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Word, Excel & Microsoft 365
How-tos and fixes for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams. 30 guides in 6 sections.
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Licences & Office problems
Microsoft 365 licences explained simply: home or business?Microsoft sells Office in several ways, and the names can be confusing.Office says 'Product deactivated' or 'Unlicensed product'Seeing a banner such as 'Product Deactivated', 'Unlicensed Product' or 'Activation failed' is worrying, but it is usually fixable.Office will not open: how to repair it safelyIf Word, Excel or Outlook crashes at start, freezes, or says it needs repairing, Windows has a built-in repair tool that is usually safe.
Word documents
Word: track changes explainedTrack Changes lets you and your colleagues edit a document while Word keeps a record of every addition, deletion and formatting change.Word: how to add page numbersPage numbers help readers find their way around a longer document.Word: how to make a table of contentsA proper table of contents in Word builds itself from your headings and can be updated with one click.Word: how to mail merge letters and labelsA mail merge lets you write one letter and have Word fill in each person's name and address from a list.Word: why your formatting keeps changingPasting text and watching it change font, size or spacing is one of the most annoying things in Word.Word: how to set spell-check to English (UK)If Word keeps underlining words like colour or organise in red, or suggests American spellings, its proofing language is set to US English.
Excel spreadsheets
Excel: XLOOKUP and VLOOKUP explained simplyA lookup formula finds a value in a list and brings back something from the same row.Excel: conditional formatting basicsConditional formatting changes how a cell looks based on what is in it.Excel: fix numbers stored as textIf Excel will not add up a column, or your numbers sit on the left of the cell instead of the right, they are probably stored as text.Excel: why you see #### in a cellSeeing a row of hash signs () in a cell looks alarming, but your data is almost certainly fine.Excel: how to print a sheet to fit on one pageFew things are more irritating than printing a spreadsheet and finding that one column has spilled onto a second page.Excel: how to protect a sheet so cells cannot be changedProtecting a sheet stops people accidentally overwriting formulas or headings.Excel: your first pivot tableA pivot table summarises a long list in seconds.Excel: how to create a drop-down list in a cellA drop-down list lets people pick from a set of choices instead of typing.
PowerPoint & OneNote
PowerPoint: slide master basics for consistent slidesThe Slide Master is the control room of your presentation.PowerPoint: how to use Presenter ViewPresenter View shows you your notes, the next slide and a timer on your laptop, while the audience sees only the current slide on the big screen.PowerPoint: file too big? How to compress imagesA presentation that is too big to email is usually full of large photos.OneNote: the basics for beginnersOneNote is a digital notebook.
Outlook email & calendar
Outlook: how to create rules to sort your emailRules tell Outlook what to do with certain emails automatically.Outlook: how to share your calendarSharing your calendar lets colleagues see when you are free, which makes arranging meetings much easier.Outlook: how to give someone delegate accessDelegate access lets someone else, such as an assistant, manage part of your mailbox or calendar on your behalf.Outlook: search is not working or finds nothingIf Outlook says there are no results for an email you know is there, do not panic.
Teams, Forms & Planner
Teams: chat or channel? Which one to useTeams has two main ways to talk to people, and choosing the right one keeps conversations tidy.Teams: how meeting recordings and transcripts workTeams can record a meeting and write a transcript of what was said.Teams: how to control notificationsIf Teams pings you all day, or you miss important messages, you can adjust it.Microsoft Forms: how to make a survey or quizMicrosoft Forms lets you build a survey, sign-up sheet or quiz, send a link, and see the answers collected for you.Microsoft Planner: how to organise tasks with your teamPlanner is a simple board for tracking who is doing what.
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