Tip of the week # 661
1 July 2021


Attach a copy or a PDF version of an active document to an email message (Word, Excel and PowerPoint) *

After six fancy formatted tips I've decided to stay true to myself and focus on content, rather than trying to make things look good. As I recently wrote on LinkedIn, when I started my tips back in 2003 I used to send them as "plain text" because most of my clients were using software that couldn't read emails with "fancy" formatting such as bold and bullet points, let alone screenshots. (Pine, anyone? Pine, as in Pine Is Not Elm.) I'm obviously not a Luddite, but you won't find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. And OK, I won't go as far as the owner of one of the (many!) bike shops here in Cambridge, who is not on the internet "as he prefers the real world", but I don't do videos either. Especially not given how frequent Microsoft changes its software packages.

Speaking of which ... this week's tip is all about something new that you might not have spotted: a Share button in the top right hand corner of (for example) Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

You can use it to upload your active document to OneDrive to share it and see who it is shared with. But if you don't use OneDrive it can still be very useful to attach a copy or a PDF version of your active document to an Outlook email message.

Here's how:

  1. Click on the Share button in the top right hand corner OR
    Press and release the ALT key and type ZS.
  2. Click on the relevant button underneath Attach a copy instead.

By the way, if you don't think ALT, ZS is intuitive and like mnemonics ... think of the Share button being on the very last tab. The last letter of the alphabet is Z. And the letter S is for share. OK, I have to admit that my husband always says that my mnemonics are more difficult than simply remembering things without a "donkey bridge" as us Dutch and the Germans call a mnemonic.

For those of you haven't upgraded as yet, have a look at the tips mentioned below.

Related tips

  1. Attach a PDF version of an active document to an email message - tip_574.php
  2. Attach a copy of an active document to an e-mail message - tip_453.php
  3. Selecting commands without using your mouse - tip_220.php


* Unless stated otherwise this tip is written for Microsoft 365 desktop apps and Windows 10 users, but might also be useful in Office 2010, 2013 and 2016.