20 M365 Productivity Tips That You've Probably Never Used (But Should)

April, 26. – 28. 2021
MICROSOFT 365 VIRTUAL MARATHON 2021
m365virtualmarathon.com #M365VM
20 M365 Productivity Tips
That You’ve Probably Never Used (But Should)
Christian Buckley
@buckleyplanet
@AvePoint

 Microsoft GTM Director @AvePoint
 christian.buckley@avepoint.com
 www.buckleyplanet.com
 @buckleyplanet
 Monthly tweetjams via Twitter
and the #CollabTalk hashtag
 facebook.com/buckleyplanet/
where you can find weekly
Office Hours live streams
Mondays at 8am Pacific
Christian Buckley, Office Apps & Services MVP + RD

Leverage the new Office App
As you’ve probably seen in the MASSIVE
media push, the new Office app for iOS and
Android is now available!
The big question: Does it replace your
standalone apps?
There is a great article by Jon Friedman, head
of Microsoft Office design, on the reimagining
of the app – and how Microsoft has more to
come https://medium.com/microsoft-
design/designing-the-new-office-app-for-
mobile-1ec1162a966
You can download the app from the store:
https://apps.apple.com/app/microsoft-
office/id541164041

The primary features include:
 Adding notes
 Snapping photos and videos
 Reviewing and editing
documents and slides
The next layer down includes:
 Transferring files from phone
to PC
 Converting image to text and
table in Excel
 Creating and manipulating
PDFs

You can search within existing cloud locations,
including your SharePoint and OneDrive locations,
which means also accessing O365 Groups-enabled
Teams and Yammer
In some ways, the new Office app duplicates some
of the capability in the OneDrive app
You can quickly and easily add new cloud locations,
including a long list of 3rd party tools

Find content, review visual cards
Pin important documents
Search for content across connected libraries
Review and edit content in mobile format
…and preview in print view
View and edit metadata
Share files from your mobile device

Convert tables and graphs to Excel data
Convert text within images to usable text

Easily transfer images and files between your PC and phone
One caveat mentioned by fellow MVP Hal Hostetler: Office mobile has an
issue that Word, PowerPoint, and Excel mobile DO NOT have. It insists that all
data and its cache must be in Internal memory. The three stand-alone apps
allow data and cache to be placed in External memory (your MicroSD card). If
you have an older phone or a newer one with limited memory (my LG G5 has
32 GB). its EASY to run out of memory!! Outlook mobile has the same issue
PLUS it has no "sync slider" like the desktop app to limit memory load.

Transferring a Microsoft Teams meeting to another device
I'm sure everyone's been on a Microsoft Teams meeting that is running longer than expected, and they
need to leave for an appointment or errand. Unfortunately, hanging up on the call may not always be an
option. Now, you have the option to transfer the meeting to another device, such as your iPhone.
Here's how it works…
I was in a meeting on my
Teams client on my laptop.
Then, using the Teams app
on my iPhone, I called up
my calendar and saw an
option to join the meeting
in progress. I clicked on the
blue Join button at the top
of the screen:
This tip courtesy of @duffbert

The Teams app asks me if I
want to join the meeting
using my iPhone (which
means I'd be in the meeting
twice), or if I want to
transfer my attendance in
the meeting over to my
iPhone. Choosing the
Transfer to this device
option means I will join the
call on my iPhone, and I'll
be removed from the
meeting on my laptop:

Before it joins me to the
meeting, it gives me the
chance to set video and
microphone options. Once I
set everything the way I want
it, I click Transfer now:
On my laptop, the Teams meeting says I've transferred to a different device and removes my connection to the
meeting on my laptop. This provides excellent flexibility to being able to stay connected, even when you can't
necessarily stay on the device that you originally signed into the meeting on.

Restore previous versions in File Explorer
It is often the small, incremental
improvements that can add the
most productivity to your daily
activities.
You can now view and restore
versions of a document directly
within File Explorer – rather than
having to open the application to
view the history.

Restore previous versions in File Explorer
Simply right click on the file name,
and from the menu dialog, select
Version History
The version history dialog opens, allowing
you to scan through your various versions
and open the right version.

Capture and share web content in Microsoft Edge
Has Microsoft Edge replaced your other
browsers yet? If not, there are some new
features that make the latest Chromium-based
version a must-have.
One of these latest features is the ability to
easily capture and mark up web content, and
then save or share it.

To get started, select the
ellipsis (…) in the top right
corner of the browser

…and select the Web
Capture option from the
menu.

You can grab the entire
browser window, or choose
Free Select to grab a
specific area on the page.

