Category Archives: Office

Share your PowerPoint with Office Presentation Service

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Launch an Online Meeting from PowerPoint

There are now many ways you can share your presentation over the Web. Participants can join you on any device from any location using the Office Presentation Service (free Microsoft service) or Skype for Business (formerly called Lync). If using Lync meeting they have access to the slide deck with IM and audio. You can also send a link to the slides.

Use Office Presentation Service

The only thing you need to share your masterpiece is a free Microsoft account, such as Hotmail, Outlook.com, MSN, Live, Xbox or OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive). If you don’t have one yet, go to www.onedrive.com and create a free account. That way, you will also have several gigabytes of free cloud storage for your use!

In PowerPoint, close any open presentations that you don’t want to share, then:

  • Click File/Share/Present Online
  • Click the check box for Enable remote viewers to download the presentation

  • Click Present Online icon.

To send your meeting invitation to attendees, choose one of these methods:

  • Copy link and paste it somewhere others can access it
  • Send in email

Note: You can’t email your presentation directly from PowerPoint on a Windows RT PC. Instead, open your email program, create an email, and attach the presentation.

When you are ready to start your presentation, click Start Presentation.

To end your online presentation, press ESC to get out of Slide Show View, and then click End Online Presentation on the Present Online tab,

Click End Online Presentation button to confirm that you want to end the presentation and disconnect.

Use Skype for Business to Join or Share Presentations

You can schedule an online meeting ahead of time or start a meeting immediately within PowerPoint using Skype for Business. You need to have a microphone connected to your PC, so you can speak to your meeting attendees.

Note: This feature isn’t available in Office on a Windows RT PC.

Click the drop down arrow on Present Online on the Slide Show tab. If you don’t have Skype for Business installed, it will not appear in the Present Online dropdown list. (You will only see Office Presentation Service).

A list of active Skype for Business conversations and scheduled Skype for Business meetings (within 30 minutes) will appear or you can start a new meeting immediately.

In the list, pick a scheduled meeting or click Start a new Skype Meeting, and then click OK.

Begin a new meeting, by choosing Invite More People. Choose contacts from the contacts list or type each name in the box, and then click Select under Invite by Name or Phone Number.

Begin your presentation.

NOTE: Use the icons to manage audio devices and sound, video, and the content you want to share. Icon colors alert to status. If blue, means actively using, dark grey is available, and light grey means that function is not available.

More to come in other ways to share a PowerPoint presentation. Office 2016 had added new features. Stay tuned!

Reasons to Format Excel Spreadsheets with Cell Styles

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Use Cell Styles to Format in Excel to save time and frustration and look smart doing it!

Here’s why you want to use Cell Styles to format Excel data:

  • Apply professional formatting to a worksheet in a flash.
  • Consistency across worksheets.
  • Built-in styles are labelled according to purpose for easy use.
  • Styles are customizable so you can edit existing styles or create your own to match your needs.
  • One click formatting.

Have you ever wondered how to format a spreadsheet in a hurry? Here’s a simple example of a worksheet with boring, unformatted data:

Name Region Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Total
Smith South 21223 17855 24855 21377 85310
Jones Southwest 23456 29550 24294 25335 102635
Wing North 19954 22600 19448 26450 88452
Baker South 17564 25439 32944 24000 99947
Folsom North 28543 28540 24400 28550 110033
Range Northwest 19534 30558 21844 19605 91541
McKnight West 20585 29667 27595 13605 91452
Crump South 24957 31322 15330 27550 99159
Rogers North 30332 27407 26440 24007 108186
Morris East 25395 27700 16500 27500 97095
Rollins South 35822 31854 24384 31005 123065
Jefferson Southwest 20949 23100 21774 27550 93373

But now you get a call to send it to a co-worker or the boss or it has to be ready for a presentation. Using individual formatting tools, it can take longer to format than it took to create it!

Format the Column headers and Data Content

Want to look smart really fast? Here’s the fix…First, I want to format the header row:

Select the header row in the worksheet

On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Cell Styles icon:

If you have a larger screen and/or higher resolution, you may see several cell styles already displayed. See all styles by clicking the More arrow button at the bottom of the scroll bar for the group.

