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Office applications. WebP images offer high quality with smaller file sizes compared to traditional formats like JPEG and PNG. WebP is an image format unknown to many people but is increasingly used by web sites. […]
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 […]
How the Background Removal Tool in Office really works.
The Background Removal Tool in Microsoft Office lets you neatly delete the background of images with just one click. It makes the photo subject stand alone with a transparent background. We’ll explain how remove background really works, it’s not quite as simple as Microsoft’s demonstrations make out. Windows 11 Paint is getting a ‘Remove Background’ […]
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 […]
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 […]
12 better ways to move around a Word document
Here are 12 suggestions and shortcuts to let you navigate a Word document faster. Word has many ways to navigate a document, most of which are hidden away and not obvious to the casual users. Once a document gets past a few pages, you need options for moving around that document quickly. Here’s some tips […]
Word Navigation Pane tricks and hidden options
The Navigation Pane is a great part of Word for Windows and Mac. Don’t miss on the hidden features because there’s more in that side-pane than the obvious. Navigation Pane is the best and fastest way to move around a document. It’s available in Word for Windows (Microsoft 365 and Office) while the Word for […]
Using OpenDocument in Microsoft Office
OpenDocument is another set of file formats for word-processing, spreadsheets and presentations. It’s an international standard that’s supported by Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Office. OpenDocument vs Microsoft Office docs While most people use the modern Microsoft Office document formats (.docx .xlsx .pptx etc) there’s a competitive set of Office file formats to consider. The OpenDocument […]
Get a truly private word processor from Proton
Proton, the makers of fully encrypted cloud and email storage now have an online word processor that’s properly private from everyone except you. Data stored on Proton is fully encrypted from ‘end to end’ including when it’s saved on Proton’s servers. Unlike Microsoft’s OneDrive, no-one can access Proton stored data except the user. Apple has […]
