Recent Discussions
Word and Excel stuck in Read and Print mode only
I have M365 Family Plan and one of my devices can't use Word or Excel. App tells me they are in Read and Print mode only. I have attempted multiple times to get support to resolve this via chat sessions, but they are unable to help. They have escalated this to Tier 3 Support and still no help. They recommended I go here for support. Here are some of the details. Case Number: 7108165505 (current one) Microsoft 365 Family subscription Word and Excel opening in Read Only / Print mode on one Windows 11 desktop Error when accessing the subscription management page Previous escalation to Tier 2 and Tier 3 Case marked as Resolved despite the issue remaining unresolved Note that extensive troubleshooting has already been completed and that you believe the issue may be related to subscription validation or account provisioning rather than the local Office installation.
Onenote cannot search for handwriting
I have a problem where my Microsoft OneNote cannot search for ink/handwriting, though it used to be searchable. It can search for text but not handwritten notes. My friend who just downloaded OneNote is able to do so, while my other friend who has used OneNote for years is also unable to search for handwriting. Interestingly, I can search for a 5-year old handwriting on a single section of a notebook, but new handwritings on a new section of that notebook is unsearchable. After writing on that page, it rendered handwriting on that page unsearchable, including the words that used to be searchable. I am using: Windows 11 version 25H2 desktop app, Onenote web (tried writing on both too) I have tried: Lasso tool > treat ink as > handwriting OneNote is synced to OneDrive Attempting to delete and redownload (couldn't fully delete OneNote) File > Options > Advanced > Pen > Enable automatic handwriting recognition Making a new notebook Searching handwritings from different ages. Handwritings from 6 months ago, and days ago cannot be searchable. Deleted cache Repaired Microsoft 365 Rebuilt windows search index
New rules now showing in Agent Management rules
I have created a new rule in the Agent management rules and there were no errors showing so it appears to have saved correctly. However, when I go back to the page, I do not see the new rule showing up. I have refreshed, done a hard refresh, as well as closing the page and going back in with no success. Any ideas how to get these to show up?
Is there a way to create role-specific competency frameworks in Microsoft 365?
We already have a lot of employee information in Entra ID, like job title, department, manager, location, and other user attributes. What I’m trying to figure out is whether we can use those attributes to automatically assign different competency frameworks to different groups of employees. For example, engineers would have one set of competencies, sales another, and managers would have additional leadership competencies. Ideally this would update automatically when someone changes role or department in Entra rather than HR maintaining everything manually. Has anyone built something like this with Entra + SharePoint/Power Automate, or is there a better way to manage competency frameworks while still keeping Microsoft 365 as the source of employee data?
Explore and edit Microsoft Access databases (.accdb / .mdb) directly from VS Code.
Hi everyone, I'm looking for a way to move away from the native Access VBE and start using Visual Studio Code as my primary text editor. I mostly want to leverage its modern features like Dark Mode, multi-cursors, and better shortcuts. During my research, I came across the "Access Explorer" extension, which claims to let you "Explore and edit Microsoft Access databases (.accdb / .mdb) directly from VS Code". Before I risk running this on any live database, I wanted to ask the community: How stable is it? Does it work well for daily development? Is there any risk of database corruption when it saves and injects the edited code back into the .accdb file? How does it handle form/report class modules (Form_FormName), or is it only reliable for standard modules (.bas)? If you have used this extension or have a smooth alternative workflow to read/write code directly between VS Code and Access without manual copy-pasting, I would love to hear your thoughts!
