Microsoft Productivity

Email has been around for many years and even though many people now use texting as their preferred way of communicating, it doesn’t mean email is going away anytime soon. Email is still the primary method used for communication by businesses and other agencies to share information as well as to send files in the form of attachments. 

Outlook is one of the most popular, if not the most popular desktop email client in use today. It is used by your typical home computer user as well as by large enterprises for corporate email accounts. 

Outlook also comes with a built-in calendar, address book (contacts), to do list, and a task list tool, and I will be covering all these other components as I go along in this book just in case you decide you want to use any of these extra features.

The goal of this book is to get you up and running with the Outlook email client and show you how to perform your daily email tasks such as sending and receiving emails, attaching files such as photos to an email, and creating and managing your contacts. I will also be covering some more advanced features such as creating email signatures and group contact lists.

Spreadsheet software has been around for almost as long as computers themselves. Microsoft came out with their Windows operating system in 1985, and in 1987, Microsoft Excel for Windows was released, and it has been the go to spreadsheet software ever since and there is a good chance it even came preinstalled on your computer.

Excel can be used to perform a variety of tasks from storing lists of names to running complex calculations on financial data. No matter what you plan on using Excel for, you will need to know how to use the software and that starts with the basics.

Once you have the basics down, you can then focus on some of the more powerful features of Excel such as creating charts and formulas so you can then manipulate your data in order to view your data in a way that allows you to get the information you need.

Even though Microsoft Excel is a very powerful program, I will be sticking with the basics so you can learn how to use the major features of Excel and not get overwhelmed by all the advanced tasks you can perform. I will discuss some of the more advanced features just because I think they are important to at least be aware of. Then once you become proficient with the basics, you can then branch out and learn some of the other features if you choose to do so. 

Word processing software has been around for almost as long as computers themselves. Microsoft came out with their Windows operating system in 1985 but their word processing software actually came out in 1983. It wasn’t until 1989 that Microsoft Word for Windows was released, and it has been the go to word processing software ever since.

Since Windows and Word were both created by Microsoft, it makes sense that they would want to push Windows users to use Word as their word processing software. You might have heard of other word processing software such as Google Docs, LibreOffice, WordPerfect and Apple Pages. Even though these are powerful full featured word processing programs, they are nowhere near as popular as Microsoft Word.

If you have Word installed on your computer, you most likely have other Microsoft programs such as Excel and PowerPoint installed as well since most of the time, people buy Word as part of the Microsoft Office suite of apps even though it is possible to buy Word as a standalone product.

Even though Microsoft Word is a very powerful program, I will be sticking with the basics so you can learn how to use the major features of Word and not get overwhelmed by all the advanced tasks you can perform. I will discuss a few of the more advanced features just because I think they are important to at least be aware of. Then once you become proficient with the basics, you can then branch out and learn some of the other features if you choose to do so.

Microsoft Sway has been around for several years but has had a few updates during its lifetime. And even though it’s been around for a while, many people have still never heard of it. It’s similar to PowerPoint except you wouldn’t really use it for presentations even though you technically can with the slide feature that comes with the app.

Sway can be used to create various document types such as flyers, interactive reports, personal stories and yes, even presentations. These documents are then referred to as “Sways”. Of course it takes a little know how to add some flair to your work to really wow your audience and even that is not too difficult once you get the hang of how things work.

The goal of this book is to teach you how to get up and running with Sway and show you how all the tools and features work, so you know where you need to go to do what you need to do. I will go over how to create basic Sways as well as how to add some advanced features to them so you can make yourself look like a pro even if you might not be!

I will be using the website version of Sway even though there is a desktop client that functions exactly the same. I will show you how to install the Sway app as well in case you want to check it out.

Once you have your Sway ready to go, you can then share it with others via a link that you can email and you can even give other people access to edit your work. You can also export your work to a Word document or PDF file.

Keeping organized is very important to many people, especially when it comes to your job or to your finances. One would think that owning a computer would be all you need to keep your affairs in order but many times that is not the case. Just owning a computer doesn’t make you an organized person!

OneNote was released as a standalone product in 2003 and then made part of the Microsoft Office suite in 2007. But if you are not an Office user, you can still use OneNote because there is a OneNote for Windows 10 version that is free to use and comes included with Windows. This Windows 10 free version is also available for Windows 11 users but is still called OneNote for Windows 10. It doesn’t have quite the same functionality and features as the Office version but is still powerful enough to get the job done for most people.

This book will focuses on the version that comes included with Microsoft Office\Office 365, which is commonly referred to as OneNote Desktop, but you can still apply what you read here to the free app for most of the content. You can also install the Desktop version as a standalone product (for a fee) if you do not have Office installed on your computer.

