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Microsoft 365 includes far more capability than most people use. A handful of well-chosen habits — like using Teams instead of internal email and signing documents in the browser instead of printing them — can meaningfully reduce daily friction. This page collects the most useful tips for each core application so you can put them into practice immediately.
If a message is going to a colleague — not a client or external contact — send it in Teams chat instead of email. Chat threads are searchable, messages arrive instantly, and you avoid cluttering your inbox with internal back-and-forth.
Pin your most-used channels
Right-click any channel and select Pin. Pinned channels appear at the top of your sidebar so you don’t scroll past less relevant ones to reach the spaces you use every day.
Use @mentions to get attention
Type @name in a message to send a notification directly to that person. Use @channel sparingly — it notifies every member of the channel. Use @team only for truly important announcements.
Set your status to avoid interruptions
Select your profile picture, then choose Do not disturb when you need focused work time. Teams suppresses all notifications until you change your status back.
Use keyboard shortcuts
Press Ctrl + / (Windows) or Cmd + / (Mac) to view all keyboard shortcuts. Common ones: Ctrl + N for new chat, Ctrl + Shift + M to toggle mute in a meeting, and Ctrl + E to jump to search.
Record meetings for absent team members
In any Teams meeting, click the three-dot menu and select Start recording. The recording and an auto-generated transcript are saved to SharePoint and linked in the meeting chat when the call ends.
Add tabs to channels for quick access
In any channel, click the + icon at the top to add a tab. You can embed a SharePoint document library, a Planner board, a website, or any Microsoft 365 app directly in the channel — no switching between windows.
Use Microsoft Planner as a tab inside Teams channels to track tasks alongside your conversations. See the Planner tips in the OneDrive & Planner tab for details.
Outlook is most useful when you treat it as a decision tool rather than a storage system. The goal is to process your inbox down to zero each session, not to read and re-read the same messages.
Use Focused Inbox
Focused Inbox automatically separates your important messages from newsletters, notifications, and lower-priority email. Go to View → Show Focused Inbox to enable it. Over time, Outlook learns your preferences as you move messages between tabs.
Schedule emails with send later
Draft a message, click the arrow next to the Send button, and choose Send later. This is useful for writing emails outside business hours but delivering them at an appropriate time.
Share your calendar instead of emailing availability
Select Home → Share Calendar and send a sharing link to colleagues or clients. They see your free/busy times without you manually listing options in an email. Use New Meeting → Scheduling Assistant to find times when all invitees are free.
Use categories and flags for follow-up
Right-click any message to apply a colour category or set a follow-up flag with a reminder date. This surfaces important messages you can’t action immediately without leaving them unread.
Create rules to filter repetitive mail
Go to Settings → Rules → Add new rule. Common uses: automatically move newsletters to a subfolder, flag emails from a specific client, or forward certain messages to a colleague.
Use @mentions in email
Type @name in the body of an email to address a specific recipient directly. Their name is highlighted in the message and Outlook adds them to the To field automatically.
The Outlook mobile app syncs with your Microsoft 365 calendar and contacts automatically. Enable notifications only for your Focused Inbox to avoid being interrupted by every newsletter.
Attaching files to emails creates multiple copies that quickly go out of sync. Instead, store files in SharePoint or OneDrive and share a link. Everyone works on the same document, and you always have the current version.
Share a link instead of attaching a file
Open the file in SharePoint or OneDrive, click Share, and copy the link. You control whether the recipient can edit or only view the document, and you can revoke access at any time. The file itself never leaves your Microsoft 365 environment.
Co-author documents in real time
When multiple people open the same Word, Excel, or PowerPoint file from SharePoint or OneDrive, they can all edit simultaneously. Changes appear in real time with each author’s cursor shown in a different colour.
Sync SharePoint libraries to your desktop
In any SharePoint document library, click Sync. The library appears as a folder in Windows Explorer or Mac Finder, so you can open and save files exactly as you would from a local drive — without thinking about the cloud.
Use version history to recover earlier drafts
Right-click any file in SharePoint or OneDrive and select Version history. You can view, restore, or download any previous version. SharePoint keeps up to 500 versions by default.
Use Microsoft Planner for task management
Planner is included in every Microsoft 365 plan. Create a plan for a project, assign tasks to team members, set due dates, and track progress on a Kanban board. Access Planner from the Microsoft 365 app launcher or as a tab in a Teams channel.
Set up alerts on important documents
In SharePoint, open a document or folder, click the three-dot menu, and select Alert me. You receive an email notification when the file is modified, deleted, or checked in — useful for compliance-sensitive documents.
Store all shared team files in SharePoint, not OneDrive. OneDrive is for personal work files. SharePoint libraries are accessible to the whole team and are backed up as part of your Microsoft 365 tenant.
Microsoft Copilot is now available across Microsoft 365 — in Teams meetings, Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It uses your organisation’s data (with the same permissions that apply to your normal work) to generate, summarise, and analyse content.
Copilot features available to you depend on your Microsoft 365 plan and whether your administrator has enabled them. Microsoft Copilot Chat is available in Microsoft 365 Business Standard and above. Some features require a separate Microsoft 365 Copilot add-on licence.
Summarise a Teams meeting you missed
After a recorded Teams meeting, open the meeting in your Teams calendar and select Recap. Copilot generates a summary of key discussion points, decisions made, and follow-up actions — you don’t need to watch the full recording.
Draft emails in Outlook with Copilot
In a new Outlook message, click the Copilot icon in the toolbar and select Draft with Copilot. Describe what you want to say in plain language and Copilot generates a full draft. You edit and refine rather than writing from scratch.
Summarise long email threads
Open any long email thread in Outlook and click Summary by Copilot at the top of the thread. Copilot displays a concise summary of the conversation and highlights any action items.
Generate a first draft in Word
In a blank Word document, click Draft with Copilot. Describe the document you need — a proposal, a policy, a meeting agenda — and Copilot creates a structured first draft. Use it as a starting point, not a finished product.
Analyse data in Excel with Copilot
Select a data range in Excel and click the Copilot button in the Home ribbon. You can ask questions in natural language (“Show me the top five customers by revenue last quarter”) and Copilot generates charts, pivot tables, or formula suggestions.
Use Copilot Chat for general queries
Open Copilot Chat from the Microsoft 365 app launcher (or at copilot.microsoft.com when signed in with your work account). Ask it to find documents, summarise a file, or help you prepare for a meeting. It has access to your Microsoft 365 content based on your existing permissions.
Copilot respects your existing Microsoft 365 permissions. It can only access files and emails that you can already open. It does not share your data with other organisations or use it to train Microsoft’s AI models.
Regardless of which applications you use most, these practices protect your account and your organisation’s data.
Enable multi-factor authentication
MFA is the single most effective control against account compromise. Set it up using the Microsoft Authenticator app — it takes under five minutes and blocks the vast majority of automated attacks.
Keep apps updated
Microsoft 365 desktop apps update automatically when you have an active subscription. Don’t postpone updates — they deliver new features and critical security patches at the same time.
Don't forward work email to personal accounts
Forwarding email to a personal Gmail or Hotmail account bypasses your organisation’s security controls and may violate data protection regulations. Use the Outlook mobile app instead.
Lock your screen when stepping away
Press Win + L (Windows) or Ctrl + Cmd + Q (Mac) to lock your screen immediately. Automatically locking after 5–10 minutes of inactivity is a baseline requirement in most security policies.
If you’re new to Microsoft 365 or recently migrated, the Microsoft 365 training centre offers free short video courses for every application. DiekerIT can also arrange a tailored training session for your team.