Once you’ve selected the
area to capture using drag-
and-drop, you can copy and
paste the image anywhere,
or add an annotation using
Add Notes

Adding Notes opens up the
drawing interface, allowing
you to annotate in a variety
of colors and line thickness,
and to edit your work.

Once your annotations are
complete, you can Copy
the image with your mark
up and paste it into another
document or email, Save it
as a file (image), or Share it
with someone.

As with just about every other Microsoft
product, selecting Share opens up a new
dialog box that allows you to determine
who and how you share your screen
capture and annotations.

Setting Status Duration in Microsoft Teams
One frustration I've had with Microsoft Teams is that it has a tendency to change my status from Busy (or
whatever I have it set to) to Away if I'm not interacting with Teams every five minutes. I would prefer that
Teams either leaves my status as I set it, or at least gave me the ability to set some time frame longer
than five minutes.
And now my wish came true!
Teams now allows you to set a duration
for your status. Here's how it works…
Click the Profile image in the upper-right
corner, and then click on the Status arrow
to see the Duration option:

Setting Status Duration in Microsoft Teams
You can set your duration to remain in place for 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, all of today, all of this
week, or a custom time frame:
I am very happy to see the five-minute status duration fade into the sunset… over five minutes time…

Adding to OneNote Meeting Notes via Mobile
Within any new meeting, you have
the option to add OneNote meeting
notes to any outgoing meeting invite.
From the Appointment menu, simply
select Meeting Notes.
Next, select either Share Notes with
the Meeting or Take Notes on Your
Own

Adding to OneNote Meeting Notes via Mobile
From your mobile device, you can
now capture images, audio, or even
video and add directly to the personal
or teams notes, giving you yet
another way to capture multi-media
for your collaborative efforts.

Adding interactive Microsoft Forms to PowerPoint
While not brand new, Forms is an
underutilized resource that allows you to
quickly and easily publish surveys and snap
polls within your organization – or to
external users and partners.
Creating your surveys is easy, as is
changing the question types, adding or
removing answers, and rearranging the
layout before or after you push it live.
Additionally, as the survey author, you
have access to real-time stats, and can
share the results with your management
team or respondents.
https://forms.microsoft.com

 Microsoft Forms is now integrated with
PowerPoint for Office 365, providing a
seamless way for speakers, trainers,
and educators to connect and interact
with participants. As shown in a
Microsoft Tech Community blog post,
presenters can get real-time audience
feedback via forms and quizzes
without asking them to leave
PowerPoint.
 To get started, in PowerPoint under
Insert, click the Forms icon to create a
new form/quiz or insert one you’ve
already created.
 Please note that this feature is
currently only available for PowerPoint
Windows 32

To see the responses to your form or quiz,
sign in to your Office 365 account at
https://forms.office.com/
Open the appropriate form from your My
forms page, and then select the Responses
tab at the top of the page.

To create a quiz, check out the
article at
https://support.office.com/en-
us/article/create-a-quiz-with-
microsoft-forms-a082a018-24a1-
48c1-b176-4b3616cdc83d

Add Quick Polls to Outlook emails
Quick Poll by Microsoft Forms is an Outlook app
available in the Microsoft Store, and enables users to
add user-friendly forms to your outgoing emails,
accessible through Outlook or through the Forms
website.
This tool is not for complex, multi-question surveys,
but for a single poll question.
Outlook has long included voting buttons (under
Options > Tracking) but this new app gives users the
ability to quickly and easily capture pulse survey
information from their constituencies.
https://support.office.com/en-us/article/create-a-quick-poll-in-microsoft-
teams-a3f9112c-01e1-4ee4-bd88-25e4e243b80b

Create Internal or External Polls with Microsoft Forms
While not brand new, Forms is an underutilized
resource that allows you to quickly and easily
publish surveys and snap polls within your
organization – or to external users and partners.
Creating your surveys is easy, as is changing
the question types, adding or removing
answers, and rearranging the layout before or
after you push it live.
Additionally, as the survey author, you have
access to real-time stats, and can share the
results with your management team or
respondents.
https://forms.microsoft.com

Gather feedback in Teams meetings with polls
One of the biggest “missing” features in
Teams has been its ability to easily insert
polls during (and as part of) a Meeting.
Well, Microsoft Forms are now generally
available!
Meeting presenters can prepare polls in
advance and launch the polls before,
during, or after meetings that attendees
can easily view and answer.
You can get started by updating your
Teams app and adding the Forms app to
your meeting tabs.
Read more at https://www.microsoft.com/en-
us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/11/19/from-new-
apps-in-microsoft-teams-meetings-to-
endpoint-dlp-heres-whats-new-to-microsoft-
365-in-november/

Begin the process by adding the
Polls app as a tab to your chat or
meeting.

