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
Don’t be scared of Master Documents – just very, very careful. Master Documents is useful and sometimes essential but it’s not the most stable or reliable part of Microsoft Word. What is a Master Document? In Microsoft Word, a Master Document is a Word document which has links to other
Microsoft is dumping most of their Skype service in May 2025, ending a very useful option for people around the world, especially who use a regular phone for communication. Here’s the ending timeline, an important extension for Microsoft 365 customers and alternatives (official and others). Skype has been around since
Back in 2015 we were amazed and dismayed to discover a privacy gap in Microsoft Office. Seven years later Microsoft has done nothing to fix or warn customers about. The problem is with images inserted into Office documents (Word, Excel, PowerPoint). The image ‘meta-data’ including GPS coordinates are retained with
Advanced Data Protection, the best security option for Apple iCloud is now blocked for UK customers. A real blow to individual privacy and citizens’ rights but there are options for our British friends to keep their files safe. Advanced Data Protection is Apple’s option to fully encrypt data saved on
Microsoft is testing a free version of Office for Windows with limited features, an important requirement and ads to ‘pay’ for the software. It’s three Microsoft 365 for Windows apps but with restrictions on what it can do and where documents are saved. If you download from this page at
Is there a way to use Microsoft Word’s “Master Document” feature with OneDrive? No, but only because Microsoft won’t fix it. Master Documents in Word won’t work on OneDrive. You might think that after all of Microsoft’s efforts to get customers using their cloud storage, the company would make sure
Why does moving Documents to OneDrive (a so-called “Backup”) stop Outlook from working with PST files and what can be done to fix it? It’s a bug in Outlook (classic) but easily fixed. This is a long-standing bug in Outlook (classic) which Microsoft shows no interest in acknowledging, let alone
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
Choosing the cheaper and Copilot/AI-free Microsoft 365 Classic plan might seem like a good idea but beware the hidden traps in that choice. Plenty of online ‘experts’ are urging Microsoft 365 Personal or Family customers to switch to the Microsoft Classic plans (Personal or Family) option because its: Before changing
What to do if you see one of those ‘square barcodes’? How can you convert that into something useful like a web link or phone number? You see them in ads, signs, billboards, test and trace signs and even menus – little square blobs like this: What are QR Codes and how
QR Codes are those funny little boxes you see in apps and signs. They were once a bit unusual but COVID have made them part of our lives. You can add them to your Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. Scan that code with your smartphone camera and it’ll read information,
Adding barcodes and QR codes into Word documents and mail merges is remarkably easy though hidden from view for no good reason. There are two unlisted field codes that drop barcodes or QR codes into a Word document. No need for special fonts, calls to web sites, VBA code or
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
Quickly change between Outlook views using these keyboard shortcuts that work for three different Outlook’s, Windows classic and new plus Outlook for Mac. With all the changes in Outlook for Windows or Mac, it’s nice to see that some keyboard shortcuts have survived all the upheavals. This works with both
Clipchamp is getting a decent color selector (hooray!), resizable shapes, gradient background, text styles plus more stock images and videos. As usual with a Microsoft announcement, the devil is in the detail and there’s precious little detail in the announcement. All these Clipchamp improvements have conditions that the company drops
Microsoft is ending their VPN part of Microsoft 365 Defender for no good reason. At the end of February 2025, the VPN (Virtual Private Network) service in Microsoft Defender for individuals will be stopped. Microsoft reason is a typically contradictory word salad that means nothing: “Our goal is to ensure
There’s important change in the way Microsoft handles browser logins to Microsoft accounts. If you’re using someone else’s computer or a public terminal, you need to know about this new security hole. Whenever you’ve signed into a Microsoft account for a web site, you’ve almost certainly seen this box. Stay
There’s another expensive trap when buying Microsoft 365 Family or Personal with automatic renewal from a Microsoft “partner” like Amazon, Best Buy or computer retailer. An Office Watch reader fell into this trap but found a way out. For years we’ve warned against buying Microsoft 365 from companies like Amazon
With help from major retailers, Microsoft has another way to make people pay more for Microsoft 365 Family or Personal. Amazon and Best Buy and other offer Microsoft 365 renewals charging full price for the first and later years. Ever since Microsoft 365 plans started, Microsoft has enticed people with
Stopping predictive text in Word 365 for Windows, Mac or Web is quite simple, once you know where the switch is hiding. We’ll go beyond that to explain all you need to know because the basic tip doesn’t tell the whole story. Predictive Text adds some suggested text ahead of
Word’s grammar checker is good, very good but it’s not perfect. Here’s the latest example of wrong advice under that blue underline. Office Watch reader, Simone J from Berlin sent us this English language anomaly in Word. “Your Latin and calligraphy skills are some of the best I’ve even seen”
The popular employee discount program for Microsoft 365 (Workplace Discount Program or Home Use Program) has some changes in 2025 at the same time as the price rise and Copilot addition to the Family and Personal plans. Office Watch compares the two options with a suggestion about what to do.
Calculating a simple percentage increase in Excel seems simple but, as usual, there’s a traps for the unwary. Here’s a smarter and more consistent way to figure out % change. First we’ll go over some basics which you’re welcome to skip … The formula for calculating a percentage change is
