Microsoft 365 is packed with features that can make your life easier — if you know where to find them! Whether you’re writing a paper in Word, crunching numbers in Excel, or organizing your inbox in Outlook, these tech tips will help you work smarter, not harder. Let’s dive in!

Maximize Word

Shortcut Magic

Most people know the most common keyboard shortcuts to cut, copy, paste, save, and print. But here are a couple more that you won’t believe you haven’t been using.

• Ctrl+V pastes text with the formatting of the original source. If you want to paste the text without formatting (so it matches the text you’re inserting it into), use Ctrl+Shift+V.
• A double-click selects a word, while a triple-click highlights a whole paragraph. What about selecting a full sentence? Press Ctrl+Click to select just that sentence.

Editor Tool for Instant Proofreading

Editor in Word will analyze your document and offer suggestions for spelling, grammar, and stylistic issues. The Editor tool is found on the Home ribbon. Open the Editor menu and click in each category to review its suggestions. You can even influence the suggestions it provides according to your preferred tone (professional, formal, or casual). (Check out the video, right, to see Editor in action.)

Stay Productive and Focused

Here’s a couple tricks to help you work in a more focused and natural way.

• Dictate Like a Pro: Hate typing? Dictation uses speech-to-text to author content. It’s not perfect, but it's a quick and easy way to get your thoughts out. Click Dictate in the Home tab and speak your thoughts to get started!
• Keep It Distraction-Free: Use Focus Mode to hide the ribbons and sidebars, so you can concentrate on the page content only. To get in the zone, click the Focus icon in the bottom-right corner (or select Focus under the View menu). When you’re done, click the three buttons at the top-center and click Focus again.

Excel at Excel

Flash Fill = Instant Data Magic

Flash Fill automatically fills in data once Excel recognizes a pattern. You can hit Ctrl+E to manually use Flash Fill or go to Tools > Options > Advanced > Editing Options > Automatically Flash Fill to turn it on permanently. Then, you can start the pattern and let Excel fill in the rest!

Auto-Sum Shortcut

No need to understand formulas or know how to use AutoSum to add up a column or row of numbers. Just press Alt+Plus (the + key on keyboards with a number pad, or the +/= key on a laptop keyboard) to auto-sum!

Turn Your Data into a Chart Instantly

Charts and graphs are powerful tools for displaying the relationship between your data. They don’t have to be a hassle to create. Just select the data and press Alt+F1 to generate an automatic chart.

Get a New Outlook

Schedule Emails Like a Pro

Write an email now, and send it later with Delay Delivery (desktop app) or Schedule Send (web app). This ensures that you don’t bother people outside of their work hours and prevents your email from getting lost in the spam that arrives overnight. See these instructions for Delay Delivery/Schedule Send.

Clean Up Your Inbox Fast

When people repeatedly reply to messages in an email thread, your Inbox can fill up fast! The Clean Up tool can eliminate redundant messages to declutter your email. Just click the Clean Up button (the email icon with an ‘x’) in the Delete section of the Home tab.

Turn Emails into Tasks

Finding an email that you need to follow up on can be a nightmare in a crowded Inbox. Turn it into a Task instead. Just drag the email to the Tasks icon (the checkmark in the navigation pane) to turn it into a to-do list item. When you’ve followed up, you can cross it off the task list without deleting the email.

Get the Most Out of OneDrive

Find It Without Filling Up

Access all your files without filling up your hard drive. Enable Files On-Demand, which will list all of your cloud files in File Explorer without them being saved locally.

Find Your Files Fast

It can be hard to find a specific file, especially if you don’t have them meticulously organized into folders. Use the Search bar in OneDrive to find documents instantly, even if you forget where you saved them. It can search in both file names and file content, so you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.

Take Better Notes in OneNote

Tags: Electronic Post-It Notes

Post-it notes help you find information in a paper notebook. Tags perform the same function in OneNote. You can add a tag for To-Do, Important, Question, Idea, Definition, Contact, Reminder, or Follow Up. Look up tagged info by clicking Find Tags from the Home tab.

Search Handwritten Notes

OneNote can read your handwriting! If you write notes on a OneNote page (i.e., using the mobile app on a tablet or iPad using a stylus), OneNote can search them just like content you typed.

Tips for Getting the Most Out of Microsoft Teams

Now that You Mention It

In a group, channel, or team chat, messages can easily be overlooked. Use @mention to get someone's attention. Just type @ and then their name or username. They will get a notification that takes them directly to the point in the conversation where they were mentioned.

Slash Commands Save Time

Commands are keyboard shortcuts for performing common tasks, such as quickly managing conversations or updating your status. In the search bar at the top, just type ‘/’ to see a list of the available commands. You can also type ‘/’ in the Compose box in a chat to see commands that apply to a particular chat thread.

That’s a wrap on some of the best Microsoft 365 tricks! Try them out and see how much time you can save.

-- By Haree Lim and Karen Beaudway, Pitt IT Bloggers