As with the standard Microsoft
Forms UX, you have the ability to
ask basic questions, add/remove
responses, and allow for multiple
answers.
Additionally, you can share the
results automatically as people
reply, and even make responses
anonymous.

As you prepare various polls to be
launched during your meeting, you
will see them as drafts within the
tab.
You can determine the order in
which you publish each poll, or
launch them all in rapid succession.

Once again, you can launch a poll
before a meeting, during, or
following.
Once you launch a poll, it shows as
live in your Polls tab.
By clicking View Results, you can
track responses in real-time.

Within the Teams chat for the
meeting, people will see and be
able to respond to your polls, and if
you have selected the option to
make results visible, they will also
see the cumulative responses to the
questions.

Within your Meeting, the organizer
can select the Polls icon from the
menu and see all of their draft and
live polls, and launch questions
when appropriate.
Following your meeting, all of the
results will continue to be available
in the Polls tab.

Create recurrent surveys in Teams
We continue to see more features added to Microsoft Forms,
and at long last, you can setup recurring surveys within
Microsoft Teams!
Microsoft has heard your feedback and is releasing new
workflows for common scenarios like employee sentiment,
employee issues and challenges, and employee health status.
These new workflows include templates and the ability for
users to choose frequency and set reminders for each Teams
channel, making these surveys easy to get started and
manage going forward.
To get started, click Create a workflow to automatically collect
response in the Forms tab and select Scenarios.
Read more at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-
365/blog/2020/06/25/whats-new-microsoft-365-june/

Create recurrent surveys in Teams
To create a recurring survey:
 Add the Forms app to your Team or chat. Name the
survey, and select ‘Create a recurring survey’ from
the bottom of the dialog.
 Select the template
 Review / edit the questions to be included
 Set your recurrence
 Select how you will review results, and click Save

Highlight part of an email and add it as a task in Outlook
As part of the greater Tasks strategy across
Microsoft 365, you can now highlight text in
Outlook for the web and convert it to a task
in Outlook – and in Microsoft ToDo.
We have all received emails that contain next
steps or instructions, but unless we convert
that text into actionable tasks, things may
get lost.
You can now generate tasks from these
emails while working in context in Outlook.
us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/07/14/get-
control-microsoft-365/

In this example, I have sent myself an
email with a list of reminders from my
mobile device.

By highlighting the text on the page,
two options appear just above my
selected text:
1. Send an email regarding the
highlighted text
2. Create a task from the selected text
To create a task, simply click on the
task icon.

The AI in Outlook for the web selects
anything that appears to be a task,
and automatically adds them to a list
of tasks.
From this view you can forward an
individual item via email, highlight it
(star), or mark it as completed.
Additionally, you can create
additional tasks from this view if
other steps are required to completed
these tasks.

By clicking on the Tasks icon at the
bottom left, you will find the new
ToDo integration within Outlook for
the web, and can open your Tasks list
to see all of these items.
And if you’re a fan of ToDo in the
mobile app, these new tasks are
instantly available within ToDo.

Create screen capture videos in Microsoft Stream
 You can now use Microsoft Stream to record screen capture videos up to 15 minutes in length. Think of creating your own
short training videos where you show something on your screen with narration and everything. Here's how that works…
 When you're in Microsoft Stream, you can start your screen capture session by selecting Create > Record Screen:

 To start your recording, click the Record button:

 Before the recording starts, you get to choose exactly what you want to be capturing. This could be everything on your
screen, a specific application, or a specific tab in Edge. Once you pick what you want to focus on, click Share:

 Your screen capture then starts to record. You have 15 minutes to record your video. You can pause temporarily if you need
to by clicking the Pause button. Once done with your recording, click Next:

 At this point, you can either choose to re-record your video (Record Again), or you can Upload To Stream:

 Now you can name the video, add a description, and set other information. Once the item is published, you can go out and
change things such as what channels the video should appear in:

Create Tabs in Teams Chats
We’re all familiar with creating Tabs in
Teams, but did you know that you can
also create a Tab in a Chat? It is a
great way to expand your
collaborations with individuals or
small groups without having to create
the more “permanent” Teams or
Channels.
Tabs in channels can be seen by
everyone in the Team, but Tabs in
chats can only be seen by members of
the chat.
The same is true for bots used within
private or group chats, which you can
read more about at
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-
us/microsoftteams/platform/bots/wha
t-are-bots

Create Tabs in Teams Chats
To get started, go into the target chat
in Teams and select the + from the
top nav to add a tab.
The Add a Tab dialog will open,
allowing you to select from all of the
apps available to your organization.
In this example, I want to post a blog
post to our chat that we can
reference in our ongoing
conversations.
Once saved, the new tab appears in
our chat, and only members of the
chat can view this information.

