APC Conference - Sep 2026 - Chris Menard's Full Schedule

September 13-16, 2026 in Nashville, TN

Claude in Excel: Cross-Sheet XLOOKUP and Building a Data-Validated HR Spreadsheet from Scratch

Two real tests of the Claude add-in for Excel: a cross-sheet XLOOKUP profit calculation, and building an HR spreadsheet from scratch with data validation dropdowns, hidden source lists, and dynamic tables.

April 2026 Blog Roundup: Microsoft 365 Copilot, Teams, Excel, and Word

Chris Menard - Microsoft MVP

Wispr Flow: AI Dictation That Removes Filler Words Automatically

One of my favorite productivity tools right now is Wispr Flow. It's an AI dictation tool, but it does a lot more than just transcribe what you say. It strips out filler words automatically, handles mid-sentence corrections, and even formats your text into bullet points when it thinks

Fix Blanks in Excel Data with GO TO SPECIAL and the COPILOT Function

Every serious Excel user should have Go To Special in their toolkit. It is one of the fastest ways to find blanks, formulas, constants, or other specific cell types in a worksheet — and it pairs beautifully with the new Excel COPILOT function when your data needs more than a quick

Power Query: Remove Extra Spaces in the Middle of Words (Beyond TRIM)

Extra spaces are one of the most common data problems in Excel — leading spaces, trailing spaces, and the trickiest of all, extra spaces in the middle of words. The TRIM function handles all three. But what happens when you switch to Power Query for a larger data cleanup? Power Query&

New Microsoft Teams Meeting Recap Features with Copilot (Speaker Summary, Executive Report, Audio Recap)

Microsoft Teams has rolled out new recap features for recorded meetings that work with a Microsoft 365 Copilot license. Alongside the AI summary and transcript we have had for a while, there is now a Custom summary section with three options — Speaker summary, Executive report, and Create template — plus an

Copilot in Word: Summary Differences Between Word for the Web and Word Desktop

Microsoft 365 Copilot can summarize a Word document in seconds, and it is one of the most popular features for licensed users. What is not obvious is that the summarize experience differs between Word Desktop and Word for the Web. The summary itself is identical in both, but Word for

Copilot in Excel: When to Use a PivotTable vs Functions

Copilot in Excel can create PivotTables in seconds, and that is great for basic summaries. But when you need calculations that go beyond what a PivotTable can show — median, second highest, third highest — functions are the better approach. Here is how to use Copilot for both, and when to choose

Join Me at the Administrative Professional Conference (APC) 2026 in Nashville for M365 Copilot Essentials

I'll be presenting in-person on M365 Copilot at the APC Conference on September 13-16, 2026, in Nashville, TN. Updated on 4/13/2026

My 102 Microsoft 365 Training Videos from 2025

Videos cover M365 Copilot, Excel, Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, and Teams

How to Customize the Enter Key in Microsoft Teams Chat

By default, pressing Enter in a Microsoft Teams chat sends the message immediately. If you have ever accidentally sent a half-finished message, there is now a setting to change this behavior so Enter starts a new line instead. The Default Behavior In the default Teams configuration, typing a message and