This box below will display with lots of options that are labelled for specific uses but you can use them for any purpose you choose. Roll your mouse over the sections and because they are live preview, you can see the results before you actually choose the option. I want Heading 1 for my header row, so I point and click to apply it.

I’ve selected Heading 1 under the Titles and Headings section:

Next select the body of the spreadsheet:

Click Cell Styles again, and choose whatever style you think would look best for your data. (If you are using Input Style, don’t include the Total column as you’ll probably want to use the Calculate Style for that to indicate formulas).

Total Row Style

If you have a total row, quickly make your totals stand out with the Total Style:

Data and Model Section

A way to alert users about which data they can edit is to use the Input and Calculation styles under the Data and Model section. It can’t stop them from overwriting formulas, etc., but it does signify the ranges that they should not edit. If you don’t like the default colors, you can change them. (See below)

Remove Styles

So, you’ve been playing and got carried away and now your data looks like a kindergarten project! Don’t worry if you goof and want to remove a style. Just select that range of cells; go back to the Cell Styles icon to the Style group and click on Normal to reset the cells to your default font style and size. (Located in the upper left of the first section, Good, Bad
and
Neutral).

Customize/Create Styles for Text

You can modify any style or leave the original styles and create a duplicate for your new style. I would recommend the latter. Here’s how to make changes in font, color, etc. for any style:

Example here is for Heading 1:

  • Click the Cell Styles icon (Home tab, Styles group).
  • Right click over the style you want to change.
  • Choose Duplicate (or Modify if you want to edit the original style) to display the Style box:

  • Change the name.
  • Click the Format… button and make desired changes. (Ensure Font tab is selected).
  • Click OK, OK.

Changes to Numerical Data Styles

If you want to change the Input or Calculation or any other numerical styles to add number formatting as well, the process is the same except you:

  • Right click over the style name.
  • Choose Duplicate.
  • Type in a new style name.
  • Click on the Number tab in the Format Cells dialog box.
  • Click on Currency in the Category pane.
  • Choose if you want the style to always display 2 decimal places or change to 0 if you want that for the style.
  • Make any other desired changes to Font, Alignment, etc., using the tabs at top.
  • Click OK, OK.

Apply Customized Styles

This can be a little confusing after modifying a style as it looks like nothing happened. The new style is not applied to your selected data. because you have created the style but not yet applied it.

When you customize or create new styles, Excel adds a Custom section to the top of the Cell Styles list. Just select desired data, click Cell Styles and click on your customized style. I added Currency formatting to the Input Style but left the background cell color; applied Currency formatting for the Calculate Style but changed to red color so it would be obvious not to enter data in those cells:

I selected the quarterly data to apply my customized Input Style, and then selected the Total column to apply my new Calculation Style. If there is also a Totals row, I would select them both first, and then go to Cell Styles and click my customized style:

Create your own styles and save a bundle of time while looking darn professional as well!

Let me know how it works for you…

Why Subscribe to Office 2016 and Office 365

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Office 2016 and 365

Microsoft added some very enticing features in the latest versions of Office, 2016 and 365. You can still buy off the shelf versions of Office but unless you are subscribing, you will have limited options. Office 2013 (if available) can be purchased in multiple editions as with earlier versions for about $140 to $400, but Office 2016, even if purchased at a retail store, will be a subscription unless you choose the Office Home and Student edition which is just Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote for around $140, and the desktop versions are now generally restricted to installation on one computer.

We are being moved ever closer to the cloud for all our software and file storage but Microsoft is making it very worthwhile. Whether an individual or company, Office 365 has a low-cost subscription to woo you.

Three big reasons you might want to switch to Office 365:

  • Price:
    • Office 365 Personal is $7/month or $70/year for an individual subscription and Office 365 Home is $10/month or $100 annually for up to five people and both include the full Office Professional 2016 for each person. In either case, you are saving a great deal of money with a subscription.
  • Benefits:
    • You always have the latest version of Office as everything is automatically updated and you have use of the Office Mobile apps for tablets and smartphones. You never have to worry about updates or installs, and as extra bells and whistles are added, they become a part of your software. There are many other features, including one hour calling time on Skype per person per month.
  • OneDrive:
    • Microsoft’s cloud storage. A Microsoft account will give you 15GB of free storage and it also sells space on One Drive as a standalone service, i.e., $7/month for 1TB. However, subscribe to Office 365 and you may have unlimited storage per person.

