Newsletter Archives

• Microsoft Office’s drawing tools

  Posted on May 8, 2023 at 02:43 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Many people are aware of the powerful program Visio and its drawing powers. Fewer know that a comprehensive, though basic, set of drawing tools is available in Office programs such as Word and Excel.

  Let’s dig into the hidden and more interesting possibilities of Microsoft Office Shapes and its close cousin, Icons. You can use them to make a simple flowchart or diagram, or just add some easy decoration to a document, sheet, or slide.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.19.0, 2023-05-08).

  Microsoft 365 Drawing, Microsoft Office, Newsletters

• Inside the overpacked Microsoft 365 app

  Posted on April 3, 2023 at 02:45 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 20.14 • 2023-04-03

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  The Microsoft 365 app — formerly known as the Office 365 app — is what I call the Office “all-in-one” app.

  It’s available for Apple (iPhone/iPad) and Android devices and combines the Word, Excel, and PowerPoint mobile apps into a single app — with elements of OneDrive, the Lens app, and many other Microsoft features thrown in for good measure. Anyone can use the app, though there are some extras for Microsoft 365 customers.

  Because the “all-new” Microsoft 365 mobile app is being pushed heavily, let’s take a closer look.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.14.0, 2023-04-03).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365, Microsoft 365 app, Mobile apps, Newsletters

• What to do before your phone is stolen

  Posted on March 6, 2023 at 02:43 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  SECURITY

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Having your smartphone or tablet stolen is a traumatic event, but there are things you can do beforehand to make loss and replacement much less stressful, risky, and expensive.

  I speak from experience. My iPhone was stolen last month, which was very annoying. But — because I’m a careful nerd — no files or data were lost. The thief was locked out of the smartphone in minutes.

  There are things you should do to make loss of a device less traumatic and easier to recover from.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.10.0, 2023-03-06).

  Security Lost Phone, Newsletters, security, smartphones

• Changes to Outlook and OneDrive have fallout

  Posted on February 6, 2023 at 02:44 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Last week there were two big — and related — changes to Outlook.com and OneDrive.

  One is a way for Microsoft to gobble up more of your OneDrive quota. The other is a new Microsoft 365 plan, which might interest people with a perpetual license to Office 2021, 2019, and earlier.

  I’ll explain these changes in detail; in particular, I’ll explain why these two changes are related and how to deal with the fallout.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.06.0, 2023-02-06).

  Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365, Microsoft Outlook, Newsletters, OneDrive, Outlook.com, outlook.com attachments

• Get started, but stay original, with Microsoft Designer

  Posted on January 23, 2023 at 02:43 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  There is and will continue to be a lot of hype about Microsoft Designer.

  As usual, the reality of a Microsoft product is somewhat different. Microsoft’s focus is making everything quick and easy, which sounds great. But any moderately experienced Office user knows the trap. Too many docs, sheets, and slides have a tedious sameness to them because they rely on the same templates and design helpers.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (20.04.0, 2023-01-23).

  Microsoft 365 Designer, Graphics Editors, Microsoft Designer, Newsletters

• Microsoft 365: Year in review

  Posted on December 26, 2022 at 02:44 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Let’s take a minute to check the rearview mirror and review what’s happened this year with Microsoft Office. We’ll also peer over the horizon to speculate about 2023.

  There were obvious (and not-so-obvious) changes to Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365. I’ll look at just some of the changes. They might not be the most hyped changes coming from the never-ending road that is Microsoft marketing, and some of them might be overlooked but yet interesting.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.52.0, 2022-12-26).

  Microsoft 365 Clipchamp, Designer, Excel, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, Office 365, PowerPoint, Sketchup, Teams, Word

• Microsoft Insider: Pros, and the many cons

  Posted on December 5, 2022 at 02:45 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.49 • 2022-12-05

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Microsoft pushes its Insider versions of Office software very hard, promising the latest features faster than the public at large receives them.