Use Alt-Tab & Windows Key to Organize your Desktop
The reality is that multi-tasking (i.e. context-switching) is a productivity-sapping dream of the ADHD and OCD crowd (I am one
of them). Having said that….we all do it. So why not make it easier to organize our already overly complex desktops?
The two tools that I rely on are switching between applications using Alt+Tab, and the screen-splitting bliss of the Windows Key
and arrows. When you add in the Windows Timeline feature, you will become the Master of your screen domain!
First, we’re probably all familiar with the Alt+Tab capability, which allows you to see and move between any and all open
applications on your desktop. This is an essential tool when you have one screen or many screens.

Next up in screen splitting. Let’s say you’re taking notes in OneNote while reviewing several sites in the Edge browser, or
documentation hosted on Teams. Select the first app, in this case OneNote, and while holding down the Windows Key on
your keyboard, hit the right arrow ()

The primary application will lock into place on the right, and as with the Alt+Tab process, you can then select from the
available open apps.

The second app will lock into place. You can then grab the divider between them, and slide left and right to adjust how much
screen real estate to give each as you work.

Timeline feature in Windows 10
Great tip from MVP Joanne Klein:
If you ever find yourself with a
rebooted machine and wondering
what happened to the last few
documents that were open on your
desktop, leverage the Timeline
feature in Windows 10.
https://joannecklein.com/2019/09/22
/the-timeline-feature-in-windows-
10-a-hidden-gem/

To enable this functionality, go into
Settings > Privacy > Activity
History to select which accounts to
show, and whether you want to make
your history visible (store your
history locally) and/or share your
history with Microsoft.

Once enabled, select the Timeline from the nav bar and then drag the slider on the right to go back
and select the documents, slides, or apps that you had open on that date.

Send attachments as links in Outlook
 Send links, not files!
 When working with cloud files
(SharePoint, OneDrive) you can set the
default attachment state to a link
rather than always attaching a copy of
a file.
 To get started, in your Outlook desktop
app go into Files, and then Options,
and look within the General section
for Attachment Options.
 Select Always share them as links
and click Ok.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-
in/help/4011261/how-to-set-attachment-
preference-for-attaching-a-cloud-file-in-outlook

 Next, open a new email message
and select Attach File. Navigate
to the relevant cloud-based file
and attach.
 The file will attach with the cloud
icon, and by default, will say
Anyone can edit. As your
recipients open this file, they will
be viewing and/or editing the
document from within your
cloud environment.

 Click on the right arrow on
your file to see additional
options, such as removing the
attachment, or changing the
permissions.
 For local files that are not in
the cloud, you can attach them
to your email per normal steps,
then select the right arrow on
the file to save it to the cloud
(you’ll see all of your available
options), allowing you to
manually change an
attachment to a link.

Transcribe your videos in Word for the web
For those of us who are increasingly capturing
interviews and meetings on the web, you can now
generate transcripts directly in Word for the web.
Transcribe detects different speakers so after you
finish recording, you can easily follow the flow of
the transcript. After your conversation, you can
revisit parts of the recording by playing back the
time-stamped audio and you can even edit the
transcript if you see something amiss.
us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/08/25/microsoft-
365-transcription-voice-commands-word/

Transcribe your videos in Word for the web
For those of us who are increasingly capturing
interviews and meetings on the web, you can now
generate transcripts directly in Word for the web.
Transcribe detects different speakers so after you
finish recording, you can easily follow the flow of the
transcript. After your conversation, you can revisit
parts of the recording by playing back the time-
stamped audio and you can even edit the transcript if
you see something amiss.
Simply open Word online, select Dictate, and upload
your audio or video file to begin processing.
Once transcribed, you can search for specific quotes
and easily add them to your Word document, or add
the entire transcript in one click!
us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/08/25/microsoft-
365-transcription-voice-commands-word/

Improve brainstorming with Microsoft Whiteboard templates
If you’re looking for ways to improve your team
collaboration, it’s always helpful to start with a
template — whether you’re trying to brainstorm
your next big idea or get everyone on the same
page.
Within the Whiteboard app, there are now
templates (in preview) to help you run more
effective meetings with Kanban sprint
planning, SWOT analysis, project planning,
learning, & more.
Pre-created layouts provide an immediate
structure—with helpful tips for running
activities—and expand to fit all your content.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-
365/blog/2019/09/25/microsoft-365-web-desktop-productivity-
new-features-office/

Getting started in easy. Go to
Office.com and search for the
Whiteboard app for your device or
desktop (Windows 10).
The website will push you to the
relevant store, from which you can
download and install the app.