Check out these features that Office 2016 delivers and see below for the links:

  • Document Sharing – Share with anyone in your Contact list by clicking the Share button at the upper right of the app from within the document.
  • Clutter Folder for Outlook – Control the Inbox nightmare by having unimportant emails go to the Clutter folder and clean up your Inbox.
  • Edit Real-time – Collaboration can now take place in real time. Co-author your document with others seeing edits as you are doing them and vice versa, even if on different devices.
  • Share Notebooks in OneNote – Another great collaboration tool for sharing a project with multiple people.
  • Excel has new chart types – Several new chart type templates that can be used for analysis.
  • Smart Attachments – Created a document recently in Office that you want to attach in Outlook? It shows up in a Recently Used list when you click the Attach File icon in Outlook. How cool is that!

These are just a few of the new features and tools that come only with Office 2016 and 365. Power BI and Delve are now built right into Office, as is Power Query. Be aware, some features are only in the 365 version of Office. Another carrot from Microsoft to lead you there! Some examples of the personal versions…


Here is the website for a subscription to any personal version of Office 365

Website for Business subscriptions: Office 365 for Business

Note: Students and teachers at qualifying educational institutions can get Office 365 for free.

If you haven’t upgraded yet, before you hit the store and spend the big bucks, check out the subscription options online and see what you think!

Apply Changes to Multiple Outlook Contacts

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How's Your Outlook?
                 How’s Your Outlook?

Change Multiple Contacts with Drag and Drop

You have several Outlook contacts for the same company and their company name (or address or some other detail) is being changed. Updating that change in all contacts one at a time would be annoying to say the least. Not to fret! Although there is no find and replace for this, you can still make it happen pretty quickly.

The steps are very similar in all versions of Outlook:

  1. Click on View tab, Current View group, Change View dropdown arrow
  2. Choose List
  3. In Arrangement group, click Arrange By drop down arrow
  4. Choose Company and ensure that Show in Groups has a checkmark. If not, click arrow again and choose it
  5. In the desired Company name group, open any contact and edit the name
  6. Click Save and Close icon. This will automatically create and display a new group with the edited Company name
  7. Highlight all the contacts in the previous Company group. (Just click on first one and SHIFT click on last)
  8. Click, hold and drag them into the new Company name group. All of your contacts are updated!

Create Custom Views

Now, create your own custom view so you can return to your grouped list with a mouse click:

  • Click Change View in the Current View group
  • Select Save Current View as a New View
  • Give it a name such as Contact List by Company
  • Click OK and it is added to your Change View drop down list:

 

 

Display by Category

Don’t stop with quickly updating changes in Contact content. If you are a user of categories and want add or edit a category or color, you can apply the same process as above to change or add contacts to an existing or new category.

Replace Company in Step #4 above with Categories in the Arrange By dropdown list and rest is the same. Also, always remember to check what’s available on the right click menu as you can often save several mouse clicks. Right click on a contact and choose Categories from the shortcut list and add or edit there.

Categories are very powerful because they can be used to identify items all across Outlook, including types of calendar appointments, email messages, tasks and notes. Customize your own categories and colors and create a great organizational tool!

How are you using Categories to streamline your Outlook?

AutoFill with a Custom List in Excel

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Create your Own Lists to Work with AutoFill

You may already use some of Excel’s AutoFill capabilities to complete names of months, days and years and/or to copy formulas, so you know it is an amazing time saver. Before we explore creating your own custom lists, here are a few tricks to tame the AutoFill feature:

Excel just needs to see a pattern to fill out the remaining cells. Common sequences only require one entry, such as Monday or Friday, to have the following days of the week automatically fill as you drag the icon down or across. (The Fill handle is on the bottom-right corner of the cell border – a small, black plus sign). The same is true of months or quarters. Excel automatically inserts the next entry and repeats the pattern if you continue to drag past the ending entry.

