Chris Menard is a Microsoft MVP. He is certified in Excel, Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint. His YouTube videos have over 25 million views.
Microsoft
If you've spent time customizing your Quick Access Toolbar in Word, Excel, or PowerPoint, you should back it up. Microsoft Office updates can occasionally reset your toolbar, and without a backup you'll have to rebuild it from scratch. The export/import feature lets you save your
Microsoft Excel
Every time you create a PivotTable in Excel, you get the same default layout: compact form, subtotals at the top, grand totals on, and columns that auto-resize. If you always change these settings manually, you're wasting time. Excel lets you change the default PivotTable layout so every
Microsoft Word
Microsoft 365 Copilot can convert Word documents into spoken audio summaries — what Microsoft calls Audio Overviews. Instead of reading a long employee handbook, report, or proposal, you can listen to it while commuting, walking, or preparing for a meeting. The audio output can be saved as an MP3 to your
Microsoft Excel
The TAKE function in Excel lets you extract a specific number of rows or columns from a range or array. It's especially powerful when combined with other functions like SUM and AVERAGE to create dynamic calculations. In this tutorial, Chris Menard demonstrates how to use TAKE with practical
Microsoft Teams
How to use the newly returned feature that lets you save Chat and Channel Messages in Teams so you can keep important conversations at your fingertips.
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft 365 Copilot can now create PowerPoint presentations directly from Excel files. Instead of manually building slides from spreadsheet data, you point Copilot at your Excel file and it generates a complete presentation with charts, tables, and organized sections — all in under a minute. This feature requires a Microsoft 365
Microsoft Excel
⚠️ Note: Microsoft has announced that the Excel COPILOT() function will be retired on September 14, 2026. This article is being retained for reference purposes. Excel now has a built-in COPILOT function that accepts natural language prompts directly in cells. Instead of writing complex formulas, you type a plain English
Microsoft OneDrive
OneDrive Request Files feature allows you to collect files from people inside or outside your organization, without letting those people see anyone else’s uploads.
Microsoft Excel
Excel now includes a built-in AutoRefresh option for PivotTables. When enabled, the PivotTable updates automatically any time the underlying data changes — no manual refresh needed. The Source Data Start with a table of customer data that includes columns for customer number, last name, first name, city, state, and purchase
Microsoft Excel
Merge and Center is one of Excel's most misused features. It looks great for formatting headers, but it breaks sorting, filtering, copying, and pasting. In this tutorial, Chris Menard explains exactly why Merge and Center causes problems and shows you the better alternative: Center Across Selection. Watch the
Microsoft Teams
As a Microsoft MVP and certified trainer, I’m always excited to share the latest productivity tools that help you work smarter. If you’re a frequent Microsoft Teams user, you’ll be thrilled to hear about the new Teams Follow Threads feature rolling out in public preview as of
Microsoft Excel
When your Excel data has multiple values crammed into a single cell — like office locations separated by commas — sorting and filtering become impossible. Power Query can split those values into separate rows, giving you clean, usable data. The Problem: Comma-Separated Values in One Cell Consider a table with employee