Our experience migrating from Exchange Server to Microsoft 365
We recently performed a migration from an on-premises Exchange Server to Microsoft 365. Our goal was to transfer mailbox data while minimizing disruption to users. Before starting, we reviewed the source mailboxes, Microsoft 365 accounts, permissions, network availability and mailbox mapping. We then migrated a few test mailboxes to confirm the connection and verify emails, calendars, contacts and folder structures. For this migration, we used EdbMails Exchange Migration to connect the source and destination environments, map mailboxes and perform the migration in stages. Most historical data was transferred during the initial migration while users continued working. Before the final cutover, we ran an incremental migration to transfer newly received and modified items. After migration, we checked: Emails, folders, calendars and contacts Recent and sent messages Archive and shared mailboxes Item counts and migration logs Mail flow after the DNS changes Overall, the staged approach made the migration easier to manage and reduced the amount of work required during the final cutover. Our main lessons were: Always begin with a pilot migration. Verify permissions and mailbox mapping early. Run an incremental migration before cutover. Validate the migrated data before retiring the source server. The migration was completed successfully, and the structured approach helped us maintain data integrity while keeping disruption to users to a minimum.Tracking whether managers actually complete their review cycles on time
Every quarter our HR team has to chase managers who havent finished their performance reviews. Right now they literally track it in an Excel spreadsheet and send reminder emails manually. Its embarrassing honestly. We're an M365 shop and I feel like there should be a way to automate this or at least get some visibility into completion rates without it being a manual process. Whats everyone else doing?New rules now showing in Agent Management rules
I have created a new rule in the Agent management rules and there were no errors showing so it appears to have saved correctly. However, when I go back to the page, I do not see the new rule showing up. I have refreshed, done a hard refresh, as well as closing the page and going back in with no success. Any ideas how to get these to show up?Agents without owners
What actually distinguishers an agent without an owner? When looking at my registry a large number of agents have nothing showing up in the Owner column and yet they are not listed as Agents without owners. Even looking through the Graph API (https://graph.microsoft.com/v1.0/copilot/admin/catalog/packages) I see a lot of entries where the "ownerId" field is null. Why aren't these being listed as Agents without owners?
[URGENT] Sole Global Admin MFA Lockout - No escalation after 7 days (Ticket #2609050040000232)
Hello, I'm dealing with a critical "Sole Global Administrator MFA Lockout" scenario for one week now, and standard ticket support is taking 24h per reply with no effective escalation so far. Ps: I had to use my personnel account to login because my business account is unavailable!! PROBLEM SUMMARY: After switching phones, the only registered MFA method (Microsoft Authenticator) became orphaned. There's no MFA backup method and no working second admin account on the tenant. As a result, I'm locked out of: - Microsoft 365 Admin Center login - Microsoft Entra Admin Center login - Corporate email and Teams access WHAT I'VE ALREADY TRIED (unsuccessfully): - Deleting the broken MFA method (error: "delete operation failed") - Enabling and generating a Temporary Access Pass (blocked - admins cannot generate a TAP for themselves, and the second admin account is also affected by the same broken MFA issue) - Checking for account lockout status (not the case) - Error received during sign-in attempts: Error Code 500121 OPEN TICKET: Ticket #2609050040000232, open for 5 days now, only generic responses received so far. REQUEST: Could someone from the Microsoft team (moderator, MVP, or any direct contact) help escalate this to the Tenant Recovery / Data Protection team? I'm available to prove tenant ownership (domain control, subscription details, billing information). Any guidance on how to expedite this specific type of case would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.STOCKHISTORY and Stock Data not working
Is it only me? Or everyone else having the same problem? My Excel 365 cannot use STOCKHISTORY Function anymore. It shows #connect! Error. Also, I cannot use the stock data anymore. (The other data types are not functioning as well.) (The error message says "Sorry, we are having a temporary server error. We are trying to fix this problem.") Is it only me? Or everyone else is having this problem?AutoSave disabled when opening SharePoint-synced files from Finder after macOS Tahoe 26.6 update
