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
Microsoft 365 Copilot is improving their document summary feature in Word across Windows, Mac, and the web for some customers. Still no mention of the feature that Word Copilot users really want! Copilot Summary appears at the top of Word documents, whether you like it or not. It can be
QR Codes are those funny little boxes you see in apps and signs. They were once a bit unusual but COVID have made them part of our lives. You can add them to your Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents. Scan that code with your smartphone camera and it’ll read information,
Microsoft Word in a browser now has Copilot appearing more often than before, making things worse for their paying customers. Stunningly ignoring customer complaints about Copilot interrupting Word documents, Microsoft has chosen to make their AI service MORE intrusive. If you thought Microsoft could not make Copilot worse in Microsoft
There’s important change in the way Microsoft handles browser logins to Microsoft accounts. If you’re using someone else’s computer or a public terminal, you need to know about this new security hole. Whenever you’ve signed into a Microsoft account for a web site, you’ve almost certainly seen this box. Stay
Once upon a time there was just one ‘Microsoft Outlook‘ but these days there are at least eleven current programs or services under the ‘Outlook’ name * and two programs called “Outlook for Windows”. That’s before counting past versions that are still supported. You’re totally excused for being confused because
Keep a close eye on the increase/decrease decimals buttons on the Excel ribbon because Microsoft is changing them without warning. Increase / decrease decimals is a very common Excel feature to change the visible accuracy of a number. For example, choosing Currency or Accounting style (which defaults to two decimal
Excel on the web has a new look and some nifty extra features like better ways to arrange rows/columns – move, resize, insert. A clever Freeze Pane option too. Some of these we’d love to see in desktop Excel. Overall, the web version of the Office apps now look more
Presenter Coach or Rehearse in PowerPoint for Windows helps polish your presentation before going before an audience. This cloud-based feature is PowerPoint Online (web browser) and PowerPoint 365 for Windows If you don’t have Coach in your version of PowerPoint, try it from the web version of PowerPoint. Getting Started
With a simple trick, you can use Copilot to summarize and query Word documents without paying for an expensive Copilot plan. In theory you need an expensive Copilot plan to sum up or ask questions about Word document with Microsoft’s AI system. The Copilot side-pane is only available in Copilot
More common Excel desktop features are being added to the browser based version too. Drag and Drop pasting, Autofill, right-click for more Paste options and also export to text file (CSV) format. All these features will be familiar to Excel desktop (Windows/Mac) users and work in much the same way.
Make a ‘clickable’ checklist in Microsoft Word for the web that you can mark off tasks as they are done. The checklist feature is mostly for a list of tasks to be marked as done when completed. A checklist in Word could be handy for a small group of people
Three more familiar Microsoft Word features have reached the ‘on the web’ or browser based version of Word. Editing header/footer, columns and line numbering. Headers/Footers Word for the web has been able to view headers/footers for some time but now they can be added or edited as well. Go to
Word in a browser now has nicer web link preview that the plain ones in other versions of Word plus obvious choices for copy, edit or deleting a link. Hover over a web or internal link in Word on the web and you’ll see a better tooltip with buttons to
WhatsApp can send any file, photo, video or text notes to yourself, in other words between your computers or devices. Files up to 2GB can be moved quickly and securely between machines. Sometimes you need to copy something between two computers or devices you have. That could be a little
Microsoft is ending Wordpad on Windows 11 … not right away but sometime soon. Here are your options for a replacement. WordPad has been in Windows since 1995 as a basic word-processor with Word document compatibility. It was never much loved but still has an important place. It’s the only
Anyone can view and even edit a Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Onenote file on your computer by using Office in a browser. It’s free for anyone. Even if you have Microsoft Office software, the browser based apps are worth keeping in mind. They let you keep working even if
Catch Up is Microsoft’s new way to present the latest changes, comments, mentions and tasks in a collaborated document, sheet or slide deck. When a document is being managed by many people, there can be a lot happening. Edits to the doc, sheet or slides, comments and @mentions including tasks
There are special web links to make a new Office document (Word, Excel or PowerPoint) with a single click. Microsoft has bought some .new domain names like https://word.new . When you click on a .new link, a fresh document is created for you. Word, Excel or PowerPoint files are created
Word online has a simple, quick way to add emphasis and a little engaging styling to text you’d like to highlight. It’s only in Word online but can be used in other versions of Word. It’s called ‘Visual Emphasis’ and is only available in the browser-based version of Word. At
The Microsoft 365 browser extra for Edge and Chrome is being ‘retired’ from January 2024 though not for any good or explained reason. Maybe it’s because Microsoft’s Edge browser has an in-built alternative? From 15 January 2024, there’ll be no more updates or support for the Microsoft 365 browser extension.
Excel’s web version now has some better ways to insert functions direct from the function search window. Also easily see the open/close bracket pairs. Insert Function ‘wizard’ Insert Function has expanded into a little ‘wizard’ (remember those?) after finding the function, a second pane lets you insert parameters with some
Word Designer is a really fast way to reformat a document into something very interesting and professional. Here’s how to use it properly and add extra tweaks to make your Word doc look really great. All these documents were transformed from a plain document with a few clicks. Word Designer
The Editor part of Microsoft Word has a feature that should have been in the Windows and Mac versions many, many years ago. Changing the style of writing that’s being recommended. Word’s Editor pane sometimes lets you choose the style of writing that suits the document. We were delighted to
