Plus all the latest Office 365 software upgrades and additions
Office 365 tools and tips
Collaboration. Since Office 365 is cloud-based, multiple people can edit the same document at once (in Word, PowerPoint or Excel) and you can even see edits as they are being made as well as see who is making the edits.
Link to Files Instead of Attaching Them. Upload the file to the Office 365 cloud, open Outlook on the cloud and link to the file. While this is a feature on most cloud storage services, Microsoft Outlook will automatically grant editing permission to whoever you email the link to (permissions can be changed).
Turn Notes Into Calendars. How often do you write notes of assignments that need to be completed? We’re going to guess that it’s pretty often and now you can write a to-do list in OneNote and then easily convert it to tasks with deadlines and reminders in your calendar. You can also automatically add meeting details (date, location, attendees, etc.) to notes and email them to your team.
Add an E-mail Signature. Gone are the days of printing a doc, signing it and then scanning or faxing it. Outlook has a free electronic signature app by DocuSign that allows you to electronically sign and email docs, as well as collect signatures from others.
Use Your Mouse as a Laser Pointer. If you’re giving a presentation using PowerPoint, you can use your computer’s mouse as a laser pointer and all you need to do is tell PowerPoint to change the icon into a red dot (which will act as your laser pointer). This feature is even included in the iPad version of office. You just hold your finger or stylus down and the red button will appear.
Turn Data Into a Map. The most recent version of Excel has a new feature called the Power Map which lets you convert rows of data into images. If that data is geographic, it will put it into a 3D map.
Better Charts, Graphs, and Pivot Tables. One of the most useful features in Excel is the ability to easily turn data into charts, and now Microsoft has a new “Quick Analysis” feature which lets you quickly view and click through all the different ways you can visually present your material.
Excel Will Automatically Reformat Your Data. The new version of Office has Flash Fill, which automatically recognizes any changes you are making and will do the rest for you. For example, let’s say you have a list of names that is formatted into two columns (first and last). If you start reformatting so that these names are in one column only, Excel will recognize this and automatically do the rest for you. It will display the reformatted list and all you need to do is click to accept it.
PDF Editing. If you need to edit a PDF, you can convert it into a Word document without the formatting issues that come along with copy and pasting or editing. You can also save an entire Word doc, or even just a portion, as a PDF and password-protect it.