Files stored in SharePoint Online and synchronized locally through OneDrive are opened as local documents when launched from Finder. Office applications display "Saved to my Mac" and AutoSave is turned off by default. However, opening the exact same files through Word/Excel > Open > Sites, or via SharePoint "Open in Desktop App", correctly identifies them as cloud documents. In that scenario, AutoSave is enabled and collaboration/version history features work as expected. Troubleshooting already performed: OneDrive reset and re-linked SharePoint library re-synced Signed out and back into both Office and OneDrive Removed Microsoft credentials from macOS Keychain and re-authenticated Recreated local OneDrive sync relationships Verified OneDrive File Provider extensions are enabled Verified Office applications and OneDrive are fully up to date Tested with newly created files and existing files Tested "Always Keep on This Device" with no change in behavior The issue appears to be specific to the Finder-to-Office launch path after upgrading to macOS Tahoe 26.6. Before upgrading to macOS Tahoe 26.6, opening the same SharePoint-synchronized files directly from Finder correctly preserved cloud document identity and AutoSave was enabled as expected. I discussed this issue in detail with Apple Support, but they quickly dismissed it, saying that the problem is not on Apple's side and that I should contact Microsoft instead.Why Some Purview DLP Policies Need Days to Start Working
While testing the new DLP capabilities to block sharing to users and domains and stop Copilot from using external email, it was noticeable how long it took before policies became active. DLP policy synchronization to workloads is reasonably work (and getting faster), but these policies have a new retrospective effect that requires workloads to process files and messages to stop them being available. It’s a new twist to the DLP story. https://office365itpros.com/2026/09/11/dlp-policies-take-time/Excel Insert Copied Cells Creates Blank Row
Whenever I try to copy row 2 below, right mouse click, and select Insert Copie Cells, I incorrectly get a blank row. This is in Excel safe mode with all add-ins disabled. Does anyone know how to fix this? See sample data below. Thanks. 1 32134 234234 45645 456 456 456 536 4567 456 456 456 456 456 456
Excel Copy & Paste / Clipboard
When I copy one or multiple cells from excel, and then go over to another program on my computer and use the "copy" function again, and then go BACK to excel, and paste in a different cell - the original copy from excel is the one that pastes. It's almost like the second copy function from another program on my computer does not slate clean the clipboard - and almost like the excel has its own clipboard that separates itself from the rest of the computer. If i copy a cell in excel, and then copy other stuff from a different program (non microsoft, microsoft, anything really) I want the original excel copy to CLEAR. This is something new and randomly starting occurring over the past year or so to me and all my colleagues. This problem is most prevalent with Bloomberg for me fyi. Thanks for any help!Welcome to the Excel Community
The Excel Community is a place we've built for all of you. You can learn more about how to do something with Excel, discuss your work, and connect with experts that build and use the product. With over half a billion Excel customers, we want to engage with you in fundamentally different ways and the community is a starting point for that. Our community helps answer your product questions with responses from other knowledgeable community members. We love hearing feedback and feature requests from you which helps us build the best version of Excel ever. If you have found an outage or a bug please post at our Answers forum. We look forward to getting to know you! Sangeeta Mudnal & Olaf Hubel on behalf of the Excel Team
Microsoft values a hacker's disposable email more than your email linked to Microsoft for 8 years
My Pc was compromised and my session tokens were stolen . I had security info connected with my email and phone number . I also had passkey setup on both my pc (after reset) and my phone . It took one click for the hacker to remove the security features . They setup their own security info and added a disposable email instead of mine . I was somehow able to log in to the account using my pc passkey , as it was already signed in . First I requested to change the hacker's email to my one , which was useless cause the wait time period was 30 days . But in doing so I locked myself out of recovering the account with the mail that notified me that my security info was changed . I went to account recovery which only allowed me to change the password not the email so its still connected to the hacker's email . My frustration is the hacker can 1 click change my forever linked email since accounts creation . But when i try to do so they prevents me to do that stating that "there was recent security information change and the account will not allow for additional change for 30 years" . I opened up "account recovery form" and filled it out , point to be noted there were no fields where I could enter my details of my problem they just ask some basic information . After sometime they send a mail stating provided information is not enough . How am i suppose to provide more information if there are no fields for additional information . I contacted Microsoft agent , they guided me to reply to the account recovery form mail which did not worked as I was not allowed to reply on such email . I contacted Microsoft agent again , this time they told me I will be getting an email with account recovery form and I should mention every details . Well it was the same recovery form I used earlier with limited fields . I still field out the form and after sometime I was mailed by mailto:email address removed for privacy reasons to provide additional details for my identify , I was again requested to submit an account recovery form on https://account.live.com/acsr?cs=1 which was the same link with limited fields to provide information . I proceeded but in the end I was told that I have reached the daily limit for submitting form for this account . Just to be sure I mailed mailto:email address removed for privacy reasons the requested details .
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