General Microsoft Articles

Cheat Sheet / Updated 04-10-2025

The Microsoft Power Platform is a suite of applications that offers low-code and no-code development tools organizations can use to streamline and automate business processes. Collectively (and when integrated properly), the Power Platform suite of applications works together to support business transformation. Following is a description of the applications contained in the Power Platform, and some details about how each application functions as part of the suite: Dataverse: Starting your journey with each of the Power Platform applications requires one essential element: data. At the heart of the Power Platform is Dataverse, the common data service for storing and structuring relational data. Dataverse serves as the backbone for capturing and retaining user inputs across the platform's apps. Power Apps: The first step in the low-code/no-code journey to business automation is to create a mechanism for data entry. You can begin, for example, by using Power Apps to build an application that collects and manages data. Power Apps is often the primary tool businesses use to design custom applications that are tailored to their needs. Power Pages: Sometimes, you want the data entered with your Power Apps applications to be available for everyone to see, not just a few users. This is when you use Power Pages to design secure, data-driven external websites. The sites you create with Power Pages can display and collect information directly from Dataverse. Power Pages presents this data in a tabular format or as embedded reports and other media objects. Power BI: For data analysis, you use Power BI to transform data collected through custom apps created with Power Apps into interactive reports and insightful dashboards. Power Automate: You can use Power Automate to automate tasks and processes based on the data in Dataverse, which enhances productivity and efficiency across your organization.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-19-2025

Whether you're drafting text in Word, designing presentations in PowerPoint, analyzing data in Excel, or managing your inbox in Outlook, Microsoft Copilot can assist you every step of the way. With this cheat sheet, you'll have a handy reference to quickly understand how Copilot can enhance your productivity and streamline your tasks across various Microsoft 365 programs.