Trick: If you have data in the cells to the left of the column where you want to use the Fill handle, just double-click on the Fill symbol in the cell that you want copied, and results will fill in down through that number of rows.

Sometimes, AutoFill hiccups when you ask it to repeat a pattern, as in a numbering sequence. For instance, if you type a “1” in a cell and try to AutoFill, you will get only 1’s in the copied cells. You must put in a second number, select both cells, and then AutoFill for Excel to get the pattern. You can enter “1” in a cell and then “2” in a cell below or to the right, and you are off and running. This also works for step-numbering, i.e., enter “1” in first cell and then “5” in second cell, select both and AutoFill. (Same is true for years).


Trick: Save yourself some typing and mouse action:

  • Enter the first number
  • Hold down CTRL key, point at Fill Handle and drag down (or across)
  • Presto, you have sequential numbers (or years). For step-numbering, you still have to type and select at least two entries.

Define your own series that AutoFill can use:

You can enter any list of entries in an Excel worksheet, select the cells and drag down or across and that pattern will be repeated but if the series is one that you want to use in other worksheets or workbooks, create your own custom list:

  • Click File tab on the ribbon and click Options at the bottom of the category list.
  • Click Advanced and then scroll down near the bottom to the General area.


  • Click the button Edit Custom Lists… Excel displays the Custom Lists dialog box.


  • Select NEW LIST in the Custom Lists list.
  • In the List Entries box, start typing the items in your fill series, in the order they should appear. This could be products or department names or list of employees in alphabetical order. Press Enter after each entry.
  • When finished click the Add button.
  • Click OK to close the dialog box.
  • Click OK to close the Excel Options dialog box.

Your custom list is now set up for AutoFill. Just type an entry from that list that you want to start with, select the cell, and then drag the Fill handle. Excel fills the selected cells with the items from your custom list in the same order created.

Create as many custom lists as you like and you now have your own personal quick entries!


Word Styles Make Formatting Easy Peasy!

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Why Format with Word Styles?

texture-handwriting-sutterlin-vintage-99562-medium

Why care about using Word Styles? Because you want to work smarter, not harder. You might already know about Format Painter, that magic icon in the Clipboard group that copies complicated formatting from one place to another with a mouse click. It is awesome for a shorter document but would be crazy-making for formatting that humongous report!

Want to:

  • Create a formatted, professional document in a flash?
  • Create a fast Table of Contents in Word?
  • Use one-click navigation through that long document?

Do this and more with Word Styles!

You can use the built-in styles in Word or modify them to get the results you want and Styles are saved with your document. By default, Word applies Normal Style to all text (in Word 2007 and above, it is Calibri (Body Font), 11. In earlier versions, it is Times New Roman, 12.

Heading Styles

Any text can be changed to a built in style. Styles live on the Home tab, Styles group. You will see a limited number of styles displayed (depending on your screen size and resolution).

Click the More button at the bottom right of the group to see a bigger list and roll your mouse over each to see the effects. As you select Heading (or other) styles, they will move to the front of the list on the Ribbon.

The Title and Heading Styles are Paragraph, not Character Styles, so you don’t need to select all of the text to apply a style. Just click anywhere in the paragraph (or heading), and click on the style desired.

Modify a Style with One Click

Let’s say you applied Heading 2 to multiple areas of the document but then decide you want a different font size and color for that heading level:

  • Choose and format any Heading 2 the way you would like it to look
  • Select it and right click over that heading name in the Styles group. The icon will have a border showing it is the selected style.
  • Choose Update (style name) to Match Selection, and Yahtzee, every style with that name is automatically updated and that formatting will be applied from now on to that heading level.

Design Sets – Professional Formatting with a Click

You finished your document and then wonder if you could have a little fancier look to the whole thing without re-inventing the wheel. Again, yes you can! After applying Styles, you can change the overall look and fonts of all the styles in your document with a single click using Design Sets.

  • Click in a heading in your document.
  • Click the Design tab and the More button in the Document Formatting
  • Mouse over all the options in the group to see the effects how each of your heading styles would look in that set.
  • Click on desired Style and it is set for your whole document, and so are you!

