Someone asked me recently about automation tricks in Excel.

Fair question. Everyone's talking about AI agents right now. Microsoft's pushing them hard, every tech company's got one.

But here's what they don't mention in the demos: AI agents cost extra. They work maybe half the time. You're basically hoping they get it right.

Meanwhile, you already have a tool that does exactly what you tell it to. Every single time.

Power Automate.

You've probably got access already (comes with most Microsoft work accounts).

Build the workflow once, set the logic, and it runs. No crossed fingers. No "let me rephrase that prompt."

If you're not sure where to start, check out my Power Automate tutorials and YouTube playlist:

• Track your working hours
• Schedule an Office Script to clean up formatting across multiple files
• Send personalized emails with attachments from a master list in Excel
• and more.

See how simple it can be.

(Side note: The "New Designer" drives me crazy. If you're with me on this, just toggle it off in the top right corner.)

There's something satisfying about automation you can actually count on.
Frees you up for the work that matters.

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🤓 Geeky News

🔐 Google lets friends help you recover your account

Google's rolling out a new way to get back into your account when you're locked out: designated friends or family who can verify your identity.

You can add up to ten Recovery Contacts. They have seven days to accept your invite, then another seven-day waiting period before they can help you.

When you need them, Google gives you a number valid for 15 minutes. Share it with your contact, they match it from three options on their device, and you're back in.

Rolling out now for personal Google accounts.

🗓️ Gmail will schedule meetings for you

Once you're in your Google account, Gmail has a new AI trick to save you time.

When Gemini detects you're trying to schedule a meeting, a "Help me schedule" button appears. Click it, and it scans your Google Calendar for open slots that match the context.

You can edit the suggested times, remove ones that don't work, or add your own. Then insert them into your reply with one click.

If the recipient also uses Gmail, they just click their preferred time. Google Calendar automatically creates the event for both of you.

Currently works for scheduling between two people only.

📝 Crop pictures in OneNote

If you paste screenshots into OneNote, you've probably been annoyed by this: you're stuck with whatever you captured.

You had to open another app if you wanted to crop your screenshots.

Not anymore. OneNote now lets you crop images directly - with your mouse or with keyboard for more precision.

No fancy crop-to-shape options, but honestly, this should've been there years ago.

Windows only for now.

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🤔 Did You Know?

Two ways to copy conditional formatting to other parts of a worksheet without overwriting the cell contents:

• Format Painter (double-click on the icon to reuse it in different places)

• Copy the cell with conditional formatting, then Paste Special > Formats.

Note: "All merging conditional formats" pastes the cell contents along with the conditional formatting rules. Unlike Paste Formats, it doesn't overwrite any conditional formatting rules already in the destination cell.

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🙌 More Time for What Actually Matters

When you work with smart people, the last thing you want is to bury them in repetitive tasks.

Liliya gets it. She's a Senior Finance Controller. Her team is talented. And now they're spending less time on low-value work and more time on what actually moves the needle:

That's the real win. Congrats on earning the Automate Excel certificate! 👏

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See you next week,

Leila

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