mvp
I am incredibly excited to share that I’ll be attending the Microsoft MVP Summit in person this year from March 24–26, 2026 — and this one is extra special because it will be my first time attending the Summit in person as a first‑year Microsoft MVP! Being named
Microsoft Outlook
Scheduling meetings in Outlook often means checking each person's calendar, guessing at available times, and sending back-and-forth emails. Outlook's new Time Suggestions feature eliminates that friction — it uses Exchange to scan everyone's calendar and automatically surface the next five times all attendees are free.
Live Stream on YouTube and LinkedIn - March 18, 2026
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft is rolling out Agent Mode for Copilot in Excel, and it represents a major step forward from the standard Copilot experience. Agent Mode doesn't just suggest changes—it executes them directly, without requiring you to click Apply after every action. In this guide, we walk through where
Microsoft 365 Copilot
Microsoft 365 Copilot now lets you share prompts and AI-generated responses directly into a Microsoft Teams group chat. Instead of copying and pasting results, you can send them to your team with a single click and start a conversation around the output. This feature requires a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot
What this translation feature does and why it matters Copilot in Microsoft 365 can now translate entire presentations into another language with a few clicks. I tried it in PowerPoint on the web (it also appears in the desktop app) and found the experience fast and straightforward. Instead of copying
Microsoft Excel
Excel's REGEXEXTRACT function lets you pull numbers (or any pattern) out of a text string using regular expressions. Unlike functions like TEXTAFTER or TEXTBEFORE that depend on consistent delimiters, REGEXEXTRACT works with messy, inconsistent data — it finds the pattern wherever it appears. In this walkthrough, you'll
Microsoft Word
Microsoft 365 Copilot in Word can do more than just draft content. You can use it to extract specific information from documents, ask questions about what is in them, and even generate standalone files from the answers. In this walkthrough, Chris demonstrates how to query an employee handbook about dress
I use both Formula Completion and the Copilot function in Excel every week. They require a paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license. They solve different problems, and when you combine them, you can move from repetitive calculations to higher-level text analysis and data cleanup in minutes. Below, I explain what each
Thoughts, stories and ideas.
If you have a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, there is a small Outlook feature that cuts the time I spend replying to email by a huge margin. I use it every day at my full-time job, and it genuinely saves me minutes—sometimes hours—every week. YouTube Video - Outlook
If you analyze data in Excel, the UNIQUE function is one of the quickest ways to cut through noise and see exactly what you have. I rely on UNIQUE every day, and when I pair it with SORT, COUNTA, and CHOOSECOLS, it becomes a powerful tool for cleanup and analysis.
Can Microsoft Copilot accurately calculate your federal taxes? I put it to the test by first walking through a manual tax calculation in Excel using the 2025 federal tax brackets, then asking Copilot the same question to compare results. Part 1: Manual Tax Calculation in Excel The process starts with
Excel's Formula Completion feature can write formulas for you. Just press the equal sign, and Excel suggests the formula based on your data and column headers. In this tutorial, I demonstrate how it works by tackling a common challenge: extracting zip codes from messy address data where the
If you model investments in Excel, the future value function is one of the most useful tools you have. The problem is a small but common mistake: dividing an annual return by 12 to get the monthly rate. That shortcut breaks the math when compounding is involved, leading to a
If you've wrestled with CSV files that open in Excel but look wrong, or spent time in Power Query to coax dates and columns into place, there's good news. Excel now includes two new functions that let you pull file data directly into a worksheet with
If you hold a Delta credit card that includes a Companion Certificate, this guide explains exactly how to use the Delta Companion Certificate to book a discounted second seat. I walk through eligibility, the booking flow, examples of pricing mechanics, and common pitfalls so you can redeem yours with confidence.
Purchase T-Bills from Treasury Direct directly from the U.S. Treasury to earn higher returns than many bank accounts, avoid brokerage fees, and manage short-term cash with predictable safety. This guide explains what you need, how the process works, and the practical steps I follow to buy Treasury bills on
If you have a column of raw seconds in Excel — from video durations, call logs, workout times, or data exports — you need the right formula and formatting to display them as actual time values. Chris walks through the correct approach and explains why the obvious method doesn't work.
I noticed three small but powerful updates in Teams: Three New Features December 2025 that have already changed how I work across multiple monitors. These updates let me pop core apps out of the sidebar into separate windows, keep Teams visible while I work in other programs, and find images
I rely on OneDrive every day, and the OneDrive Recycle Bin is one of those quiet lifesavers most people forget about until they panic. Whether it's a Teams meeting recording that a policy removed after 60 days or a spreadsheet I accidentally deleted, knowing how the OneDrive Recycle
What I'm trying to solve 🧩 I had a column of 100 order lines, with each line beginning with the product name, then the order date, then the customer name. My goal was simple: show each product only once. Duplicate products appear throughout those 100 rows, and the product
