Office 2021 is the personal and small business ‘perpetual licence’, non-subscription version of Microsoft Office. For Windows and Mac.
Office LTSC (Long Term Servicing Channel) is the volume licence ‘perpetual licence’, non-subscription version of Microsoft Office for organizations, companies and governments. Also for Windows and Mac.
The features in Office 2021 and Office LTSC are very similar, if not the same.
Why Outlook’s “Message Body Includes” Rule Misses too many emails
The “Message body includes” rule in Microsoft Outlook sounds like exactly what you need to filter emails by their content. But it has a critical limitation: it only scans the first portion of the visible text in an email, not the entire message. That means any keyword buried below the opening paragraphs, hidden in a […]
Windows 11 Update Breaks Word, Excel and Office Sign-In: What to Do Now
A faulty Windows 11 update released on March 10, 2026 broke sign-ins for Teams Free and what Microsoft called “other apps”. Those “other apps” included Microsoft Word, Excel, OneDrive and Edge! If you use a personal Microsoft account and got a fake “no internet” error when trying to open Office apps, even though your connection […]
6 Ways to Convert Markdown to a Word Document
If you have a Markdown (.md) file and need it in Microsoft Word, you have more options than you might think. From pasting text directly into Word Online to letting an AI do the heavy lifting in seconds, each method has its strengths and sweet spots. This Office Watch guide covers six practical ways to […]
What is Markdown and how it works with Microsoft Word
Markdown is a plain text formatting system that lets you write **bold**, # headings, and bullet lists using just your keyboard, no toolbar clicking required. Created in 2004, it has quietly become the common language between humans and AI tools as well as a ‘distraction free’ way to write. We’ll explain what Markdown is, how […]
Hidden Inbox Rules That Let Hackers Spy on Your Microsoft 365 Email
When an attacker breaks into a Microsoft 365 or Exchange account, changing your password is not enough to stop the damage. Hackers can silently plant inbox rules that forward, redirect, or delete your emails without you knowing. Worse, a known flaw in Microsoft Exchange allows those rules to be made completely invisible, hidden from you, […]
Which New Outlook Rules Features are Missing (And What That Means for You)
Microsoft’s new Outlook for Windows has a Rules feature, but it is not the Rules you know. The Outlook (new) ditches client-side rules entirely and replaces them with server-based rules only. That means several actions you may rely on today, like playing a sound alert, running a macro, printing a message, or applying rules to […]
Outlook Email Rules Explained: How to Automatically Sort, Flag and Manage Your Inbox
Outlook email rules let you take control of a chaotic inbox by telling Outlook exactly what to do with messages the moment they arrive. Instead of manually sorting newsletters, flagging messages from your boss or deleting routine notifications, a few well built rules handle it all automatically. This guide explains how Outlook rules work, what […]
Beyond Outlook Rules: 8 Hidden Features That Manage Your Email Without You Knowing
Outlook Rules are not the only way your email gets sorted, moved, or deleted. Microsoft has built at least eight other features into Outlook and Microsoft 365 that can manage messages automatically or with a single click. From Focused Inbox and Sweep to Quick Steps, Archive, and retention policies, each one works differently and knowing […]
Type Playing Card Suit Symbols ♠♥♦♣ in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Need to type a Spade ♠, Heart ♥, Diamond ♦ or Club ♣ symbol in Microsoft Office? There are actually eight playing card suit symbols available, including solid and outline versions, and they work across Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook on both Windows and Mac. Here is every way to insert them, from the fast […]
Stop Microsoft Word’s Grammar Checker From Driving You Crazy
Microsoft Word’s blue underlines are supposed to help you write better, but they can feel more like a fight. When Word flags perfectly correct sentences or pushes grammar rules you disagree with, you are not stuck with Word’s defaults. Whether you want to silence one specific check, fine-tune dozens of grammar settings, or turn the […]
How to make the Microsoft Office Ribbon Work the Way You Do
Microsoft designs the Office ribbon for first-time users and its own marketing goals, not for the way you actually work. The good news is that you’re not stuck with it. In Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook you can rearrange the ribbon in just a few clicks, moving the tools you use most to where they […]
Outlook Focused Inbox Explained: How to Train It, Control It, or Turn It Off
Outlook’s Focused Inbox splits your email into two tabs, Focused and Other, at first using Microsoft’s machine learning but then you train it so the feature gets better. This guide shows you how Focused Inbox works, how to teach it which emails belong where, and how to switch it off entirely if it is not […]
Get the most from Pie and Pizza Icons/SVG in Microsoft Office
The Pie, Pizza and Pie Chart icons in Microsoft Office are boring and dull. Learn how to make pie and pizza SVG icons look (and taste?) better in Microsoft Office. Convert Office icons to shapes, recolor slices, hide parts, and add effects in Word, Excel and PowerPoint Just part of our tongue-in-cheek Pi 𝜋 Day […]
Pi 𝜋 choices in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
There are twelve different choices for the Pi symbol 𝜋 to type to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. We’ll show you all twelve including the most common 𝜋. Pi is the famous math constant. 𝜋r2 calculates the area of a circle from its radius (r) or in […]
Circle & Sphere Excel Formulas Using PI(): Easy Calculations for Area, Circumference and Volume
Need to calculate circle or sphere measurements in Microsoft Excel? With Excel’s built-in PI() function, you can quickly work out values like circumference, area, arc length, surface area, and volume using simple formulas. Instead of typing the long value of π, Excel provides the PI() function accurate to 14 decimal places, making it easy to […]
Three new Office Security Patches You Should Not Ignore
Microsoft has quietly patched three vulnerabilities in Office that deserve more attention than they usually get. Two of them can be triggered just by looking at a file. The third turns Excel and Copilot into a potential data leak. Today’s “Patch Tuesday” has fixes for another 79 more security bugs in Windows, Office and other […]
