Looking for quick ways to save time, stay organized, and work more efficiently? This collection of tips includes helpful shortcuts and tools for Outlook, Teams, Excel, Word, OneDrive, accessibility, and common administrative systems. Try one or two new tips today and add them to your regular workflow.
Windows and General Productivity
Microsoft maintains official shortcut lists for Windows and Microsoft 365 apps, and many of these shortcuts are useful across Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, browsers, and file management.
| Tip | How to Use It |
|---|---|
| Add emojis quickly | Press Windows key + . to open the emoji keyboard when typing an email, chat, or document. |
| Take a quick screenshot | Press Windows key + Shift + S to open the Snipping Tool and capture part of your screen. |
| Use clipboard history | Press Windows key + V to view recently copied text or images. |
Outlook and Email
Outlook includes tools for scheduling messages, organizing emails, using keyboard shortcuts, pinning messages, and reducing interruptions through Viva Insights.
| Tip | How to Use It |
|---|---|
| Schedule or delay sending an email | In Outlook, use Options > Delay Delivery or Schedule Send, depending on your Outlook version, to send an email at a later time. |
| Use @Mentions | Type @ followed by a person’s name in the body of an email. Outlook can add them to the recipient line and highlight that they were mentioned. |
| Pin important emails | In New Outlook or Outlook on the web, use the pin option to keep important messages at the top of your inbox. |
| Use Viva Insights | Viva Insights can help you set focus time, protect lunch hours, and prepare for upcoming meetings. |
| Restore missing emails in classic Outlook | If emails appear in Outlook web but not the desktop app, try: Inbox > Send/Receive > Update Folder. |
| Reply quickly | Use Ctrl + R to reply and Ctrl + Shift + R to reply all. |
| Send carefully | In many Outlook versions, Ctrl + Enter sends an email. Helpful, but be careful if you are still drafting. |
| Flag emails for follow-up | Use flags to mark items that need a response, action, or reminder. |
| Use folders and rules | Create rules to automatically move newsletters, recurring reports, or system notifications into folders. |
| Create reusable text | Save frequently used language as templates or Quick Parts to reduce retyping standard responses. |
Microsoft Teams and Virtual Meetings
Teams has built-in shortcuts for meetings, chats, calls, and navigation. Microsoft’s Teams shortcut list includes ways to view available shortcuts and manage mute/unmute functions.
| Tip | How to Use It |
|---|---|
| Mute or unmute quickly in Teams | Press Ctrl + Shift + M during a Teams meeting to mute or unmute your microphone. |
| View Teams shortcuts | Press Ctrl + . in Teams to open the keyboard shortcuts menu. |
| Pin important chats | Right-click a chat or select the three dots next to it, then choose Pin to keep it at the top of your chat list. |
| Get a Teams channel email address | Right-click the channel name and select Get email address. If this is not available, contact CLAS IT or your IT support team. |
| Use @Mentions in Teams | Type @name to notify a specific person, or use a channel/team mention when appropriate. |
Excel
Excel shortcuts can help staff select data, filter information, build tables, and summarize large lists more efficiently.
| Tip | How to Use It |
|---|---|
| Freeze panes | Use View > Freeze Panes to keep headers visible while scrolling. |
| Filter data quickly | Select your data and use Ctrl + Shift + L to toggle filters. |
| AutoSum | Press Alt + = to quickly insert a SUM formula. |
Word and Documents
Word includes formatting, navigation, and accessibility tools that can make documents easier to create, revise, and share.
| Tip | How to Use It |
|---|---|
| Track changes | Use Review > Track Changes when collaborating on documents. |
| Check accessibility | Use Review > Check Accessibility before sharing documents. |
| Use styles | Apply heading styles to improve accessibility and navigation. |
OneDrive and File Management
OneDrive shortcuts to shared folders can appear in OneDrive on the web, File Explorer, Finder, Teams, and mobile apps, which makes frequently used shared folders easier to access.
| Tip | How to Use It |
|---|---|
| Share links instead of attachments | Use OneDrive links to avoid version confusion and large attachments. |
| Restore previous versions | Right-click a file in OneDrive and select Version History. |
| Sync folders | Use the OneDrive desktop app to sync files across devices. |
Accessibility and Inclusive Communication
WebAIM’s Contrast Checker can be used to check foreground and background color contrast, and Microsoft’s Accessibility Checker can review Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft 365 content for accessibility issues.
| Tip | How to Use It |
|---|---|
| Add alt text to images | Right-click an image and select Edit Alt Text. |
| Use meaningful link text | Avoid “click here” and describe where the link goes. |
| Check color contrast | Use accessible color combinations for readability. |