Microsoft Publisher will officially be discontinued in October 2026, marking the end of a decades-old desktop publishing tool used by millions. If you rely on Publisher for newsletters, brochures, or other design projects, now is the time to prepare. This guide covers everything you need to know—key retirement dates, the
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 Mainly because outdated versions are more vulnerable to hackers, particularly in the case of opening malicious emails,
Down in Australia there’s another example of a mistake when redacting a Word document before public release. Make sure you delete any links to redacted text, such as a Table of Contents or summary. What caught our eye was the latest example of an oversight when redacting a document. Aussie
Transform your next presentation by mastering five powerful ways to add images in PowerPoint. Whether you’re embedding visuals directly from the web, creating photo albums, leveraging SmartArt, or using Copilot enhancements, these expert tips will streamline slide preparation. On a PowerPoint slide with a picture placeholder, just click the image
The July 2025 security bug fixes list plugs another 137 problems found in Microsoft software. Some are really serious and need patching right away for all Microsoft 365 and Office users. BitLocker also gets some security fixes. This months load of Microsoft Office security updates includes a fix for a
Add the US National flag “Old Glory” “The red, white and blue” into Office documents, Word, Excel or PowerPoint, then use some Office picture tools to enhance the image. The same help can be used for any other national flag, just look for a different source or our articles about
OneNote Clipper is a quick way to save a web page so you can read it later. It can replace Pocket, the lovely clipping service that’s about to leave us. Pocket, the ‘read it later’ service, is ending on July 8, 2025. Pocket is/was a ‘ready it later’ service to
Discover PowerPoint placeholders — designed to make slide creation faster, easier, and more visually compelling. With smarter prompts, broader media support, and customizable layouts via Slide Master view, placeholders help you create polished, professional presentations with minimal effort. In PowerPoint, placeholders are those built-in boxes that make adding stuff like
Instead of complaining about Word’s Resume style suggestions. Turn it off! It’s easy to do, here’s how. I often see social media posts bitching about a Grammar or Style suggestion given by Word. There are plenty of problems with Word’s Grammar and Refinements feature, but this one is an easy
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
RTF files may seem safe, but they can carry hidden risks. Hackers use RTFs to exploit Microsoft Word and even infect systems through email previews. Learn why RTF isn’t as harmless as it looks—and how to stay protected. The confusion is understandable. After all .RTF (Rich Text Format) files aren’t
Microsoft has ‘improved’ calendar sharing for all their Microsoft hosted accounts but Outlook (classic) has been left behind with too many bugs with some still outstanding. The changed Shared Calendars is a good move that’s been poorly implemented for many customers. The Shared Calendar changes are an attempt to standardize
Struggling with a sea of worksheet tabs at the bottom of your Excel window? Whether you’re managing dozens of tabs or juggling shared workbooks with tight screen space, discover how to fit more visible tabs across your Excel workbook can transform your workflow. In this guide, we walk through both
OneNote offers an electronic equivalent to the ‘sticky note’ or side-note. Most OneNote demos show off the full-size pages with a full range of feature but Quick Notes is the smaller and faster part of OneNote for Windows. Let’s explore how to make a Quick Note, what they can do
Our annual look at the words that challenged the Scripps Spelling Bee champs to see how many are recognized by the spell check in Microsoft Word. Again in 2025 Word was beaten by some very clever 14 year olds. Here’s a selection of the last round words from the 2025
Whether you’re managing schedules, tracking deadlines, or analyzing time-based data, comparing dates in Excel is a critical skill. This guide walks you through how to use the powerful IF function to compare dates—such as determining if one date is before, after, or equal to another. Learn essential Excel formulas that
Be careful comparing text in Excel because it looks easy but there are traps when comparing exact text (including upper/lower case) or not. Whether you’re cleaning data or ensuring accuracy in sensitive fields like usernames or product codes, we’ll help you get the results you need every time. Case-insensitive IF
Microsoft Word makes too many mistakes with collective nouns because only a few are detected by the grammar and style checks. Only US English notices “Subject-verb agreement with collective nouns” with other dialects ignored for no obvious reason. Many English words have a collective noun to describe a group pf
In Excel there are various options for making sure a text label singular (e.g. person) or plural (people) matches the quantity. There’s the standard answer (IF() functions) or clever cell formatting tricks. For example if the cell has 1 item you want the singular label: 1 cookie But if the
Use Excel with visual indicators to make lists easier to understand. Use IF function together with Conditional Formatting to display icons, text based on specific conditions There are so many possibilities available using Conditional Formatting or simple IF statements like these. Use IF Formula to show icons First, decide the
There’s a little trap in Excel when figuring out the number of days between two dates. Excel has one way, but the real world has two others. It’s easy to forget the differences and it can matter when the date calculation is close to some limit, for example in a
A tech enthusiast named has achieved the improbable: running the Linux operating system within Microsoft Excel. It’s a clever trick that no-one has been asking for. The 18-year-old named NSG650 created a project, aptly titled “Linux In Excel,” transforms the spreadsheet application into a minimalist Linux terminal. Opening the provided
Importing text files into Excel can sometimes lead to unexpected data conversions—like turning product codes into dates or trimming leading zeros from IDs. To avoid these issues, Excel’s Get & Transform feature (also known as Power Query) offers a more reliable method for importing text data. You can ensure your
AI systems have got a lot better at making and fixing Microsoft Office VBA code. We compare Copilot and ChatGPT to see which is best choice for coping with the complexities of Office VBA. Early in 2024 we tried asking ChatGPT for Office VBA code in some simple examples, the