Article / Updated 10-28-2024

A paper database is useful for storing information, but not so useful for finding it again. With Access 2019, searching and finding information is easy. If you have a thousand business cards stored in a Rolodex file, how much time do you want to waste trying to find the phone number of a single person? With Access 2019, that is no longer a concern. Searching a database is crucial to make your data useful, so Access provides two ways to search a database: Search for a specific record. Use a filter to show one or more records that meet a specific criterion. Searching MS Access for a specific record The simplest type of search looks for a specific record. To search for a record, you need to know the data stored in at least one of its fields, such as a phone number or an email address. The more information you already know, the more likely Access will find the one record you want. If you search for all records that contain the first name Bill, Access could find dozens of records. If you just search for all records that contain the first name Bill, the last name Johnson, and a state address of Alaska, Access will likely find just the record you want. To search for a specific record in an Access database table, follow these steps: In the All Access Objects pane on the left of the screen, double-click the name of the database table you want to search. Access displays the Datasheet view of your database. Click the Home tab. In the Find group, click the Find icon. The Find and Replace dialog box appears. Click in the Find What text box and type the data you know is stored in the record you want to find. For example, if you want to find the phone number of a person but you know only the person’s last name, type the last name in the Find What text box. Click the Look In list box and choose Current field or Current document (searches in all fields). (Optional) Click in the Match list box and choose one of the following: Any Part of Field: The Find What text can appear in any part of a field. Whole Field: The Find What text is the only text stored in a field. Start of Field: The Find What text can be only at the beginning of a field. (Optional) Click in the Search list box and choose one of the following: Up: Searches from the record where the cursor appears, up to the beginning of the database table Down: Searches from the record where the cursor appears, down to the end of the database table All: Searches the entire database table Click Find Next. Access highlights the field where it finds the text you typed in Step 4. Repeat Step 8 to search for more records that may contain the text you typed in Step 4. Click Cancel or the Close button. Filtering an Access database Searching a database is easy but somewhat limited because you can retrieve only a single record at a time that matches any text that you want to find. If you want to find multiple records, you can use a filter. A filter lets you tell Access to display only those records that meet certain criteria, such all records that contain people who earn more than $200,000 a year, are currently married, live in Las Vegas, Nevada, and own two or more cats. To filter a database table, you must tell Access which field or fields to use as a filter, and then you must define the criteria for that filter. For example, if you want to filter your database table to see only records listing the names of people who are at least 65, you filter the Age field and set the criterion to Greater than or equal to 65. Filtering simply hides all records in a database table that don’t match your criteria. Filtering doesn’t delete or erase any records. Using an exact match for a filter in Access 2019 The simplest filtering criterion searches for an exact match. When you filter a field by an exact match, you’re telling Access, “I want to see only those records that contain this specific chunk of data in this particular field.” By using an exact match filter, you can display, for example, only the records that contain CA in the State field. To filter a database table, follow these steps: In the All Access Objects pane on the left of the screen, double-click the name of the database table you want to filter. Access displays the Datasheet view of your database. Click the Home tab. Click in the field (column) that you want to use as a filter. In the Sort & Filter group, click the Filter icon.A pop-up menu appears. You can either Select or clear check boxes from this menu. Continue with Steps 5 through 7 for more flexibility. Choose Text Filters. A submenu appears. Choose a filter option, such as Equals, Begins With, or Contains. A Custom Filter dialog box appears. Type the data you want to find and click OK. Access displays your filtered data, and a filter icon appears in the column heading. Access remembers your filter settings. If you want to clear the filter, click the filter icon in the column heading; when a pop-up menu appears, choose Clear Filter. To view all the data in your database table, click the Home tab. Then in the Sort & Filter group, click the Toggle Filter icon. Filtering Access databases by form One problem with defining filters in Datasheet view is that you have all your database table records cluttering the screen. To avoid this problem, Access lets you define filters by using a form, which basically displays an empty record so you can click the fields that you want to use to filter your database table. To define a filter by form, follow these steps: In the All Access Objects pane on the left of the screen, double-click the name of the database table that you want to filter. Access displays the Datasheet view of your database. Click the Home tab. In the Sort & Filter group, click the Advanced icon. A pull-down menu appears. Choose Filter by Form. Access displays a blank record. Click in any field, then type the data you want to filter such as a last name. In the Sort & Filter group, click the Advanced icon and then click Apply Filter/Sort. Access displays a filtered view of your database table. You can click the Toggle Filter icon again to view all the data in your database table. Using a filter criteria in Access 2019 Searching for an exact match in a field can be handy, but sometimes you may want to see records that meet certain criteria, such as finding the names of everyone whose salary is greater than $50,000 a year. Instead of filtering by an exact match, you have to define the filter criteria. The type of data stored in each field determines the type of criteria you can create. Three common types of data stored in fields are text, numbers, and dates, which you can filter in different ways. Common Criteria for Filtering Text Data Filtering Criteria Description Equals Field must match filter text exactly. Does Not Equal Field must not match filter text. Begins With Field must start with the filter text. Does Not Begin With Field must not begin with the filter text. Contains Field must contain the filter text. Does Not Contain Field must not contain any part of the filter text. Ends With Field ends with the filter text. Does Not End With Field does not end with the filter text. Common Criteria for Filtering Numeric Data Filtering Criteria Description Equals Field must equal filter number. Does Not Equal Field must not equal filter number. Less Than or Equal To Field must contain a number less than or equal to the filter number. Greater Than or Equal To Field must contain a number greater than or equal to the filter number. Between Field must contain a number that falls between two filter numbers. Common Criteria for Filtering Dates Filtering Criteria Description Equals Field must equal the filter date. Does Not Equal Field must not equal the filter date. On or Before Field date must be equal or earlier than the filter date. On or After Field date must be equal or later than the filter date. To create the filter criteria, follow these steps: In the All Access Objects pane on the left of the screen, double-click the name of the database table you want to filter. Access displays the Datasheet view of your database. Click the Home tab. Click in the field (column) that you want to use as a filter. In the Sort & Filter group, click the Filter icon. A pop-up menu appears. Select the Filters option, such as Text Filters or Number Filters. A submenu of filter options appears. Click a filter option, such as Between or Less Than. The Custom Filter dialog box appears. The Custom Filter dialog box contains the name of your filter option, such as Between Numbers or Less Than. Type one or more values in each text box in the Custom Filter dialog box, and then click OK. Access filters your database table according to your criteria. Repeat Steps 5 through 7 for each additional filter you want to add. You can click the Toggle Filter icon again to view all the data in your database table. Clearing a filter in Access 2019 When you apply a filter to a database table, you see only those records that match that filter. Access displays a Filtered message at the bottom of the screen to let you know when you’re looking at a filtered database table. To remove a filter so you can see all the records, choose one of the following: Click the Toggle Filter icon in the Sort & Filter group. Click the Filtered or Unfiltered button on the status bar near the bottom of the screen. Access temporarily turns off any filters so you can see all the information stored in your database table. When you choose the Save command (Ctrl+S) to save a database table, Access also saves your last filter. The next time you open that database table, you’ll be able to use the last filter you created. If you want to save multiple filters, you’ll have to save them as a query. See these handy Access keyboard shortcuts for further information.

Article / Updated 08-17-2023

Word 2016 permits you to use wildcard operators in searches. A wildcard operator is a character that represents characters in a search expression. Wildcards aren't for everybody. Using them requires a certain amount of expertise, but after you know how to use them, wildcards can be invaluable in searches and macros. The following table explains the wildcard operators that you can use in searches. Click the Use Wildcards check box if you want to search using wildcards. Wildcards for Searches Operator What It Finds Example ? Any single character b?t finds bat, bet, bit, and but. * Zero or more characters t*o finds to, two, and tattoo. [xyz] A specific character, x, y, or z t[aeiou]pper finds tapper, tipper, and topper. [x-z] A range of characters, x through z [1-4]000 finds 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000, but not 5000. [!xy] Not the specific character or characters, xy p[!io]t finds pat and pet, but not pit or pot. < Characters at the beginning of words finds information, infomaniac, and infomercial. > Characters at the end of words ese> finds these, journalese, and legalese. @@ One or more instances of the previous character sho@@t finds shot and shoot. {n} Exactly n instances of the previous character sho{2}t finds shoot but not shot. {n,} At least n instances of the previous character ^p{3,} finds three or more paragraph breaks in a row, but not a single paragraph break or two paragraph breaks in a row. {n,m} From n to m instances of the previous character 10{2,4} finds 100, 1000, and 10000, but not 10 or 100000. You can't conduct a whole-word-only search with a wildcard. For example, a search for f*s not only finds fads and fits but also all text strings that begin with f and end with s, such as for the birds. Wildcard searches can yield many, many results and are sometimes useless. To search for an asterisk (*), question mark (?), or other character that serves as a wildcard search operator, place a backslash () before it in the text box.