  But it doesn’t mention the downsides of using beta software, the confusing and ever-changing labels, and the real reason why the company promotes the Insider editions of Office and Windows so strongly.

  Anyone can become an Office or Windows Insider. Microsoft pushes the various levels of test software for Office and Windows with phrases such as “Get the scoop on our newest builds and features” and “Help shape the future of Office.” As usual, that’s stretching the truth, hiding the real purposes of Microsoft’s Insider program.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.49.0, 2022-12-05).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  Microsoft 365 Beta Tesring, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, Office Insider, Windows Insider

• How to safely migrate to a Microsoft 365 mailbox

  Posted on November 7, 2022 at 02:43 CST by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  There’s an official way to migrate mailboxes to Microsoft 365 mailboxes (including Outlook.com) — but there’s a better, more prudent method I’ll explain in this article.

  Most of Microsoft’s advice is for medium and large organizations, but there’s a more direct option for smaller orgs, families, or individuals — and it also leaves you with an offline backup.

  I’ll focus on moving a free Gmail account to Outlook.com. You can use a very similar process to move small numbers of paid Google Workspace accounts to Microsoft 365 Business, or to migrate any mailbox, such as ISP-based email.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.45.0, 2022-11-07).

  Microsoft 365 Gmail, Microsoft 365, Newsletters, outlook, Outlook.com

• Use free Teams to make calls like Zoom

  Posted on October 10, 2022 at 02:44 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Anyone can use Teams Free to set up a group call with video, screen sharing, and other goodies — bypassing all the other Teams stuff about channels, posts, and mentions — which can confuse less-confident computer users.

  Microsoft Teams has a lot going for it, perhaps too much at times. In this article, I’ll explain how to use it for one-to-one and small-group calls. I’ll also review which features are available and what’s not possible with Teams Free.

  Microsoft loves to confuse Teams customers by mixing up the free and paid options. Many of the promoted “Teams features” are really for paid plans only — but you’d know that only by looking in the very fine print.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.41.0, 2022-10-10).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, Teams, Zoom

• The surprising truth about ultra-cheap Microsoft Office

  Posted on September 12, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Ever wondered about those ultra-cheap deals for Microsoft Office? Are they safe to buy, or a scam? Is the license legal and recognized by Microsoft?

  The answers might surprise you as much as they surprised me.

  It’s part of the modern world that’s widely advertised but not much talked about. My research includes feedback (generally positive) from many readers, plus my own purchases from a well-known site. I’ll focus on Office 2021, but the same info and warnings apply to cheap offers for Windows or other software.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.37.0, 2022-09-12).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, Office 365, Prices

• Using PowerShell to manage Word documents

  Posted on August 22, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  PowerShell for Word document management? Yes, of course. That’s something the plain old command prompt can’t handle.

  The more-complex and more-capable PowerShell can open Office apps (Word, Excel, or PowerPoint) to automate the making or editing of documents, sheets, or decks. Command prompt can do basic file management only. (As a little bonus, this article lists the DOS commands that still work in PowerShell.)

  The point of this article is to provide an “entry level” script for performing a basic document-management task. So let’s go through a PowerShell script that can deal with a Word document, while showing off some clever PowerShell commands.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.34.0, 2022-08-22).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, PowerShell

• Solo collaboration: Office’s untold advantage

  Posted on July 25, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.30 • 2022-07-25

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  Modern Office app “collaboration” features are hyped by Microsoft for businesspeople to share a document. But all those features — comments, tracking, versioning, and multi-computer access — are available and useful for solo, personal work, too.

  Using the collaboration tools on your own is an easy way to become confident with those features without embarrassing yourself — nobody is looking over your shoulder. The same tools are useful to help you manage a complex document by leaving notes and reminders to yourself. The also help you recall deleted text and access the latest version from wherever you are.

  I’ll focus on Word in this article because it has the most comprehensive collaboration features. The same tips apply generally to Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and even a little bit for Outlook.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.30.0, 2022-07-25).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365 AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Collaboration, Microsoft 365, Microsoft Office
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