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
Microsoft’s recent update to Microsoft Word introduces a bold change: new documents are now default-saved to the cloud (via OneDrive or SharePoint) with AutoSave enabled and different file naming. This shift removes the familiar local save location as the default — raising concerns around privacy, offline access and user control.
If you’ve ever struggled with getting images positioned just right in Microsoft Word, here’s a quick, effective shortcut you need. Instantly gain far greater control over how pictures move and integrate with text. This easy step is backed by clear instructions for both Windows and Mac, along with explanations of
Microsoft’s new Excel Agent—part of the Copilot AI suite—is already available in Excel on the web, even before its full rollout to Windows and Mac in December 2025. This step-by-step guide explains exactly how to find and enable Excel Agent through Excel Labs, so you can start automating formulas, managing
Microsoft’s new Excel Agent brings powerful AI-driven automation to spreadsheet creation and data analysis. We’ve explored how Excel Agent helps you generate budgets, sample data, and insightful reports with simple text prompts, saving time while expanding what’s possible inside Excel. Discover where it shines (or falls short) in real-world tasks.
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
Microsoft Word is officially retiring its “Send to Kindle” feature, ending the convenient way users could send documents straight from Word to their Kindle libraries. This marks the end of a short-lived integration but you can still put Word documents on a Kindle in other ways. Starting February 9, 2026,
There are two new special Microsoft 365 plans for consumers called “Microsoft 365 Classic” that Microsoft only mentions in passing. We explain what it ‘Classic’ is, what it costs and how to get it. Microsoft 365 Classic is a hidden part of the changes to Microsoft 365 in early 2025,
Word documents and Outlook emails can be cluttered with unnecessary emoji. Copilot AI loves adding emoji, like it or not. If you’re tired of seeing smiley faces in your reports or emails, here’s practical ways to clean them out. Learn step-by-step methods to find and remove emoji using font searches
If you’ve ever seen Microsoft Word underline a word with a cryptic “Possible Word Choice” warning, you’re not alone. This subtle feature of Microsoft Editor can confuse even seasoned users. It flags real words that might not fit the sentence’s context, often catching homophones or subtle mix-ups that spell-check misses.
Tired of endless nested IF statements in Excel? The CHOOSE function offers a cleaner, smarter way to pick from multiple options using a single, simple formula. Learn how to replace complex conditional logic with CHOOSE(), streamline your spreadsheets, and make your formulas easier to read, maintain, and debug. Choose() an
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
A viral post recently accused Microsoft Excel of bias for labeling the shekel as “Hebrew” instead of “Israel.” However, there’s no conspiracy—Excel lists currencies by language, not country, using the same format for all entries. Thanks to Office Watcher, Gary B. from Portland for alerting us to this bit of
Most Word users stop at page numbers and dates in their headers and footers, but Microsoft Word can do much more. From inserting document titles, authors, and file paths to using advanced field codes like StyleRef or NumPages, you can make your headers dynamic, informative, and even interactive. Discover the
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
Did you know you can make Microsoft Word automatically change text color or formatting depending on whether a number is positive, negative, or zero? With field codes like {SEQ} or {MERGEFIELD}, it’s easy to apply different font styles, colors, or highlights directly in your document—no macros required. This simple formatting
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
Microsoft Word 365 users are frustrated by the Copilot Summary feature that refuses to disappear. Copilot Summary automatically appears above documents and can’t be fully hidden or disabled. While designed to help summarize content, its lack of control options and buggy behavior have made it more of an annoyance than
Microsoft’s Copilot “Deep Research” promises detailed, AI-generated reports—but does it deliver? Office Watch’s hands-on tests reveal the strengths, limitations, and frustrating formatting flaws behind Microsoft’s most ambitious Copilot feature yet. From factual errors to messy Word documents, here’s what you should know before relying on Deep Research for serious work
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
A viral post sparked debate over whether Microsoft Word’s grammar checker shows hidden bias, but the truth is more technical than cultural. Office Watch investigated and found that Word and Google Docs simply make different choices about what to flag in grammar suggestions. There’s no homophobia here, just decisions that