You will learn how to complete tasks such as creating and sharing notebooks, linking your Microsoft account to OneNote, using the Ribbon toolbar items, formatting, printing and exporting your notebooks, OneDrive and more.

If you have been using a computer or smartphone for any length of time I am sure you have noticed how we are doing more things online in regards to work, school and even our everyday lives. 

Working in “the cloud” is nothing new but now we have many more options to help us decide how we want to go about using these technologies. When I say the cloud I am referring to working online using web based applications rather than using software installed on your computer itself. 

Microsoft is no stranger to online applications and offers many technologies that can be used for anyone from home users to large enterprises. Of course these products vary in complexity and also in price. And just like with everything else, the more features you need the more it’s going to cost you!

Fortunately for those of us who like free stuff that still offers plenty of features and usability, there is Office for the Web (formerly named Office Web Apps and also as Office Online). Office for the Web is Microsoft’s online suite of productivity applications that anyone can use free of charge. 

Office for the Web consists of many familiar apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote and Skype as well as additional features such as online storage with OneDrive and a daily planner called To Do. As for storing the files you are working on, you generally keep them within your OneDrive online storage repository.

The goal of this book is to get you up and running with Office for the Web and show you how to use each app as well as share your files and properly use your free online storage to store and access these files. If you have used or currently use Microsoft Office software on your computer then it should be a fairly smooth transition to using these apps online.

Microsoft Office has been the de facto office productivity software for many years now and there doesn’t seem to be any end to its domination on home and office computers any time soon. Microsoft has done a great job of gaining the majority of market share for this type of software just like they have done for operating systems with Windows.

Sure there are other options out there but if you want to be up to date with your computer skills and be able to do your job then you will most likely need to learn how to use Office to some degree. Of course if you don’t use computers for your job then you still probably have one at home and most likely have some version of Office there. Even if you have a Mac there is a good chance it has Microsoft Office on it!

The goal of this book is to teach you how to survive using Office at work or at home without making you want to throw your computer out the window. I will go over the common features that all the Office products share and then focus on each individual product itself so you can obtain a solid understanding of how it works. I will also be covering OneDrive, Office 365 and Office Online since Microsoft is pushing us to use cloud based storage and applications

This is not a book on the advanced features of Office and is not meant for the Office power user but rather for individuals looking to either start out with Office or improve their Office skills and hopefully their productivity. I will try and keep it as easy to follow and explain things in an easy to understand manner so it will be easy to follow along. It might be helpful to follow along on your own computer assuming you have Office installed or a subscription to Office 365.

Microsoft PowerPoint has been around for many years and is the go to program when it comes to creating professional looking presentations that can be used for a variety of purposes from making a slide show for your kid’s classroom project or presenting your big sales pitch at the corporate meeting.

Creating basic presentations is fairly simple and that’s one of the things that makes PowerPoint such a great tool to use to get your point across to just about any audience. Of course it takes a little know how to add some flair to your presentation to really wow your audience and even that is not too difficult once you get the hang of how things work.

The goal of this book is to teach you how to get up and running with PowerPoint and show you how all the tools and menu options work, so you know where you need to go to do what you need to do. I will go over how to create basic presentations as well as how to add some advanced features to them so you can make yourself look like a pro even if you might not be!

What this book is not, is a book on advanced PowerPoint even though I will be going into some of the more advanced features of the software. Now that I think about it, I don’t know if there is even anything too advanced about PowerPoint that real people like us would even use in the first place. 

So on that note, let's get started making some eye catching presentations that will be sure to wow your audience… and maybe even yourself! 

Microsoft Publisher has been around for many years and is commonly used for making things such as flyers, brochures and business cards. Microsoft has kept it fairly easy to use and if you are used to Microsoft Word then you shouldn’t have much of a problem getting the hang of Publisher.

Creating professional looking publications is fairly simple and that’s one of the things that makes Publisher such a great tool to use to help promote your business or even make things like calendars or holiday cards. Of course it takes a little know how to add some flair to your publications to really make your work stand out and even that is not too difficult once you get the hang of how things work.

The goal of this book is to teach you how to get up and running with Publisher and show you how all the tools and menu options work, so you know where you need to go to do what you need to do. I will go over how to create various types of publications as well as how to add some advanced features to them so you can make yourself look like a pro even if you might not be!

What this book is not, is a book on advanced Publisher even though I will be going into some of the more advanced features of the software. Then again there is nothing super advanced when it comes to using the software but that is all relative to the person reading this book. 

So on that note, let's get started making some eye catching publications that will be sure to wow your friends and family… and maybe even yourself!