Microsoft 365 Productivity Suite Cheat Sheet

Updated 2026-05-20

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Microsoft 365 is Microsoft's cloud-based subscription suite that bundles Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, and more under a single license tied to continuous cloud updates. It solves the coordination problem in modern workplaces by tightly integrating documents, email, calendar, chat, and file storage so that content flows between apps without manual re-entry. The key mental model: every file you store on OneDrive or SharePoint becomes a collaboration hub — real-time co-authoring, version history, and AI assistance via Microsoft 365 Copilot all depend on files living in the cloud rather than on a local drive.

What This Cheat Sheet Covers

This topic spans 15 focused tables and 152 indexed concepts, 115 flashcards. Below is a complete table-by-table outline of this topic, spanning foundational concepts through advanced details.

Table 1: Word — Styles FundamentalsTable 2: Word — Track Changes and Document ReviewTable 3: Word — Mail MergeTable 4: Excel — PivotTablesTable 5: Excel — Power Query (Get & Transform)Table 6: Excel — Power Pivot and DAXTable 7: PowerPoint — Design and Slide MasterTable 8: PowerPoint — Animations and TransitionsTable 9: Outlook — Email ManagementTable 10: Outlook — Calendar and SchedulingTable 11: Microsoft Teams — Meetings and CollaborationTable 12: Microsoft Teams — Channels and WorkspacesTable 13: OneDrive — Sharing and File ManagementTable 14: Microsoft 365 Copilot — AI Integration Across AppsTable 15: Microsoft 365 — Cross-App Productivity Tips

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Table 1: Word — Styles Fundamentals

Styles in Word are named bundles of formatting rules (font, size, spacing, color, indentation) that can be applied in one click and updated globally across an entire document. Understanding the five style types — and especially the difference between paragraph, character, and linked styles — prevents the most common Word formatting headaches.

Type	Example	Description
Paragraph style	`Normal`, `Heading 1`, `Body Text`	• Controls all paragraph-level formatting (indent, spacing, alignment, font) • applied to the whole paragraph regardless of cursor position
Character style	`Strong`, `Emphasis`, `Code Char`	• Applies font-level formatting to selected text within a paragraph • does not override paragraph formatting
Linked style	`Heading 1` (Word default)	• Acts as a paragraph style when the whole paragraph is selected • acts as a character style when only partial text is selected • caution: can break TOC if misused
List style	`List Bullet`, `List Number`	Stores list formatting (bullet characters, numbering, indentation levels) independently from paragraph formatting.
Table style	`Table Grid`, `Table Normal`	Applies borders, shading, font, and alignment to entire tables in one step.
Modify style	Right-click style → Modify	Opens the Modify Style dialog to change font, paragraph, borders, and scope (current doc or all new docs based on template).
Update to Match Selection	Right-click style → Update Heading 1 to Match Selection	• Redefines a style to match manually applied formatting on selected text • all other text using that style updates automatically.
Create style from text	Right-click → Styles → Create a Style	• Creates a new named style from the formatting already applied to selected text • new style appears in the gallery
Automatically update (style option)	Checkbox in Modify Style dialog	• When enabled, manually reformatting any paragraph with this style redefines the style for the whole document • generally left off to avoid unintended cascade changes
Heading outline level	Paragraph → Indents & Spacing → Outline Level	Custom styles only appear in the Navigation Pane and TOC if their outline level is set to Level 1–9 (not Body Text).
Style set	Design tab → Style Sets gallery	• Swaps the font and spacing definitions of all built-in styles in one click • a quick way to change the document's overall look without manually editing each style

Table 2: Word — Track Changes and Document Review

Track Changes records every insertion, deletion, and formatting change made to a document, tagging each with the author's name and timestamp. This table covers the full review workflow — from enabling tracking to locking it, accepting changes, and comparing or combining document versions.

Feature	Example	Description
Enable Track Changes	Review → Track Changes → For Everyone	• Turns on change tracking for all authors • an alternate Just Mine option tracks only the current user's changes

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 3: Word — Mail Merge

Mail merge combines a Word template containing static content with a data source (Excel, Outlook contacts, CSV, or database) to generate personalized letters, emails, labels, or envelopes in bulk. The key insight is that merge fields are just placeholders — the real power comes from merge rules that conditionally control content.

Feature	Example	Description
Start Mail Merge	Mailings → Start Mail Merge → Letters / Email / Labels / Envelopes / Directory	• Selects the document type • each type pre-configures field positions and output format

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 4: Excel — PivotTables

PivotTables let you summarize, group, and cross-tabulate thousands of rows of tabular data into compact summaries with drag-and-drop field arrangement. Mastering field placement, "Show Values As" calculations, and slicer connections transforms a PivotTable from a basic sum tool into an interactive dashboard component.

Feature	Example	Description
Insert PivotTable	Insert → PivotTable → select source range or table	• Creates a PivotTable from a structured table or range • checking Add this data to the Data Model enables multi-table analysis

The rest of this section is part of the full cheat sheet

Table 1: Word — Styles Fundamentals

Type	Example	Description
Paragraph style	`Normal`, `Heading 1`, `Body Text`	• Controls all paragraph-level formatting (indent, spacing, alignment, font) • applied to the whole paragraph regardless of cursor position
Character style	`Strong`, `Emphasis`, `Code Char`	• Applies font-level formatting to selected text within a paragraph • does not override paragraph formatting
Linked style	`Heading 1` (Word default)	• Acts as a paragraph style when the whole paragraph is selected • acts as a character style when only partial text is selected • caution: can break TOC if misused
List style	`List Bullet`, `List Number`	Stores list formatting (bullet characters, numbering, indentation levels) independently from paragraph formatting.
Table style	`Table Grid`, `Table Normal`	Applies borders, shading, font, and alignment to entire tables in one step.
Modify style	Right-click style → Modify	Opens the Modify Style dialog to change font, paragraph, borders, and scope (current doc or all new docs based on template).
Update to Match Selection	Right-click style → Update Heading 1 to Match Selection	• Redefines a style to match manually applied formatting on selected text • all other text using that style updates automatically.
Create style from text	Right-click → Styles → Create a Style	• Creates a new named style from the formatting already applied to selected text • new style appears in the gallery
Automatically update (style option)	Checkbox in Modify Style dialog	• When enabled, manually reformatting any paragraph with this style redefines the style for the whole document • generally left off to avoid unintended cascade changes
Heading outline level	Paragraph → Indents & Spacing → Outline Level	Custom styles only appear in the Navigation Pane and TOC if their outline level is set to Level 1–9 (not Body Text).
Style set	Design tab → Style Sets gallery	• Swaps the font and spacing definitions of all built-in styles in one click • a quick way to change the document's overall look without manually editing each style

Table 2: Word — Track Changes and Document Review

Feature	Example	Description
Enable Track Changes	Review → Track Changes → For Everyone	• Turns on change tracking for all authors • an alternate Just Mine option tracks only the current user's changes

Table 3: Word — Mail Merge

Feature	Example	Description
Start Mail Merge	Mailings → Start Mail Merge → Letters / Email / Labels / Envelopes / Directory	• Selects the document type • each type pre-configures field positions and output format

Table 4: Excel — PivotTables

Feature	Example	Description
Insert PivotTable	Insert → PivotTable → select source range or table	• Creates a PivotTable from a structured table or range • checking Add this data to the Data Model enables multi-table analysis