Use the Navigation Pane to whip through a long document

Another benefit of Styles is fast navigation and drag and drop rearranging of headings and paragraphs:

  • Display Navigation Pane by clicking View tab/Show group/Navigation Pane (See below for shortcut).
  • The Navigation Pane displays at left of your document and you can click on headings to jump there.
  • Collapse and expand heading levels by clicking the arrows at left of heading names.

Change the order or paragraphs or sections by just dragging the heading in the Navigation Pane to desired location and your document is changed accordingly, i.e., You need a heading on Page 6 to be on Page 4, collapse headings and drag it there, or need your headings in alpha order…Drag and drop to the rescue!

Styles for Bullets and Numbering Lists

Don’t stop with your headings and paragraph styles, You can also create customized multiple level number or bullet styles using the drop down arrow on those icons in the Paragraph group on the Home tab and choosing Define New…, customize as desired and they will be added to the Styles Gallery.

Smart Status Bar tricks for Navigation:

In Word 2013 and above, click the Page number on the Status Bar and Navigation Pane instantly displays!

If you have Section numbers displayed on the Status Bar, clicking that displays the Find and Replace dialog box at the Go To tab. (Word versions prior to 2013, display this also when clicking the Page number).

Remove Style Formatting

There may become a time when you want to totally remove all those styles from your document (or from the one that you inherited from a style-crazy person), and return it to Word’s default font and size:

  • Press CTRL A to select the entire document.
  • Click on the Normal icon in the Styles group on the Home tab and all your text will now be Calibri (Body text), 11.

Note:  if you have formatted text without Styles,  just press CTRL + SPACEBAR to convert to default text.

See, I told, you easy-peasy. Now go out and take control over that Word document!

P.S. All that being said, be aware that Styles are very powerful but also complex. Keep it simple if Styles are new to you because a lot of playing can produce some confusing results as Word tracks every change you make to a style as an additional style. Start with using the built in Styles and using the various benefits as outlined in this post. That might be all you ever want or need.

 

 

The Magic of Excel Tables

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Table Benefits

This terrific Excel feature does many things automatically including formatting, formulas and much more. It is very easy to convert worksheet data to a table and convert back to a worksheet range with one mouse click, if needed. (Note, prior to the 2007 version, Tables were called Lists). 

Here’s some treasures you get by Inserting a table:

  • Creates a sophisticated worksheet in a flash. Inserting a table auto formats your data with the built-in style and applies filtering to each column for easy data analysis.
  • Auto selects all the data for the table range. (Make sure you have column headings and don’t have blank rows or columns in your data. Insert a blank row if you don’t want all data in the table).
  • Instant access to a Total Row function where columns can be summed, averaged, counted and more.
  • Insert Table Rows and not affect data cell referencing in columns outside of the table.
  • Easy to select entire data or column or row no matter how large the table.
  • You can name a table and use it in a formula.
  • Change the table style with one mouse click. Live Preview displays how your table would look as you point at each style.

Create a Table in a Flash

You have checked the worksheet and removed any unwanted blank columns and rows:

  • Click anywhere in your data
  • Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon
  • Click the Table icon in the Tables group (Excel will display the Create Table dialog box and auto insert the cell range but be sure there is a checkmark in My Table has headers)

Presto! Excel has applied its default Table format and inserted filters for each column.

When you really want to impress or in a hurry, just click anywhere in your data and press CTRL T to auto insert your table!

Select the Table

Tables make it a snap to select all the data with or without the column headers:

  • Point your mouse to the very upper left of the very first table cell (column header).
  • When mouse pointer changes to a small, black down-angled arrow, single click for data only, or double-click for entire table. (If you double-clicked too slowly and only highlighted data, just single click and now column headers are included).

Customize the Table

Add a column to the table or click below the last row and enter data, and the table is automatically expanded along with the formatting to include the new cells.

Add the Total Row feature. Click in any cell in the table and then, on the Ribbon, under the Table Tools / Design tab in the Table Style Options group, click in the Total Row box to automatically add a Total Row and sum to bottom of the table. Click in any cell in that new row to display a drop down arrow and choose a function, i.e., average, count, etc.

