Newsletter Archives

• 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

• 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

• Tracking the larger Microsoft ecosystem

  Posted on October 31, 2022 at 02:42 CDT by Susan Bradley • Comment in the Forums

  PATCH WATCH

  

  By Susan Bradley

  With Microsoft 365 making inroads onto platforms other than Windows, it’s increasingly important to track versioning and patches elsewhere.

  For example, it’s not enough to talk about Microsoft 365 as if it existed only on Windows PCs. We know our readers have more than one device, including phones and tablets. So while my focus with Patch Watch will continue to center on Windows, you’ll hear more from me about the broader Microsoft universe.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.44.0, 2022-10-31).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Patch Watch AskWoody Plus Newsletter, MacOS, Microsoft 365, Newsletter, Office, Patch Lady Posts, Patch Watch

• How to fix the most common OneNote sync problems

  Posted on October 24, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  ONENOTE

  

  By Mary Branscombe

  If OneNote stops moving your notes around properly, you can usually get it unstuck with these steps.

  Last time, we looked at how OneNote sync works and how to fix basic problems (What to do when OneNote won’t sync, 2022-09-19). However, there are some common sync problems where you need to dig a little deeper or do some extra work yourself.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.43.0, 2022-10-24).

  AskWoody Plus Newsletter, OneNote AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, OneNote, Synchronization

• 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

• How to access Microsoft 365 from PowerShell

  Posted on June 20, 2022 at 02:43 CDT by Peter Deegan • Comment in the Forums

  MICROSOFT 365

  

  By Peter Deegan

  PowerShell can be daunting at first, no doubt about that. But it can be very useful and sometimes essential for managing Microsoft 365, so I’ll explain how to use PowerShell from the very start.

  From the Microsoft 365 Web dashboard, it is difficult (and sometimes impossible) to make certain changes. Only PowerShell can make them, but the online help makes a lot of assumptions and isn’t easy for beginners to understand.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.25.0, 2022-06-20).

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

• Why there isn’t just one OneNote

  Posted on June 13, 2022 at 02:45 CDT by Mary Branscombe • Comment in the Forums

  

  ISSUE 19.24 • 2022-06-13

  ONENOTE

  

  By Mary Branscombe

  OneNote started out on Windows, and it’s been a sleeper success — but getting the full set of features has been confusing.

  OneNote was always intended to be the one place that you put your notes — and all the other information you need to hang on to — “Things to do, important stuff to remember, things to review, and a bunch of stuff you think you might need some day but can’t be sure,” as Chris Pratley put it when describing his original idea for OneNote back in 2000.

  It’s supremely useful for that.

  Read the full story in our Plus Newsletter (19.24.0, 2022-06-13).
  This story also appears in our public Newsletter.

  AskWoody FREE Newsletter, AskWoody Plus Newsletter, OneNote AskWoody Plus Newsletter, Microsoft 365, OneDrive, OneNote
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