Outlook might label some emails as ‘Unverified’ and the photo/initials is just a question ? mark. What does ‘unverified’ mean? Is the email safe to open and how to stop some messages showing as ‘Unverified’? Unverified can appear in mailboxes hosted by Microsoft directly (Microsoft 365, Outlook.com). It’s a feature
Microsoft is updating how administrators enable or disable the Outlook (new) experience for Windows and Outlook on the web. This change allows IT administrators to independently enable or disable each Outlook, at last addressing long-standing confusion. Originally set for rollout in late January 2025, the change is now scheduled to
Navigating the evolving landscape of Microsoft 365 and Copilot AI can be challenging amid frequent update, varying features and so much hype. Our independent guide breaks down what Copilot is, its capabilities within Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Onenote and Outlook, and the distinctions between different Microsoft 365 plans. Microsoft has changed
When will your version of Microsoft Office stop getting security bug and software bug fixes, what Microsoft calls the “end of support“. This is important because software updates are necessary for Office apps. Mainly because outdated versions are more vulnerable to hackers, particularly in the case of opening malicious emails,
Microsoft’s relentless push of their new but still incomplete Outlook for Windows continues but it’s still possible to get the ‘real’ Outlook (classic). These days new installs of Microsoft 365 for Windows deliver Outlook (new) by default. Outlook (classic) is only available ‘on request’ if you know how to get
Check out this clever Python tool that converts Word documents, Excel sheets, PowerPoint decks and PDFs into a plain text format. Markitdown is a Python library released by Microsoft via Github, converts many documents into nearly plain text (called MarkDown). It’ll convert all these formats into text. Some conversions need
The Startup Boost feature coming to Word 365 is really a sly trick by Microsoft. It’s a trick that anyone can do with any Office app and any version of Office. Startup Boost starts the app but hides it away. Word lurks in the background until the user clicks on
Office Watch reader Steve G is having a problem in Word. The F9 key isn’t updating fields in a Word document. He suspects a buggy patch of Windows or Office. Here’s how to find the source of the Function key or any keypress problem and fix it. Hint – it’s
If your Microsoft Office 2016 apps suddenly started crashing last week, you’re not alone. Fortunately, Microsoft has rolled out an emergency fix to help users get back on track after one of their security update caused Outlook and other Office 2016 apps to stop working. The troubles started began after
Stricter requirements are coming on mass mailings to Microsoft hosted mailboxes including Outlook.com. The new rules also affect anyone with a Microsoft managed Inbox. Any organization (domain name) sending “over 5,000 emails daily” will have to comply with new rules from 5 May 2025. At the same time, Microsoft is
Emails you want to see might end up in Junk Email as Microsoft imposing new standards to ensure emails are legitimate. Microsoft isn’t allowing any way to bypass their new rules for emails you want. The new standards apply to senders but there are important and less well promoted effects
There’s a little undocumented surprise on the right-click menu. Tucked away at the top is ‘Search the menus’ help. Sadly the underlying help system is still woefully inadequate. Right-click in a document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook) and the top item isn’t ‘Cut’ but a “Search the menus” box. This
Outlook (new) has some more ads appearing in it as well as a handy way to add calendar events from an email. An incoming email to Outlook (new) can have a “Show on Calendar” option at the top when the software detects an event like a flight booking. Look for
The Washington Post has done an interesting comparison of AI services and their email drafts for some difficult situation. Microsoft’s Copilot came last. Check out “We asked 5 AI helpers to write tough emails. One was a clear winner.” (login may be required) The headline is a little misleading. Copilot
Shapes, images, and other items can be grouped together and often should be in Word, PowerPoint and other Microsoft Office apps. When you group shapes or objects, you can move, resize, rotate, flip them all at once, as if they were a single object. If you’ve ever had trouble moving
For the last three days (since 3rd March) the Apple Mail app for iPhone and iPad hasn’t always been able to connect to Microsoft hosted mailboxes. While Microsoft delays, here’s the fix they won’t mention. Since Monday, many Apple Mail users have been pestered with login requests for their Microsoft
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
Confused about the new Outlook for Windows? Here’s all you need to know. What Outlook (new) is, when you have to change (hint: not yet) and how it works with ‘classic’ Outlook. Important things to know about the forced move to Outlook (new). What is new Outlook? Outlook (new) is
Outlook (classic) for Windows, the one we’ve all used for many years has been dropped from some Microsoft 365 installations even though the replacement Outlook (new) is still a “work in progress”. Here’s how to still get the ‘real’ fully-functioning, classic Outlook. Outlook (new) is the eventual replacement for what’s
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
Outlook mobile for Apple iPhone and Android devices have two new features. Minimizing draft emails and, at last, Recall sent messages. Minimize draft emails It’ll soon be possible to minimize a draft email then resume writing the new or reply message later. This is a good change but not a
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
Fast access to important Outlook features! The ribbon in Outlook isn’t the only way to efficiently things done. Use the keyboard shortcuts that have been available in Outlook (Windows or Mac) for Microsoft 365 or Office 2024 and many earlier versions. Outlook for Windows Here are some keyboard shortcuts that
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
