Take back control of Office

Microsoft is incredibly keen for you to use Office 365, which is why Windows 10 will regularly prompt you to download and install it. But if you get fed up with its nagging, click Start and locate the ‘Get Office’ shortcut. Right-click this and choose Uninstall to remove it.

If you’re an Office 365 user you may be frustrated by the way it works with OneDrive, saving directly to the cloud rather than to your local OneDrive folder. To stop this behaviour, you need to open each Office app in turn, then choose Options from the File tab on the Ribbon. Select ‘Save’ and tick ‘Save to Computer by default’. You’re not done yet – next, click ‘^’ in the Taskbar notification area, right-click the OneDrive cloud icon and then choose Settings. Now switch to the Office tab and untick both sync boxes before clicking OK.

Here’s another tip to save you time switching between controls on the Ribbon in Office. Right-click a favourite tool and choose ‘Add to Quick Access Toolbar’. If you run out of space, click the ‘v’ arrow next to your existing shortcuts and choose ‘Show Below the Ribbon’ to locate it there instead.

Microsoft’s OneDrive tries to force Office 365 to save directly to the cloud, which slows things down. Make it default to your hard drive instead.