The Microsoft 365 suite is an incredibly versatile and helpful tool for individuals and organizations alike. Outside of its fundamental functions — like word processing, spreadsheet management, and emailing — Microsoft 365 offers a wide assortment of special features and applications that can increase your productivity, make communication easier, and ignite your creativity. Whether you're a professional seeking to optimize your work processes or an enthusiast looking to explore new horizons, here are some cool features you may not know about.

1. Chatting with Yourself in Teams

Chatting with others in Teams is about as easy as it comes. Within a chat conversation with others, you can do all sorts of things that make streamlining conversations with teammates simpler, like:

• Send lists that everyone in the chat can edit for more-collaborative brainstorming sessions.
• Request approvals quickly instead of letting approvals get lost in email chains.
• Attach files by simply dragging the document into the chat.
• Throw a meeting link into a chat so people can just click and join.

Chatting in Teams doesn’t always have to be with another person. Chat with yourself to create a “note to self” conversation. You can use to create to-do lists, send yourself reminders for later, and more! Just search for your own name and start a Chat. Then, pin it to the top of your Conversation list so it’s always top of mind and easy to check!

2. Mouse-Driven Laser Pointer during Online PowerPoint Presentations

One downside of online Teams meetings is that it’s harder to engage with the content of your PowerPoint presentation. You can’t point to a specific part of the screen to make sure people are focusing on a specific piece of information. But wait … you can, with a virtual laser pointer.

Just click and hold the Ctrl key (or Command on a Mac) while moving the mouse, and a red dot will appear on the screen, giving that traditional laser pointer effect. This tool lets presenters direct their audience’s attention to key points, highlight important elements, or navigate through visuals with precision, which helps enhance clarity, engagement, and the overall impact.

3. Lock Images into Specific Excel Cells

Including images in Excel documents can be extremely helpful. For example, include product images in a product catalog, post images in a social media schedule, personal portraits in a directory, etc. Screenshots or diagrams can be used to explain specific procedures, demonstrate system functionality, or provide step-by-step instructions. The list of useful scenarios is endless.

But when you add images to a spreadsheet, even if you size it and move it to be in a specific cell, the image is left floating. If you move or hide the row or column, the picture doesn’t move with it. To get around that, you need to adjust the picture settings to lock it in place.

1. Go to Insert > Picture (in Illustrations).
2. Press the Shift key while dragging the corner of the image to resize it to fit in a cell.
3. Press the Alt key while moving it to snap it into the cell where it belongs.
4. Right-click the image and select Format Picture.
5. Select Size & Properties, and select the Move and size with cells option.

That’s it. The picture will be locked into the cell, and you can move, filter, or hide cells, rows, or columns, and the picture will also move/filter/hide right along with the other content.

4. Play Games in Teams as an Ice Breaker

Add a fun, ice-breaking game to your next meeting by adding Games for Work into your Teams chat. Choose from a collection of favorite games that everyone knows to spark connection, initiate teamwork, and inspire creativity before the real work begins. Play a quick game of Microsoft Solitaire, Minesweeper, Wordament and more to give your teammates a sense of teamwork and creativity.

To add the Games for Work app in a team, go to the channel where you want to add a game app tab. Then click the + to add a tab. From the Add Apps window, click “Get more apps” and then search for Games.

5. Schedule Appointments or Timeslots with Bookings

Scheduling a meeting doesn’t have to be a strenuous task; in fact, it’s easy when it comes in Microsoft 365. You can use the Bookings app to allow people to schedule an appointment or sign up for a volunteer slot. Visitors will see all available options and can reserve their preferred time slot. Booking can be used as a stand-alone app, with the scheduling page as a separate URL that others can access, or it can be added to a Microsoft Teams channel for use by people within the team.

Here are some resources for learning more about this incredibly handy scheduling app:

• Microsoft Bookings site
• Using Bookings within Teams
• Inside Microsoft 365 (Office): Bookings (Panther Bytes blog)

Get More out of Microsoft 365

Whether it’s better email communication, creating useful documents for future training and/or presentations, or facilitating important meetings and appointments, Microsoft 365 has so many features the average user may not know about. These features can make work simpler, and even more importantly, more efficient for you and your team. So, start exploring the many apps available to you get working the easy way with Microsoft 365!

-- By Claudia Huggins, Pitt IT Student Blogger