Article / Updated 04-14-2023

By touching a couple of keys in combination in Office 2016 programs, you can save time with simple tasks, such as copying text from one place and pasting it somewhere else. The keyboard shortcuts included here work equally well in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2016. Both mouse and keyboard methods are provided here. To do this With the mouse With the keyboard Open a file File→Open Ctrl+O Create a new file File→New Ctrl+N Print active document File→Print Ctrl+P Save your work (first time), or resave with same settings File→Save Ctrl+S Save your work with different name, location, or type File→Save As F12 Copy selection to Clipboard Home→ Copy Ctrl+C Cut selection to Clipboard Home→ Cut Ctrl+X Paste selection to Clipboard Home→ Paste Ctrl+V Open the Paste Special dialog box Home→Paste→Paste Special Ctrl+Shift+V Display shortcut menu for selected item Right-click item Shift+F10 Left-align a paragraph Home→ Left Align Ctrl+L Center a paragraph Home→ Center Ctrl+E Right-align a paragraph Home→ Right Align Ctrl+R Make text bold Home→ Bold Ctrl+B Make text italicized Home→ Italic Ctrl+I Make text underlined Home→Underline Ctrl+U Make text larger Home→Increase Font Size Ctrl+> Make text smaller Home→Decrease Font Size Ctrl+< Undo previous action Undo button on Quick Access toolbar Ctrl+Z Redo previous Undo Redo button on Quick Access toolbar Ctrl+Y Insert hyperlink Insert→Hyperlink Ctrl+K Get help Type in Tellme what you want to do box F1 Close the active file File→Close Ctrl+F4 Close the application Close button on application window Alt+F4 Check spelling Review→Spelling F7

Article / Updated 10-03-2022

With the keyboard shortcuts shown here, you can switch among various views in Word 2016. Other key combinations enable you to save time with simple tasks, such as copying text from one place and pasting it somewhere else in your document. Switch to this view With the keyboard Print Layout Alt+Ctrl+P Outline Alt+Ctrl+O Draft Alt+Ctrl+N

Article / Updated 10-03-2022

By touching a couple of keys in combination, you can save time with simple tasks in Word 2016, such as copying text from one place and pasting it somewhere else in your document. With these keyboard shortcuts, you can speed up text editing and formatting in Word 2016. To do this With the keyboard Start a new line in the same paragraph Shift+Enter Insert a page break Ctrl+Enter Insert a column break Ctrl+Shift+Enter Clear formatting Ctrl+spacebar Make text subscript Ctrl+= Make text superscript Ctrl+Shift++ Delete one character to the left Backspace Delete one word to the left Ctrl+Backspace Delete one character to the right Delete Delete one word to the right Ctrl+Delete

Article / Updated 10-03-2022

In Word 2016 you can insert common symbols by using these keyboard shortcuts. Use these keyboard shortcuts instead of the Insert→Symbol command to insert common typographical symbols. Symbol Shortcut Em dash Alt+Ctrl+minus sign En dash Ctrl+minus sign Copyright Alt+Ctrl+C Registered trademark Alt+Ctrl+R Trademark Alt+Ctrl+T Ellipsis Alt+Ctrl+period

Article / Updated 10-03-2022

In Excel 2016, use the following keyboard shortcuts instead of the Number drop-down list on the Home tab to apply number formatting to Excel worksheet cells. To apply this number format Use this key combination General Ctrl+Shift+~ Currency with two decimal places, negative numbers in parentheses Ctrl+Shift+$ Percentage, no decimal places Ctrl+Shift+% Scientific, two decimal places Ctrl+Shift+^ Date format with day, month, and year Ctrl+Shift+# Time format with hour and minute, AM or PM Ctrl+Shift+@ Number format, two decimal places, thousands separator, minus sign for negative values Ctrl+Shift+!

Article / Updated 09-30-2022

In Excel 2016, you can use the following keyboard shortcuts to enter and format data. To do this Use the key combination Enter the current time Ctrl+Shift+: Enter the current date Ctrl+; Apply an outline border Ctrl+Shift+& Remove an outline border Ctrl+Shift+_ Display or hide formulas in cells Ctrl+` Display Format Cells dialog box Ctrl+1 Hides selected rows Ctrl+9 Hides selected columns Ctrl+0