Type the Left arrow ← into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. The official Unicode name is ‘Leftward Arrow” ← but it can be called ‘Left pointing’ ‘Left facing’ or just ‘Left Arrow’ See also Right arrow → symbol in Word, Excel,
Looking for the perfect holiday emoji for your document, slide or email? This quick-and-easy list from Office Watch offers a searchable collection of Thanksgiving-themed symbols that work across Windows, macOS, iPhone and Android. These emoji are supported (with different looks) on Windows, iPhone, iPad and Android devices. Unicode value (hex)
If you’ve ever paused over that little horizontal line in a document and wondered whether you should use a hyphen, en-dash or em-dash, you’re not alone. In Microsoft Word there are nine distinct dash or hyphen-like characters, each with its own typographic role and keyboard shortcut. From the standard hyphen
If you’re working in Microsoft Excel and need to test formulas, dashboards or data‐driven workflows, real data can often get in the way. Fortunately, you don’t have to wait for live data sets or scrub proprietary information—this article shows you two powerful techniques to create fake data lists quickly and
Excel users, beware, comparing text in formulas doesn’t always behave as you’d expect. While most programming languages treat text strings with upper/lower case as different, Excel doesn’t. By default, it compares text without case sensitivity, leading to potential errors in formulas and automation. Learn how to correctly use functions like
If you’ve ever wondered how to replicate the distinctive “school bus yellow” shade in your documents or slides, you’ll find the answer here. It’s the standard hue for North American school buses, chosen for visibility and impact. You can apply this same shade in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint or any
Ever had a heading in Microsoft Word that seemed to wander off from its paragraph like a rebellious teenager? Or a bullet point that ghosted its follow-up text? Enter “Keep with Next” or KWN to its friends, Word’s low-key matchmaker that makes sure certain paragraphs stay together—forever (or at least
Creating polished, consistent headers and footers in Microsoft Word is easier than you think. This guide walks you through every step—from adding page numbers and section-specific layouts to using “Different First Page” for cleaner title pages. Whether you’re preparing reports, articles, or academic papers, these techniques will help your documents
Microsoft Word lacks native support for adding prefix and suffix text through styles—but clever workarounds can make it possible. This guide from Office Watch shows how to simulate prefixing and suffixing paragraphs or character styles, just like CSS’s :before and :after elements. Learn how to format consistent labels, product codes,
Microsoft Word’s grammar checker might help with commas and verb tenses, but it misses one subtle yet frequent English mistake, putting numbers, amounts, times, or dates in the wrong order. After our article on adjective order in English , Aussie Office Watch reader “MJ” pointed out something that Word doesn’t
Your trusty Office 2016 or 2019 has lost official Microsoft support. There’s a smart, affordable way to keep your ‘vintage’ Office software secure and running smoothly after October 2025. Zero-day micropatching can protect you from new security threats, extend the life of your software and help you avoid costly upgrades.
Did you know Windows quietly swaps out Helvetica font for Arial every time you open certain documents? This subtle substitution affects how text looks in Word, browsers, and more. Learn why Helvetica isn’t included in Windows, how Microsoft handles font replacements behind the scenes, and what you can do to
Microsoft’s default font family, Aptos, isn’t limited to Microsoft 365 or Office 2024. Anyone can download and install the complete Aptos font set directly from Microsoft to use across any app or platform. Whether you’re running Office 2021, older Office versions, or non-Microsoft software like LibreOffice, this quick download ensures
Want to show only the year, month, or day from an Excel date? We explain how to use the TEXT(), YEAR(), MONTH(), and DAY() functions or cell formatting to display or calculate date details efficiently. Learn when to use each method, which is fastest, and how your choice affects Excel
Need an attention-grabbing border for safety notices or urgent messages? Creating a striped border in Microsoft Word isn’t as simple as it seems—but with the right technique, you can design professional-looking emergency or warning signs in minutes. This step-by-step guide from Office Watch shows how to use Word’s background picture
Want to make your Microsoft Word pages or signs stand out? Skip the frustrating page background tool and try this smarter way to add diagonally striped borders. Get full control over stripe position, color, and layout — perfect for eye-catching warning signs, notices, or creative designs that look sharp on
Why you can’t insert national flag emoji (among many) in Microsoft Office and Windows but can in Office for Mac, macOS, iPhone and iPad. We’ll explain the workaround necessary to insert national flags in Windows and Office for Windows. Apple devices (macOS, iPhone and iPad) show flag emoji properly like
Make sure your Microsoft Word documents look the same everywhere by embedding fonts, just in case the right fonts aren’t installed on recipients’ systems. How to embed fonts in Word on both Windows and Mac plus the options and alternatives for font embedding. Allow anyone opening the document to see
Take control of automatic formatting in Microsoft Word, the AutoFormat and AutoCorrect features. Whether you’re frustrated by Word turning your asterisks into bullet points or want to customize how your documents handle quotes, lists, and spelling corrections, this guide explores every option available. Discover how to manage, disable, and fine-tune
Hiding and protecting an Excel worksheet is NOT the same as full encryption. Protected workbooks can be encrypted and not available without the right password. Worksheets protected or hidden with a password are absurdly easy to view whether you have the password or not. Excel has long had the ability
Calculating the ‘Standard Error of the mean’ or SEM is simple using Excel’s in-built functions. Understanding ‘Standard Error of the mean’ isn’t hard either. We’ll explain the formula and what it all means. To calculate standard error of the mean get the Standard Deviation of a sample (STDEV.S() or STDEV())
Understanding Standard Deviation isn’t hard, especially with Excel’s help. This quick guide shows the difference between sample and population functions so you can choose the right one and get accurate, informative results every time. Standard Deviation in Excel The standard deviation measures the variation from the average or mean of a
In Excel there are various ways to either protect sheets or cells from access, make a them read-only or totally encrypt the workbook with a strong password. It’s important to understand the difference in Excel between Protect and the stronger Encrypt feature. Excel’s password protection is more complicated than in
How did we make a Word table with a picture background for a recent article – asks an Office Watch friend? She meant this table of Zoom shortcuts for toggling audio and video . There’s a similar table for Teams shortcuts. The quick answer is … we cheated! Word can’t
