BLOG: Microsoft 365 Family - A nine steps plan for security and savings
Table of Contents Introduction What Is Microsoft 365 Family? Benefits Over Office LTSC 2024 Microsoft 365 Copilot at Home OneDrive: Storage, Sync, and Mobile Device Optimisation Protecting Your Microsoft Account (Passwordless Sign‑in) Why OneDrive Is Not a Backup Streamlining Microsoft 365 Apps for Home Users (Removing Unused Components) Outlook, Publisher, and Future Changes Upcoming Blog: Migrating and Syncing Contacts and Calendars and effective sync across devices with Outlook New Final Recommendations 1. Introduction Microsoft 365 Family offers a modern, flexible, and secure digital environment for households. This post explains how to streamline your setup, protect your data, and keep your devices organised with minimal effort. Microsoft 365 Family is a subscription designed for households that need up‑to‑date productivity tools, secure cloud storage, and seamless use across Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android. This article explains why Microsoft 365 Family is a better long‑term choice than Office LTSC 2024, how to streamline the installation by removing unused apps, how to protect your Microsoft Account with passwordless sign‑in, and how to combine OneDrive with Macrium Reflect for proper backup. It also includes recommendations for reducing local storage usage and outlines the role of Copilot for home productivity. 2. What Is Microsoft 365 Family? Microsoft 365 Family is a subscription service for up to six people. Each user receives: Their own private Microsoft apps • 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage • Email, productivity, and security services • Cross‑device access (Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, Web) Latest changes require all members to become part of a family group, but each users data remains independently. So as long every Microsoft Account member birthday is of age 18 or older (Account > Birthday setting), there is no issue. Mind the licensing terms: you may only share M365 Family with family members. You may not use it for any business use, incl. micro-businesses. $$$ Savings: Consolidate costs for other Cloud storages, such as Google Drive. I believe Google Photos is very nasty keep prompting users for cloud backups of their pictures, even when they declined multiple times. OneDrive will not do this. Try to disable the recurring billing. Amazon has great offers or bundles - don't get trapped for Security suites, Defender is more than enough. Caveat for Amazon based Subscriptions: You can use them but keep in mind that they become activated and effective immediately after purchase. In contradition to the "activate" buttons that exist, the remainder of the subscription time is set at purchase date. Amazon cannot change it. Microsoft Support won't fix it either. Means that hoarding activation keys from Black Friday is no longer possible :/ If you bought a subscription too early, you can return it by calling Amazon Hotline / Callback > Digital Services. 3. Benefits Over Office LTSC 2024 In comparison to Office LTSC 2024, Microsoft 365 Family provides: Continuous feature updates The new Outlook with an ad‑free experience Full Copilot support and experience, even with benefits beyond Office Applications PST read/write support Premium Word, Excel, PowerPoint features (Online Version is available for free). Cloud integration and collaboration tools Better value over time Multi‑device use without extra licences, mobile, tablet and PC Office LTSC 2024 is static, does not support Copilot, and receives only security fixes. $$$ Savings: Office LTSC is the most cost efficient solution with no subscription attached. OneDrive is Limited to 5 GB per Microsoft Account. If you do not need much space and no AI this is for you. Outlook New is still usable, with few ads, but no PST support. 4. Microsoft 365 Copilot at Home Copilot helps you: Summarise long documents Draft messages or essays Organise tasks Extract information quickly Improve language and translation Coding (PowerShell and other lanugages), with Visual Studio Code integration Learn more: https://www.microsoft.com/copilot Consider to install the M356 Copilot app to get the most out of it. On your phone (iOS / Android) you can also use this app, along with Edge Browser and OneDrive for a seamless experience. Microsoft Outlook on Android / iOS has not the same featureset as Outlook New, very unfortunately. $$$ Savings: M365 Family includes Copilot and expands it to everywhere: Edge Browser, M365 Apps. Spare a seperate Copilot or GPT plan. 5. OneDrive: Storage, Sync, and Mobile Device Optimisation Each user gets 1 TB of cloud storage. Key features: Automatic sync across devices • iOS and Android photo upload • Files On‑Demand to reduce disk usage • Access to all files from any device • Easy sharing and version history on all devices, including PC. Stop saving Document version 1, Document version 1.2 :) Trust the XML based Office files and power of OneDrive, which is a bit similar to enterprise trusted SharePoint features. To reduce smartphone storage usage: • Enable camera upload • Keep files online‑only when possible • Store large media primarily in OneDrive On Android Phones, within OneDrive > Settings > Free up Space on your device - you