# Do you know how to use all the programs in Microsoft Office? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 1, 2013, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183 "2013-12-01T02:56:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![chizzuk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e36b37/32.png) [@chizzuk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chizzuk)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/21 "2013-12-02T00:20:50Z")
I’m pretty good with Word, adequate with PowerPoint, and can use Excel to make a simple graph or apply simple formulas to small basic data sets. I can use basic functionality on Outlook. I don’t even know what Access or Publisher do. I don’t think I’ve ever opened them. ---
**Author:** ![JerrySTL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@JerrySTL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JerrySTL)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/22 "2013-12-02T02:22:44Z")
I was a Microsoft MVP for Access for 4 years. I even made a living creating Access databases for a few years. Plus I taught Access at a local college for 16 years. Been using it since Version 1 back in the early '90s. Word - I use it daily. Same goes with Outlook as I have it at work and home. Excel - Somewhat. If I can get Access to do the job, I’ll use it instead. It’s the old “if you only have a hammer, everything start looking like a nail” thing. I haven’t used PowerPoint in over a decade and hope to never use it again. I’ve worked with MS Project in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/23 "2013-12-02T03:11:50Z")
I can do everything I need to do with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, though I’m sure each has features I’m not even aware of. In each case, I figured out what I needed to know pretty much just by working with them, with occasional help from the Internet. I suppose I could do the same for the other programs if I ever had any use for them. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/24 "2013-12-02T18:04:39Z")
> [@JerrySTL](#): > > Excel - Somewhat. If I can get Access to do the job, I’ll use it instead. It’s the old “if you only have a hammer, everything start looking like a nail” thing. Most extreme example of that I’ve ever seen was the guy I knew who used Lotus 123 as a word processor. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/25 "2013-12-02T20:39:30Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I consider myself to be a fairly well educated person. I work for a large brokerage firm and I can easily navigate the software programs I use for work and if there was a change, I think I’d easily adapt. I’m an idiot when it comes to using other software, such as Office. > > I have no idea how to do a powerpoint. > > My Excel skills are probably less than the average 5th grader. I can open a sheet and put numbers in, but that’s about it. > > I can use Word to write letters and maybe a resume. > > If Outlook is still considered part of office, I can use it to manage emails, I can create folders and assign certain emails to be directed to folders. I have to look up how to create an out of office message as well as change my signature, but I can do these tasks. I can use the standard suite (Excel, Word, Outlook, Powerpoint) including: Project Visio Access Publisher MapPoint I don’t use any of them to anywhere near their full capabilities, but if you needed me to do a Gantt chart in Project, a flowchart in Visio, a family newsletter in Publisher, or a small database in Access, I would have no problem with those tasks. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/26 "2013-12-02T21:15:59Z")
I’m above average in Access and Excel, and probably high average in Word and Office. I’m mediocre, but can find my way around PowerPoint, Visio, Sharepoint, and MapPoint. StG ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/27 "2013-12-02T22:15:21Z")
I’m a public librarian. I don’t just have to know them all, I have to teach classes on them! (Except Access, although I do know a little in there.) ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/28 "2013-12-03T00:19:42Z")
I use Excel the majority of every work day so I’m an advanced user there. Word I use sparingly so I’m a little less knowledgeable. Powerpoint isn’t a problem though I don’t really use all the features. Access I can do advanced functions but most of the time it’s just easier to use SQL. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/29 "2013-12-03T03:03:53Z")
I’m pretty good in everything but Publisher, which we never used at work. I was pretty much the guy everyone on our floor came and got for pc or Office problems - often to translate for tech support. I got really good with Access but changed jobs and haven’t touched it in years, and I created a Powerpoint template that let you make most subjects into a game of _Jeopardy!_ I did it as a joke for a compliance presentation, and for _years_ after people showed up asking me to tweak it or show them how to input their subject matter. The trickiest part was getting the Final Jeopardy theme to play… I still remember being flabbergasted that no one got a question that said something like “The time period this procedure has to be completed within, or the title of a hit by the Barenaked Ladies.” That was like a TV Guide crossword level clue! :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2013, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183/30 "2013-12-03T19:29:03Z")
I can find my way around all the Office apps: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and Publisher. Some of my familiarity with them comes from experience in that genre of software - for example, I don’t use Outlook much per se, but it’s basically a calendar, to-do, contacts and e-mail app, and they all work pretty much the same way. (In fact, the introduction of the ribbons to MS Office was a bigger learning curve than switching between Apple Mail and Outlook.) I’m not really a power user in anything but Word. I’ve used Word for headers, footers, foot notes, tables of contents, hyperlinks/bookmarks, embedded documents, you name it. I taught Word to a college classroom (though admittedly that was 20 years ago). In high school, I designed a Word/Excel mail merge system that a real wholesaler used to process $5 million worth of Christmas-season orders to their retailers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-know-how-to-use-all-the-programs-in-microsoft-office/675183.md?page=1)