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. 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

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).

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).