can delete uploaded pictures from your phone, at your own pace with a fingertip. iOS does not have this cleanup feature. Mind you have to use OneDrive or pin - means download caching - files as on PC, if you want to have them accessible when there is no internet connection or your data plan is limited. You can share or download pictures to apps like Whatsapp without manual download. OneDrive now supports optional AI based face recognition which makes it a blast sorting pictures of people. Very unfortunately it does not work with cats. I would love to see OneDrive organizing all cat pictures into a virtual collection, too. Collections made on the Phone or in Windows 11 will seamless sync with Windows Photo App. This makes organizing digital pictures and videos so much easier. Protip: If you trust your partner / friend / family member to the fullest, you can share the OneDrive Picture Upload into one single account across phones. So both share the same pictures, picture of the day / week. Also this makes it obsolete to "can you send me over the photo that you took..." $$$ Savings: Save big on required phone capacity. With OneDrive at hand, you'll never need 128,256 or even 512 GB phone storage, you'll find use for a 64 GB phone again, even more that the HW crisis, thanks or no thanks to AI made flash memory super expensive. :/ - let's not talk about other resources like water, energy and CO2e. 6. Protecting Your Microsoft Account (Passwordless Sign‑in) All Windows 10/11 users are strongly advised to protect their Microsoft Account. Passwordless sign‑in reduces risk and enhances convenience. I recommend this especially when you store files in OneDrive. Windows Hello PIN, Passkeys and Microsoft Passwordless Accounts have not been compromised in my bubble, opposite to Microsoft Accounts without MFA protection or traditional passwords and Windows local users (Password spraying, NTLM attacks). Setup guidance: https://support.microsoft.com/office/passwordless $$$ Savings: Save you mind and sleepless nights that you'd have after an successful hack. The danger is real, and there is no exclusion to home users - even if they pretend there have "nothing to hide", an argument I hear quite often when it comes to account security and password management. 7. Why OneDrive Is Not a Backup OneDrive synchronises files. If you delete a file locally, the deletion syncs to OneDrive. same goes for encryption attacks on your device, especially PCs For real resilience, you need an offline or image‑based backup. To build a safe and simple backup system: Move your OneDrive folder to a dedicated physical drive or partition (not C:) but O:. I recommend a 5400 rpm Harddisk or SATA SSD, as the performance requirements are negible. Disconnect OneDrive and login again, choosing a folder on Drive O: Let OneDrive do the initial sync. Then Configure OneDrive to download all files locally. Use Macrium Reflect X to create an image of that partition (Drive O: - OneDrive). Update the image regularly. If you need super speed > Use external NVMe case from UGreen or Sabrent, and a cheap but reliable NVMe like Samsung, Crucial (as long as available). Note: Macrium Reflect 8 support ends on 27 February 2026, this means it will not receive any updates. In addition I found it is not compatible with SecureBoot certificate 2023 updates. Why I recommend Macrium Reflect X lightweight, no bloat like Acronis nowadays and tons of services one of the few fully x64 apps in the home market supports synthentic full backups, esp. great on SSD or NVMe easy UI, works on Server Core (for business use) Does Backup and Recovery with excelleny, but serves also as Partitioning and Cloning Tool Neat Windows RE integration One of the first to support Secure Boot with CA2023 certificates super fast esp. on NVMe or external NVMe (compared to other products) multi-language support Hyper-V Boot support (with Windows 11 Pro) meaningful and regular application updates, influenced by a strong and active community excellent support agents and quality $$$ Savings: No savings here in terms of money but peace of mind. The cloud is not a backup. Period. I have seen people loosing their digital life. 8. Streamlining Microsoft 365 Apps for Home users (Removing Unused Components) Many home users do not need the full suite of Microsoft 365 You could remove: Access – rarely needed privately • Publisher – discontinued in 2024, will change to read-only access for pub files. Alternatives: Migrate your pub files content to Word or PowerPoint or 3rd party App by copy paste. • Legacy Outlook – supported until ~2029 • Teams (Classic), if unused - -Teams often comes preinstalled in Windows 11 anyway. • OneDrive – comes preinstalled in Windows 11. With Microsoft 365: You receive the new Outlook • Copilot is enabled • You benefit from an ad‑free inbox. • PST files are fully supported / Attach - read - write ODT allows you to install Microsoft 365 with a custom configuration. Do not use the default OfficeSetup.exe in this case, that you would receive from your invitation or Microsoft Account page Typical use cases for ODT at home: Install only Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook Exclude Access, Publisher, and Teams Reduce disk footprint and complexity How-to deploy customized M365 Family: Download ODT to your download folder Extract ODT / execute setup in your download folder Create a config file to your needs at config.office.com - no login required - choose M365 for a while Export & Save the file to your download folder named YourOfficeConfig.xml, Choose Office Format or ODT, depending on your preference. Run PowerShell Windows Key + X > Terminal (Admin) Change to your download folder e.g. cd c:\users\username\downloads Download Microsoft 365 Family .