Take control of Microsoft 365 by learning how to enable or disable Copilot in each app—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneNote. This guide provides step-by-step instructions to customize Copilot settings per application and explains why sometimes you can’t turn it off. Copilot integration into Microsoft 365 is a mess. Microsoft
Some Microsoft 365 consumer plans come with a monthly allowance of “AI credits” but it’s hard to find out how many are left. The AI credit balance does not show up in the Microsoft 365 apps nor Windows 11 account information. It should be there and maybe Microsoft will eventually
Still using .doc, .xls, or .ppt files? These outdated Microsoft Office formats are not just relics—they’re major security risks and should be banned. Hackers exploit these older files to spread malware, ransomware, and steal data, as they often bypass modern antivirus protections. After our suggestion to ignore old style Office
Microsoft has given PowerPoint’s placeholders a stylish revamp, making them not only more visually appealing but also smarter in guiding you on what content to insert. Placeholders in PowerPoint are the little icons on new slide with buttons to insert various content. What’s New? How to use the new Placeholders
Microsoft has extended a nifty new feature to include Android users: the ability to view shared Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files without needing to sign in with a Microsoft account. Previously, this was an exclusive perk for iPhone/iPad users—but Android’s finally been invited to the party. That said, if users
Microsoft has updated Copilot’s image making features in two important ways. Now it can spell properly and properly change your own photos. Available in both Copilot and it’s ‘parent’ ChatGPT we’ll show you what’s now possible and a lot better. You may have read that Copilot is now using OpenAI’s
Microsoft is replacing a feature in PowerPoint with something called either “Slide Starters” or “Design Suggestions” using Copilot AI. It offers pre-populated slide templates with structured content such as titles, placeholders, tables, and timelines, tailored to match the user’s chosen layout. “Design Suggestions” replaces “Designer” which has been in PowerPoint
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
Ever felt like your PowerPoint comments had a mind of their own, wandering off when you moved content around? At long last, PowerPoint has learned a new trick: keeping comments ‘sticky’ attached to their content, no matter where you paste it. Previously, moving content in PowerPoint was like playing a
Microsoft has two mobile apps with the “Copilot” AI name. “Microsoft 365 Copilot” and “Copilot” apps for iPhone, iPad or Android. What’s the difference and which is best for you? Microsoft’s Copilot hype “Your AI companion for everyday life” (see below) always reminds me of “Your plastic pal who’s fun
Google offers a great variety of free open-source fonts that can be used in Microsoft Office, Windows or Mac. You just need to know the right trick to access them for Word, Excel or PowerPoint. Over 1,800 Google Font families There are 877 1,816 Google Font families currently available at
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
There’s a special new color called ‘Olo’ developed by scientists in Berkely, California. The nearest match to Olo is possible in Microsoft Office, including Word and PowerPoint. Olo can only be seen with help from a special laser that fires the color into the eye. It’s claimed to extend human
PowerPoint is getting a useful addition to its Copilot AI options, make a new slide with Copilot. The Home tab of PowerPoint 365 will have ‘New Slide with Copilot’. A Copilot enabled Microsoft 365 plan is necessary, obviously. Or there’s “Add a slide” on the Copilot icon top-left of a
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
Here’s how to make a message (letter or card) to make it ‘appear’ from a PowerPoint envelope graphic. This message can be personal or professional, depending on your preference. In Make your own Envelope graphic for PowerPoint we showed how to make an ‘open envelope’ graphic in PowerPoint with some
An envelope graphic—crafted entirely in PowerPoint! It’s a versatile design element that works for both personal and professional needs. Whether you’re communicating with customers, making special announcements, or enhancing presentations with a creative touch, an envelope icon is a powerful visual asset. It can also be used effectively to showcase
Copilot could become a ‘toxic brand‘ because of pushy way Microsoft is adding it to Microsoft Office. We have some ‘modest proposals’ for how Microsoft can improve their AI offering and keep paying customers onside. Or, put another way, some grumbles about the way Microsoft is force-feeding Copilot to its
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
Microsoft has introduced a new feature allowing users to upload images directly from their mobile devices to Microsoft 365 Copilot. A nice trick but there are other ways to do the same thing, including two from Microsoft itself! The idea is to streamline tasks such as transcribing handwritten notes, summarizing
Microsoft is adding yet another push for customers to save all their documents to OneDrive. This time inside Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. OneDrive is Microsoft’s preferred place to save files and they cite various benefits to cloud storage. The company ignores the downsides to OneDrive and the right of
Check out this headline ‘ramen’ font that looks great and has a clever name – Times New Ramen. Seine Kongruangkit made a font from photos of noodles, nifty use of Photoshop and an undying love of Ramen noodles <g>. Times New Ramen – you have to love it, just for
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
