Every day, IT administrators handle user and mailbox management tasks in Microsoft 365. From resetting locked user passwords to removing temporary employee licenses, administrators often perform most of their time-consuming tasks manually – and are prone to errors.
Operational efficiency is affected when it becomes challenging to manage users and licenses, especially in organizations with a large workforce. Automating repetitive tasks will help eliminate errors and improve productivity; however, the Microsoft 365 Administrator Center does not offer this feature. It also does not provide the option of managing users and mailboxes in bulk, which further complicates the situation.
However, some of the automatic features of Word can be annoying. For instance, you may not want Word to format rows (the letters that follow the numbers in the 1st and 2nd). However, Word writes them automatically unless you return the space above the ordinal number and rewrite it.
If you need to turn off this automated feature, you need to follow this: Options> Proof> AutoCorrect Options> AutoFormat.
Not many ordinary users will find this out. Word has other bad habits, such as inserting horizontal lines when typing a series of dashes. Another auto-format feature takes several steps to turn off.
The extensive Word options menu gives you an idea of the dozens of settings you can use to fine-tune Word formatting and management.
Use the powerful Word style option, in which you select a set of layout and formatting options that can be efficiently utilized to a piece of text. You will find that Word sometimes, but not continuously, removes existing formatting (in italics). In such situations, Word seems unpredictable.
This is mainly because Microsoft does not document the rules it uses when applying styles. For example, Word will remove any existing formatting when applying a technique if the current formatting affects more than 50% of the paragraph text.
I only know this because an anonymous source deep inside Microsoft whispered to me years ago.
Many of its most potent and once-prominent features have gradually disappeared from the interface throughout the four-decade history of Word. However, they remain available to professional users who know where to find them.
For example, Word pioneered the use of field variables. If you put your book’s title in a box called book title, use the box instead of the actual title anywhere in your document.
In case you decide to change the title later, for example, from War and Peace to Captain Panties, you can change the box’s contents to update each instance.
In the current Word version, this feature is not available in the Word toolbar; the help system at least tells you which buttons to use to control it.
Mail and web applications
Outlook manages to pack all its features in one impressive package, but it can feel a little overwhelming. I prefer weaker applications such as Thunderbird for open source, commercial newcomers like Mailbird for Windows, and Apple Mail for Mac for personal use.
Even the built-in mail application in Windows 10 has its merits. But for corporate use, Outlook’s one-stop-shop interface for managing mail, calendars, and contacts offers power and flexibility that rivals do not.
Microsoft Office 365 Pros
- The most potent office applications of any competitor
- Available on almost all platforms
- Features of smooth cooperation
- Sleek, lightweight interface with extensive help features
- All-in-one application for mail, contacts, and calendar
Microsoft Office 365 Cons
- Problems accessing documents via web browsers during testing
- Automatic features in Word produce some unpredictable results
- Some advanced features may be difficult to access
One thing I dislike about Microsoft Office 365 is that the mammoth company is not providing us with a robust Office 365 backup. Hence, backup Office 365 is a must, and a third-party vendor will definitely guide you to success by providing you a secure and robust Office 365 backup.