\setup.exe /download c:\users\username\downloads\YourOfficeConfig.xml Install Microsoft 365 Family customized .\setup.exe /configure c:\users\username\downloads\YourOfficeConfig.xml $$$ Savings: Save valuable space on the OS drive (C:). Save monthly update size and time. Benefit from a smaller attack surface. Here is an example for a working officeconfig.xml that will download office without the forementioned features. <Configuration ID="d1fde4ee-5072-4e95-b319-9c0682773668"> <Add OfficeClientEdition="64" Channel="Current" MigrateArch="TRUE"> <Product ID="O365HomePremRetail"> <Language ID="de-de" /> <Language ID="MatchOS" /> <Language ID="MatchPreviousMSI" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Access" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Groove" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Lync" /> <ExcludeApp ID="OneDrive" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Outlook" /> <ExcludeApp ID="Publisher" /> </Product> <Product ID="ProofingTools"> <Language ID="en-gb" /> </Product> </Add> <Property Name="SharedComputerLicensing" Value="0" /> <Property Name="FORCEAPPSHUTDOWN" Value="TRUE" /> <Property Name="DeviceBasedLicensing" Value="0" /> <Property Name="SCLCacheOverride" Value="0" /> <Updates Enabled="TRUE" /> <RemoveMSI /> <AppSettings> <User Key="software\microsoft\office\16.0\excel\options" Name="defaultformat" Value="51" Type="REG_DWORD" App="excel16" Id="L_SaveExcelfilesas" /> <User Key="software\microsoft\office\16.0\powerpoint\options" Name="defaultformat" Value="27" Type="REG_DWORD" App="ppt16" Id="L_SavePowerPointfilesas" /> <User Key="software\microsoft\office\16.0\word\options" Name="defaultformat" Value="" Type="REG_SZ" App="word16" Id="L_SaveWordfilesas" /> </AppSettings> <Display Level="Full" AcceptEULA="TRUE" /> </Configuration> Bonus: If you think this Office customisation isn't giving enough of savings on the OS drive, try this: #windows key + X > Terminal (Admin) #Powershell #PS C:\Users\username> powercfg /h off #saves a bunch of space, if you are not using hibernation / standby (suspend to RAM/ to file). The more RAM installed, the more your savings. powercfg /h off 9. Outlook, Publisher, and Future Changes Publisher will be removed from the Office product family by October 2026. Or change to Read-Only mode when installed, both for security reasons. See announcement • Legacy Outlook will reach its end around 2029. • The new Outlook supports modern sync, Gmail integration, iCloud Integration and PST files support and sophisticated anti-spam and other Exchange Online like security features. $$$ Savings: Nothing to see here. Move on. 10. Upcoming Blog: Migrating and Syncing Contacts and Calendars and effective sync across devices with Outlook New In a follow‑up blog I will cover: Migrating IMAP contacts and calendars to iCloud Why the iCloud Windows app is no longer functional Why Outlook‑for‑Gmail no longer works New approach: add your Google Account directly to the new Outlook 11. Final Recommendations Use Microsoft 365 Family for a modern, secure, up‑to‑date system. • Streamline the suite to what you actually need using ODT. • Protect your device with passwordless sign‑in. • Store data in OneDrive, but use Macrium Reflect for real backup. • Keep an eye on upcoming changes to Outlook and Publisher
Conversation mode is missing
Recently, a number of users have no longer been able to set their Outlook Classic version 2511 (build 19426.20260) to conversation mode. We have already performed a repair on Office and a reset view. In the web and the new Outlook app, the conversations are still visible
Outlook Desktop ignores or inactivates From address in programmatically generated files
I’m programmatically generating emails using Python within a Flask application. These emails are intended to be sent from a shared mailbox via the desktop Outlook application. In the code, the From: field is explicitly set to the shared email address (e.g. email address removed for privacy reasons). The application generates and downloads an .eml file, which is then opened in Outlook for review and manual sending. However, when the .eml file is opened in Outlook, one of two undesired behaviors occurs: The From field automatically switches to my individual default user email, ignoring the shared email specified in the code The From field visually displays the shared email, but Outlook treats it as not actually selected / not connected, and the email cannot be sent. In this case, manually selecting a different From address and then re-selecting the shared email allows the message to send successfully. In other words, even when the shared email appears in the From field, Outlook does not seem to treat it as an active or authenticated selection unless it is manually toggled. Has anyone encountered this behavior and have suggestions on how to rectify? Thank you!