Getting started in easy. Go to
Office.com and search for the
Whiteboard app for your
device or desktop (Windows
10).
The website will push you to
the relevant store, from which
you can download and install
the app.

Once installed, select the + option from
the bottom navigation to see your menu
of options.

From here you can add the pre-built
(preview) templates.

In this case, I’ve added a Kanban list
which I’ll use with my team to
organize our planning for an
upcoming event, leveraging my
Surface Pro to quick add and edit, and
drag-and-drop tasks as I project onto
a screen for the entire team.
This is a great free tool that anyone
with Windows (or iOS) can get started
using quickly and easily.

Are you a serious note taker? If you’re like
me, you may take notes on a yellow tablet
next to your computer, or on paper sticky
notes, within OneNote, using Planner and
ToDo, and whatever other tools are available
within your organization.
For me – it’s all of the above.
Sticky Notes allows you to capture ideas,
notes, and important info across the apps
you already use. Now you can conveniently
view, edit, and create notes directly in
Outlook for the web, making it easier than
ever to keep track of your notes as you go
through email.
us/microsoft-365/blog/2019/11/26/customize-
excel-track-notes-outlook-whats-new-to-microsoft-
365-november
Keep track of Sticky Notes in Outlook on the Web

Without Outlook on the
Web, you’ll find the
Notes on the left Nav
bar, above your Groups.
The New Note button
appears on the top left
of your screen.

What’s great about this
feature is that you can
create them on the fly,
with links and images to
whatever you’re working
on, and keep them all in
one place.

Additionally, you can
leverage the new OneNote
feed to conveniently
combine your notes across
Sticky Notes, recent OneNote
pages, and even some
mobile apps (Samsung
notes) so that you can easily
reference them while you’re
composing an email in
Outlook.com or Outlook on
the web.
You can use the search to
find the note you are looking
for and even copy and paste
a note right into an email.
You can also create a new
Sticky Note right from the
OneNote feed to capture any
ideas or thoughts you have
while working in Outlook

Add your Personal Calendar to your Outlook work account
Managing multiple calendars can be tricky. Add to
that complexity the need to balance time between
work and personal calendars.
Outlook on the web has made that process easier.
Now when you add a personal calendar to Outlook
on the web, the times for those events will be
shown as busy (with no details or information)
when someone wants to schedule a meeting with
you using the Scheduling Assistant in Outlook.
Additionally, this new feature allows you to see your
personal calendar side by side to your work
calendar – in one single view.
Read more at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-
365/blog/2020/07/14/get-control-microsoft-365/

To add your personal calendar
within Outlook for the web,
you start by clicking on the
calendar icon.
Then select the option to Add
Calendar

The Add Calendar menu
appears, with the option to add
personal calendars.

In this example, I am going to
add my Gmail calendar.
Selecting that option…
opens a sign in prompt for
Google. Select your account
and approve the access
privileges.

Once added, you should
receive a security notification to
your personal email account
notifying you of the change.
From the Add Calendar dialog
you can also verify all
connected accounts.
Back within your calendar view,
you can now see your newly
added and color-coded
personal calendar (which you
can toggle on and off)

Add shortcuts to shared folders in OneDrive
OneDrive is quickly becoming a primary
navigation point for my desktop, and now –
just like we do on the desktop – you can
add quick shortcuts to local, online, and
shared folders to make accessing your
essential content easier!

Add shortcuts to shared folders in OneDrive
OneDrive is quickly becoming a primary
navigation point for my desktop, and now –
just like we do on the desktop – you can
add quick shortcuts to local, online, and
shared folders to make accessing your
essential content easier!
Within the OneDrive client, simply select
(or create) the folder, and click
‘Add shortcut to My Files’
Once added, you can access your list of
important location from wherever you log
into Microsoft Office!
us/microsoft-365/blog/2020/07/01/introducing-
new-onedrive-features-to-share-and-collaborate-
across-work-and-life/

April, 26. – 28. 2021
MICROSOFT 365 VIRTUAL MARATHON 2021
Thank you!

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20 M365 Productivity Tips That You've Probably Never Used (But Should)

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