Ronny, a loyal Office Watch reader asks “OK, I now understand that entering dates in Excel as plain text isn’t a good idea. How do I convert my cells with MM/DD text into proper Excel dates?” It’s a trap for Excel novices. Typing in a date as plain text seems
These days it’s quite simple to share a video or any large file via email, here’s how. You’ll need a cloud storage service, Google, iCloud or OneDrive. We’ll use OneDrive because it comes with Microsoft 365 and it’s well integrated with Outlook. The same steps apply to any large file
In Outlook 365 for Windows there are alternatives to the usual ‘upload then link’ option for sharing large files via email. The principles are the same but the whole task can be done quicker inside Outlook with the choice of an email attachment or sharing a link to a file
Here’s a handy Excel worksheet for visitors to Europe, including UK citizens. It’ll help you stay within the legal limits for ‘short stays’ by visitors to the EU Schengen zone. Most visitors to Europe are allowed to stay in the Schengen group of countries for 90 days out of the
It’s easy to make your own views for email, calendar and contacts and switch between them with Outlook Custom Views. Outlook does not have to look the way it does ‘out of the box’. Perhaps you’d prefer a different color scheme for read and unread messages? Maybe with more lines
There’s a Pray / Thank You 🙏 emoji you can drop into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Pray / Thank You 🙏 symbol in Western cultures can be used to show prayer or devotion more generally as well as thanks
There are options in Microsoft Word to limit access a document in different ways. It’s more fine-grained control of what people can do in the document rather than the entire Word document permissions options we’ve mentioned before. Restrict Editing options let you collaborate on a document more broadly without the
Word, Excel and PowerPoint have options to stop people from changing a document, making them ‘read only’ in tech speak. These options protect your documents from unauthorized editing or even reading them at all. There are different levels of protection, they are all under File | Info | Protect Document.
There’s no way to stop someone copying a picture of your signature (or any image) but there are some tricks to stop the image being misused. Thanks to Office Watch reader, Tim P. for the excellent question: “I liked your article on inserting signatures. In relation to inserting a picture
There are some nifty tricks to inserting a picture of your signature into a Word or other document. Tips that make the result look realistic and professional. We’ve already explained the many ways to get a picture of your ink signature into Office. Now you have a picture of your
Adding your signature or signing a document digitally is possible in different ways using Microsoft Word or other Office programs. Before we start, let’s clarify some terminology because ‘signing a document’ can mean several things in the computer world: Adding a signature to a document. Inserting a copy of a
Microsoft’s 15-month Microsoft 365 offer looks like a bargain at first glance, promising extra value compared to standard annual plans. But when you break down the pricing, renewal terms, and fine print, this “bonus” subscription may not deliver the savings many users expect. Here’s what you need to know before
Word, Excel, Outlook and PowerPoint in Microsoft 365 have image and icon libraries plus stock images or ‘premium creative content’. Despite the ‘Stock Images’ name there are four types of extra content; Images, Cutout People, Icons and Stickers. We’re told there are ‘over 8,000’ images and icons with ‘more to
Type the ‘Plus or Minus sign’ ± into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Plus-Minus ± symbol isn’t just used for equations, it’s also used as a shortcut for ‘plus or minus’. In statistics you’ll often see results given as being
A new feature in OneNote for Windows is a good time to remind you of all the fast ways to make a Quick Note and control where those notes are saved. To make a new Quick Note fast do one of these things in OneNote for Windows: Press Win +
Here’s a rare peek inside the C++ programming code that makes Microsoft Office possible. Zachary Henkel gave a speech at CppCon 2022 titled “Microsoft Uses C++ to Deliver Office – Huge Size, Small Components” which is now available on YouTube. Mr Henkel speaks from experience, he’s worked at Microsoft for
Microsoft Word can check if you use a single or double space after a sentence (fullstop/period) but how can it be changed throughout a document? Make all sentences end with a single space instead of double spaces, triple or more. The Sentence Spacing settings (single, double or don’t care) is
Sending out party and other non-business invitations is quite possible in Outlook. While the system is primarily intended for meetings in companies, individuals can use it too. Microsoft has tinkered with the look of Outlook but the fundamentals remain the same. Using Outlook you can email invitations which include links
Back in August we told you about the interesting ‘Show Changes’ feature in Excel which tracks not only edits made to a workbook but who made them. Since then eager Excel users have wondered when it’ll appear in Excel 365 for Windows or Mac … and so are we. According
Google Workspace Individual plan is finally getting more cloud storage than the measly allowance available so far. Up to 1TB of Google One online. Currently, the Workspace Individual plan has only 15GB of Google One cloud storage which is pitifully little. It’s actually no more than the free cloud storage
OneNote is getting a new Full Page or Pen only view that gives more space for digital pen users to draw, write or scribble. And there’s a little bonus for Surface pen owners but the naming is a little confused. The new “pen focused” view has the main elements of
The new Viewing menu option in Word has mislead people into thinking they can’t edit documents sent to them. Really, nothing has changed except a poorly worded Microsoft message that hides the important button underneath. Opening a Word attachment from the latest Outlook 365, starts Word 365 with this notice.
Check mark or tick has two options, normal ✓ or heavy ✔ to insert into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Checkmark ✓ symbol is used for bullet or check lists and other indicators. There’s also Heavy Check Mark ✔ which
Type one of the four diagonal cross Mark ✗, multiplication or ballot symbols into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. The X or Cross Mark ✗ symbol is used for bullet or check lists and other indicators. It’s the opposite of