Classic Outlook - cannot drag emails anywhere - Troubleshooting
I have a coworker who just recently downgraded to Classic Outlook, ever since reading that New Outlook has removed the Drag and Drop Feature. We have been troubleshooting for a while and have come up with no solution as to why he cannot drag and drop. Mine works great, and I can drag and drop whatever I need. Troubleshooting Steps we have tried Reverting to Classic Restarting Outlook Classic Toggling Optimization for Compatibility/appearance (Currently on Compatibility) Checked to make sure it's not locked to groups Not a Locked Folder Tried changing the Reading Pane accessibility Tried finding KB5052903 Update (Not Compatible with 32 Bit Software) The only workaround we have is right-clicking and hitting Save-As. Are there any known troubleshooting/fixes for this? Every Forum I have run across ends up being for the new outlook, or the workaround is outdated. Thanks in AdvanceThe operation cannot be performed because the message has been changed
This "operation cannot be performed..." message is a serious problem and interferes with my work far too often. There doesn't appear to be any valid purpose for this annoyance. I have taken the actions described in your help messages to no avail. Surely MS has a real and permanent solution for this problem. Please help me remove the need to go back and recreate email messages.Sync New Outlook with iCloud Calendar
I just got a new laptop and am trying to sync the New Outlook Calendar with my iCloud Calendar. The intent is to have any Calendar changes made on one device (iPad, iPhone, laptop) to sync to all device Calendars. The problem I'm having is that iCloud Calendar only synchs with Outlook (Classic) and I want to sync with New Outlook. The Outlook version is 1.2025.1121.100 ; the Outlook Client Version is 20251128003.09 The list of Apps that comes up after clicking on Start shows both Outlook and Outlook (Classic). If I right click on Outlook (Classic) and click on uninstall (thought that might help fix this), the only Outlook listed in Apps > Installed Apps is Outlook. I did not uninstall Outlook. To set-up Calendar synching I opened iCloud > Calendars and Contacts > Calendars and Contacts Settings. I turned on "Automatically sync your iCloud calendars and contacts to Microsoft Outlook". After syncing completes, all iCloud Calendar entries appear in the Outlook (Classic) Calendar, but nothing syncs to the New Outlook calendar. I'm assuming this is an Outlook issue, not an iCloud issue. Any ideas on how to fix this? Thanks
Classic Outlook Keeps "Not Responding" and freezing
Hi there, I tried to scour for something similar, but I couldn't find anything and/or it didn't work - so here I am - hopefully someone can help. Okay the facts - I use Classic Outlook (CO moving forward) and I run 5 email address in it - 3 are a domain for my company that I run and 2 are POP emails brought in from AOL. I run Windows 11. This is happening to 3 or my 5 work stations, all three are the ones on Windows 11. This started slow a few weeks ago, thought it was just low memory so went through and cleaned up old emails. I am not seeing these issues when using the 2 pop emails - just my company domain ones. Can open CO, taking some extended time but it is getting there. As soon as I try to send an email, reply to an email, change a signature within a new email - it either takes 5-10 minutes to load if we do not click again and just let it sit and think. The second I try and click something or try and scroll while waiting - it goes into 'Not Responding'. Some times it will load after 1 minute and sometimes it just get stuck. I have updated my CO, I tried the advanced 'online repair' through my system, I have tried disabling all my add-ons, I tried deleting my email account from CO and re-loading/logging in, I have checked my graphics card (something on google said to check it for updates), I have ran command prompts to check for internal Windows errors and I have come up short on everything.
