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
Paul Brainerd, who coined the phrase “desktop publishing” and turned that idea into one of the most influential pieces of software in personal computing history, died on February 15, 2026, at his home on Bainbridge Island, Washington. He was 78 years old and had lived with Parkinson’s disease for many
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
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
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
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
Excel’s new COPILOT() function lets you pull AI generated data directly into spreadsheet cells, but our hands on testing reveals a serious problem: the facts it returns are frequently wrong. Copilot() delivered errors that ranged from subtle omissions to outright fabrications. Before you rely on COPILOT() for anything beyond brainstorming,
Microsoft is removing the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel as an installation option for unmanaged devices in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Organizations that rely on this channel to slow down Office feature updates now need to decide whether to stay put, do nothing, or move to a managed tool like Intune
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
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
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
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
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
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
Europe now has a new contender in the productivity software space. Office EU is a cloud-based workspace designed as a European alternative to Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace, built around open-source technologies and hosted entirely in EU data centers. The project aims to reduce reliance on outside tech providers while
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
Microsoft has announced its most expensive Microsoft 365 plan ever. Called Microsoft 365 E7, it goes on sale May 1, 2026, at $99 per user per month. That’s $1.188 a year plus tax or a 65% price jump over E5, and it marks the first new enterprise licensing tier Microsoft
Microsoft is tightening security for work and school accounts in Microsoft Authenticator, introducing automatic detection of jailbroken iPhones and rooted Android devices. From now, the app will warn users, then block sign-ins, and eventually remove stored work or school credentials from compromised devices. The phased rollout aims to protect Microsoft
Microsoft is, at last, expanding Copilot Chat in Outlook so it can work with shared and delegate mailboxes, something that previously limited the AI assistant to a user’s primary inbox. The update means teams managing common mailboxes, assistants handling delegated accounts, and support staff monitoring group inboxes can now use
The Developer tab in Microsoft Office unlocks powerful tools like macros, form controls, and advanced customization features. Even if you’re not a programmer, many useful option, such as checkboxes, drop-down lists, and macro controls are hidden there. If the Developer tab is missing from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook, you
Europe now has its own serious contender to Microsoft 365. Office.eu is designed to keep business data inside the EU and under European law. Built on open-source technology, the service combines document editing, cloud storage, email, chat, and video meetings in a single browser-based workspace, offering organizations a privacy-focused alternative
Struggling with Outlook issues? Before you contact support or post in a forum, take a few simple steps first. Save yourself and others time, frustration, and unnecessary back-and-forth when seeking technical support. Saying “Outlook” isn’t enough. People can’t help if they are only told “Outlook” is the problem because there
Whether it’s no smoking, talking, eating or whatever you can make your own ‘Prohibited’ or ‘Not Allowed’ symbol for serious or fun reasons. Whether you want to block a specific action in a document, presentation, or worksheet, Word, Excel and PowerPoint make it easy to design your own customized “Don’t”
Creating an APA-formatted paper in Microsoft Word doesn’t have to be time-consuming. There are three ways to get a template with the correct margins and line spacing to formatting title pages, headings, and references. Where you can get the APA format in Microsoft Word so your academic papers look professional