Table Restrictions

A couple of things to be aware of in the table:

  • You cannot create Groups and Outlining within a table. The SUBTOTAL function that is used at the bottom of each column allows selection of function formulas such as SUM, AVERAGE, COUNT, etc., that apply to the entire column.
  • You cannot share a spreadsheet that contains a table.

Convert a Table Back to a Range

In a hurry to share or need to group your data? The good news is you can use the one click method to convert to a data range:

  • The Design contextual tab for the Table is displayed on the Ribbon.
  • Click Convert to Range in the Tools group. (Excel asks if you really mean it).
  • Click Yes, and you are back to the data range but the table formatting style and the column filtering is still applied. This can be handy because it still has those table benefits but you can now group and outline and/or share the worksheet.

Remove Table Formatting

If you want to be back to Square 1 so the table formatting and filters are completely removed, you have  some choices depending on whether you apply before or after Convert to Range, and if you want to retain your font and numerical formatting.

After converting table back to a range: The table style and filters are still applied.

  • Ensure all relevant data is selected.
  • Click the Home tab, and then click the Cell Styles arrow in the Styles group, and choose None.
  • Another option is to click the Clear arrow in the Editing group and choose Clear Formats.

Be aware that both these methods remove the table formatting style but you may have to reformat font and numerical formatting.

Want to have all the formatting back to its state before you inserted the table? Apply these steps to remove all formatting before you Convert to Range.

Before converting table back to range:

  • In the Design tab on Table Tools, click the More drop down arrow button in Table Styles group.
  • Choose the first icon under Light which is None.
  • Click in the Filter button icon in the Table Styles Options group to remove the filtering icons from the columns.
  • Click Convert to Range in the Tools group and confirm.

You now have your spreadsheet back just as you left it. Experiment with tables. I think they will save you time and frustration, especially in those humongous worksheets!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick Navigation in Excel Worksheets

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Go There in a Flash in Excel

You inherited the biggest spreadsheet on the planet and have to scroll and troll to ranges miles away from your current screen! Don’t despair, Excel has several tools to get you there quickly…

The Go To Dialog Box

You can jump to any area of your worksheet with this handy command. Using the Ribbon, Home tab, Editing group, Find & Select drop down arrow, and select Go To… Just type in a cell reference, click OK or press ENTER, and you are there!

OK, that might beat scrolling but not by much, so here’s the corresponding shortcut:

Press CTRL G or F5 function key to auto display the Go To Dialog Box and it is ready for your entry. It also remembers your previous cell location(s).

The Name Box

Want the quick mouse navigation trick? The Name Box is your ticket! Just click in the box and type the cell reference (such as T44456); press ENTER and you are there. (Unfortunately, there is no keyboard shortcut for the actual Name Box but you could use F5 to display the Go To box, type the cell reference and press ENTER).

keyboard angled 2 x 3
Where did I put that?

Range Names

The amazing Name Box is multi-talented. We saw we can highlight large ranges of cells and also jump to a faraway cell location just by typing the cell reference(s) in the Name Box. But what if you are short on sleep and can’t remember the cell reference(s)? No problem. There is a reason it is called the “Name Box”. All you have to do is find that cell once, select it and give it a name that makes sense to you, like Sales or Profit, etc.

Steps:

  • Navigate to desired location
  • Click on desired cell (or range of cells)
  • Click in the Name Box and type a name, i.e., Sales
  • Press ENTER

To return to that location any time, just click the drop-down arrow on the Name Box and select the name you gave it, and you are magically transported there!

Important things to know when naming a cell:

  • Range Names must start with a letter but can contain numbers.
  • You can use more than one word to name a range but it cannot contain spaces.
  • Capitalize the separate words, like TotalSales, or the underscore can be used to represent the space, i.e., Total_Sales.

Range Names are ABSOLUTE by default, meaning the name will always refer to the cell even if the content is moved. And, even more impressive, Range Names can also be used in formulas instead of cell references. That Excel is one smart cookie!

Share Your PowerPoints with Office Mix

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It’s Alive…It’s Interactive…It’s PowerPoint Mix!