Microsoft Outlook Verification notification issue
Hello, Over the past 3 days, I have had recurring notifications seemingly from Microsoft (pushed notification on my Android phone) asking for permission to sign in to my Outlook account. My Outlook accounts are signed in on my phone and my desktop. I changed my password yesterday due to concerns over security and added 2FA. Over the last 3 days I would say I have gotten 10-11 notifications about this. Most come from Canada, but I have had the Netherlands, an unknown location, and I believe the USA in that timeframe. I run a VPN on both my phone and desktop. I've had it happen on both wifi network and the mobile network. I also checked the recent activity log on my Microsoft account, and it only recorded my sign-ins. So my question becomes. Is someone trying to get into my email? Is it a glitch with my VPN or a Microsoft bug? I'm running a OnePlus 10. Any ideas would be great. It's mostly just annoying moreso than anything. Thanks!Flagged Emails in New Outlook: Set Reminders and Due Date
I understand that transitioning from Classic Outlook to New Outlook can be intimidating and frustrating, especially regarding the feature changes. I'm here to help you navigate through the differences and make the switch as smooth as possible. You can access your flagged emails via the MyDay icon located in the top menu. Here are the steps to set reminders, due dates, and more. 1) Select the My Day icon 2) Click on the To-Do Tab (Note: Usually, this tab defaults to 'Tasks' for the primary mail account.) 3) If you manage multiple accounts, choose the correct mail account. 4) Select Flagged Emails: All flagged items for the select account will appear here 5) Right-click on any flagged item, and you will see many settings, including Set Reminder and Set Due date. I understand that completing the requirement involves many steps. It can be challenging, but I expect more improvements in the future. I hope this helps. /Teresa #traccreations4e 01/18/2024Non-Office 365 accounts repeatedly request sign-in each time Outlook (new) is opened or restarted
My Setup : Operating System: Windows 11 (fully updated, including latest Dell laptop BIOS/firmware) Office Version: Microsoft 365 Apps (licensed under Office 365 Standard for one of the email accounts) Outlook Version Used: Primarily the New Outlook for Windows Email Accounts Involved: One Office 365 Exchange account: email address removed for privacy reasons (credentials persist without issues) Multiple Gmail/IMAP/SMTP accounts (e.g., email address removed for privacy reasons, email address removed for privacy reasons, email address removed for privacy reasons, email address removed for privacy reasons) (all require reauth every time Outlook is opened) Symptoms Non-Office 365 accounts repeatedly request sign-in each time Outlook is opened or restarted. No error messages—just continuous web auth prompts for Gmail, SMTP, and IMAP accounts. The single licensed Office 365 account retains its credentials without issues. Troubleshooting Steps Already Tried Uninstalled/Reinstalled Office 365 Completely removed Microsoft 365 (via Apps & Features or Control Panel). Reinstalled Office 365—accounts still persisted upon first launch of Outlook, leading to repeated sign-in prompts again. Cleared Windows Credential Manager Removed all stored credentials related to Outlook, MicrosoftOffice16_Data:OAUTH2, Gmail/IMAP references, etc. Verified credentials were gone before relaunching Outlook. Removed Registry Keys & Data Under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common\Identity, deleted leftover Identities referencing old accounts. Under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\Outlook\Settings, removed the Accounts key containing JSON references to old addresses. Removed/cleaned up values in the Data subkey referencing _AccountSignaturesMigrated, _UserOptionsMigrationState, etc. Deleted Local AppData & Roaming Outlook Folders %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Microsoft\\Outlook %APPDATA%\\Microsoft\\Outlook Checked/removed possible OST/PST data in %USERPROFILE%\\Documents\\Outlook Files Removed Email & Accounts in Windows Settings Under Windows 11 Settings → Accounts → Email & accounts, confirmed the problematic addresses were removed. Checked for Security Software Conflicts No third-party antivirus, firewall, or VPN is interfering. Tried “New Outlook” Command-Line Wipe Attempted outlook.exe --clearLocalState (or olk.exe --clearLocalState) to remove local cache. Re-launched Outlook, re-added accounts—still facing reauth loops. Ensured Windows & Dell Firmware/Bios Up to Date Double-checked the system is fully updated (Windows Updates, Dell updates). Result Issue Not Resolved: Gmail/IMAP accounts continue prompting for sign-in each time Outlook starts. Only the Office 365 Exchange account retains its credentials as expected. After exhaustive attempts, reverted to Classic Outlook because it does not prompt for repeated sign-ins. Please let me know if this is a known bug that Microsoft is actively addressing. Are there any other steps I can take beyond local registry/credential cleanup to permanently resolve the repeated OAuth prompts?
