Chris Menard is a Microsoft MVP. He is certified in Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. His YouTube videos have over 25 million views.
Microsoft is rolling out a small but genuinely useful update to Excel: when you create a new Table, you can now name it right in the Create Table dialog box — instead of accepting the default "Table1" and renaming it later (or, more likely, never renaming it at all)
Microsoft Excel
Turn a flat list of names and departments into a column per department that updates on its own. UNIQUE pulls the distinct departments, TRANSPOSE turns them into headers, and FILTER drops the right names underneath each one.
RIP =COPILOT(): Why Microsoft Is Retiring Excel's Newest Function Before It Ever Really Took Off. If you've been playing around with the =COPILOT() function in Excel, mark your calendar: September 14, 2026 is its last day. Microsoft quietly updated its support documentation with the retirement notice,
Microsoft Excel
The same XLOOKUP built two ways: against a plain range with absolute references, then against named tables with structured references. See why the table version survives new data without an edit.
If you're not using live captions in Teams meetings yet, here's a quick rundown of what's possible — it's more customizable than most people realize. Why Turn On Live Captions? Live captions in Microsoft Teams are one of the most underused features in
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Copilot's new Prepare for questions skill in PowerPoint reads your whole deck and predicts the objections your audience will raise, with slide-level evidence for each one.
Join me live on Thursday, August 6th at noon ET as I walk through the newest features in Microsoft 365 Copilot — no registration required.
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams video clips now record your screen and run up to five minutes. Here's where the feature lives, how to set up the camera bubble, and how to trim, send, and download the clip.
If you spend your day in Microsoft Teams meetings, get ready for a noticeable change. Microsoft is rolling out a redesigned meeting experience that simplifies the meeting toolbar, makes screen sharing safer, and gives users more control over the arrangement of meeting buttons. The goal is straightforward: reduce accidental clicks
Microsoft Excel
The FILTER function spills back only the rows that match a condition. Three worked examples: filter by quantity, combine SORT with FILTER for sorted results, and build a between filter with two conditions.
Microsoft Outlook
Reply to email faster in Outlook with Copilot — use one-click suggested drafts for quick replies, or the Copilot task pane and Draft Assistant when you need to add details, cities, and venues the sender never mentioned.
MVPBUZZ
July 15, 2026 - Chris Menard has been named a Microsoft MVP for the second year in a row, recognized for his work in Microsoft 365, Copilot, and Teams. Here's what the award means and how he's giving back to the community.