There’s a new PowerPoint in town! There are so many great enhancements to PowerPoint 2013 and above. One of these is Office Mix, a free solution for PowerPoint that makes it easy to create and share online, interactive presentations, or “mixes”. Mixes play like web videos, but with support for animations, live links, and more.

Office Mix was primarily created for the learning environment but it isn’t just for the classroom. Here’s some other ways you can put it into action:

  • Create interactive training tools, build courses or use for marketing or demonstrations.
  • Combine screen recordings with slides and narration or just narrate over your existing slides.
  • Distribute the results to anyone as you save to the cloud. If they have a browser, they can access it. You’re not limited to delivering Mixes to Windows PCs: the video content can be viewed on Mac OS, iOS and Android devices, with appropriate versions for each platform.

To get Office Mix, download and install the free add-in. When you open PowerPoint 2013, you’ll see the new Mix tab at the end of the Ribbon. (Download link at end of this post).


Make it Sizzle

  • No stopping you now! Add zip to your mix:
  • Record audio or video speaker notes for each slide in your presentation.
  • Insert quizzes, curated videos, and more.
  • Easily record what’s on your screen, while you annotate with audio.

Preview your mix when you’re done, then upload it to OfficeMix.com to share. The portal also offers analytics so you can see audience statistics and quiz results if you are using for marketing or teaching.

Share it

Once your Mix is uploaded to the Office Mix service, you can then share it from your personal gallery to students and/or colleagues. (Uploading can take some time, especially if you’re saving your Mix as a video for offline viewing). You can make the Mix shareable and distribute its URL. Mixes can be restricted to users in your company or made public. Public Mixes are open to the entire internet. Shareable Mixes can be accessed by anyone with the Mix URL, although they do need to log in to view the Mix.

Make a Movie

Completed mixes can be played back online or downloaded as movies. In the MP4 format, you won’t get access to the interactive features, such as links to other videos, files or websites, but can be played on any device that supports that format.

You must have 2013 or above for Office Mix. Check it out. You will look like a hero!

You can download Mix from Microsoft here: https://mix.office.com/en-us/Home

Update: Office Mix is being retired but will integrate directly into PowerPoint 365. Check out the details in this blog that has all the Microsoft links: https://gaylelarson.com/office-mix-integrates-powerpoint-365/

Ribbon and Quick Access Toolbar

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Office 2013 and above has a cleaner, leaner look and it carries over to the Ribbon and Quick Access toolbar (QAT) but the layout is mostly the same as the previous two versions of Office except that the Ribbon has a couple of changes.

Collapse or Expand the Ribbon

Office 2013 has additional options for the Ribbon display, controlled by a small arrow icon at upper right of window (next to the Help ? icon).

Autohide Ribbon

The new Auto–hide command totally hides the Ribbon so you can work in a full screen. You click the ellipsis (three dots) at the top right of the screen to temporarily activate. To return the Ribbon to full display, click the Ribbon arrow at upper right and click Auto–hide Ribbon again to toggle off. The other two choices toggle between displaying tab names only or full Ribbon of tabs and commands, the same as previous versions.

Additional Ways to Collapse and Expand the Ribbon

Right click anywhere in the Ribbon and choose Collapse the Ribbon to hide it from view. The tab names remain at the top so you can display and select the Ribbon groups for that tab. The Ribbon disappears again after you choose a command. To return to permanent display, right click on the Ribbon and click Collapse the Ribbon again.

Another method is to double click on any tab name to expand or collapse the Ribbon. That will toggle it off and on. My favorite method doesn’t even need the mouse. Sometimes keyboard shortcuts rule the day. If you quickly want some more real estate to work on that long document or big spreadsheet, just press CTRL F1 to toggle between expand and collapse.

Don’t forget that right clicking in the Ribbon is also a quick way to access Customize the Ribbon…and Customize the Quick Access Toolbar…, as well as moving the QAT from the default location of the upper left of your screen to below the Ribbon where it is much closer to where you actually work.

Notice another option is that any icon you right click over on the Ribbon can be added to the Quick Access Toolbar – a great time saver for those often used commands!