Microsoft Office is already the leading suite of productivity applications, but you can supercharge the suite even more by using a selection of specially designed add-ins.
However, there are hundreds to choose from. If you're feeling overwhelmed by the selection, you've come to the right place.
Here are 20 productivity add-ins for Microsoft Office that you should install right now.
Boomerang won a host of awards at the 2017 Office App Awards, including third place in the Best Overall Add-in category.
It is geared towards Outlook users. You can schedule emails for the future, keep track of messages, postpone emails, schedule appointments, and much more. It even has an AI assistant to help you create better emails.
The plugin is free and comes with a 14-day trial of the Pro version.
IFTTT allows you to link a nearly infinite number of apps so that an event in one app triggers an action in another.
The official page of the Microsoft applet has 46 free recipes ready to use. And remember, if you can't find what you're looking for, you can create your own. How to Automate Microsoft Office Tasks with IFTTT Recipes How to Automate Microsoft Office Tasks with IFTTT Recipes IFTTT, the automation service that will complete an action once another condition is met, now has 50 task recipes for Microsoft Office. We show you how it works and offer you a selection of recipes. Read more.
We live in a globalized world, but unless you have been lucky enough to be raised in a bilingual home, it is difficult to learn a foreign language.
The free translator for Outlook can help. Uses the official Microsoft Translator API to translate content between more than 60 languages.
PayPal for Outlook is the fastest way to send money to family, friends, and businesses. You will never have to log in to PayPal's online portal again; just activate the plugin and enter the recipient's email address. The app will take care of the rest.
The plugin is free to download and use.
Do you remember the dream of a paperless office? Well, that never materialized, but at least DocuSign for Word helps you bring the idea closer to reality.
You can access the add-in via the ribbon in Microsoft Word, which means you can drag and drop the required signatures into place or add labels to show other people where they should sign.
The free version of the plugin provides five free documents if you have a Microsoft account and 10 free documents if you have an Office 365 account. Thereafter, you'll need to upgrade to the Pro plan for $10 per month.
Zoho offers one of the best cloud-based CRM systems. It is a worthy rival to the well-known Salesforce..
The Zoho CRM plugin works across the entire Microsoft Office 365 suite. You can sync users, calendar events, documents, and sales data instantly, thereby increasing efficiency and increasing productivity for your SMB.
The basic version of Zoho is free to download and use, but the company also offers a variety of Pro versions if you need additional functionality.
Let's face it, Microsoft Word's native spell checker is crap. It misses a lot of errors and constantly returns false positives.
For a better experience, use Grammarly. In addition to checking for typos and other fundamental grammatical errors, it can also point out more complex problems like dangling modifiers and passive voice.
Over time, it will even learn to recognize your writing style and adjust its recommendations accordingly.
Grammarly for Word is free.
It doesn't matter if you're writing a college essay, a high school assignment, or a business proposal, chances are the Wikipedia webpage is never more than a click or two away while you work.
Instead of constantly jumping between your browser and Office, why not install the free official Wikipedia plugin? You can search the encyclopedia and get the results in a task pane. It will even help you correctly refer to quotes and images taken from the service.
Random Generator is an add-in for Microsoft Excel that can fill a spreadsheet with random values. It's great for both creating sample data and checking your spreadsheet for calculation errors.
The free plugin can fill your sheet with real and integer numbers, dates, and random boolean true/false values.
The Google Drive plugin is far from the most complicated item on this list, but it is one of the most useful.
Adds a Google Drive option to all Office apps. Save As menu. With the option, you can open documents from your Drive, save documents to your Drive, and share Office files in your Drive with other users.
Who hasn't accidentally deleted an important email before? If You're Trying to Pursue the Zen-Like Peace of Mind of Inbox Zero Get to Inbox Zero in Gmail With These Strategies Get to Inbox Zero in Gmail With These Strategies Staying on top of email is hard! The key to inbox zero is to automate as much of the process as you can. We'll show you how to get closer to inbox zero in Gmail. Read More
Email Recovery can scan deleted Outlook email folder and recover any important messages. It also has a purge feature that will delete emails forever.
As any college student will tell you, there is a very specific way to refer to abbreviations in a text.
We're not going to get into the nuances of the rules now, but suffice it to say that this plugin will make sure you're doing it right. You can produce a table of abbreviations in your document, as well as draw your attention to any undefined ones.
The plugin is free..
Pickit is the first Microsoft PowerPoint-specific add-in on the list. Provides a vast library of royalty-free stock images that you can place in your presentation.
It's a massive step up from the native tool, which only allows you to search Bing and restricts you to using any images you find at the size they were uploaded.
It's free to use, but for $1.99 a month you can upgrade to the Pro plan. It adds HD images, a way to save images, and an ad-free experience.
Tabbed browsing revolutionized the way we search the web, but Microsoft is adamant about introducing tabbed features to the rest of its apps and services. In fact, tab-friendly apps feature heavily on our list of the best alternative file explorers for Windows. Maybe it's time to dump File Explorer and use a third-party alternative? You will be surprised at the options you have! Read more.
As its name implies, Office Tabs brings the tab experience to Office. The free plugin adds a bar below the ribbon that allows you to jump between whatever document you're working on.
There are many ways to squeeze more productivity out of the time you have available; At MakeUseOf, we're big fans of trying out the Pomodoro technique.
However, if the Pomodoro technique How did a simple Pomodoro timer improve my life? How a simple Pomodoro timer improved my life? The Pomodoro Technique is one of the simplest time management tricks. Break up distractions with the help of 25-minute clips and a timer. It could be a change of routine that will change your life if it suits you. Read More The workload timer fills that role; You will be able to count every second of your day more effectively.
The plugin is free..
All Microsoft Office apps come with hundreds of templates that you can use, but they're not great. They lack shine and are all a bit. “repetitive.”
If you want something to stand out, check out Vertex42's free selection of 300 Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel templates. You'll find budgeting templates Create a Personal Budget in Excel in 4 Easy Steps Create a Personal Budget in Excel in 4 Easy Steps Do you have so much debt that it will take decades to pay off? It's time to make a budget and apply some Excel tricks to help you pay off your debt sooner. Learn More, Invitation Templates 13 Free Templates to Create Event Invitations in Microsoft Word 13 Free Templates to Create Event Invitations in Microsoft Word These Microsoft Word invitation templates will handle the most common events and parties you need to plan. Find the perfect template from the selections. Learn More, Presentation Templates 12 Free Keynote Templates to Make Your Presentations Stand Out 12 Free Keynote Templates to Make Your Presentations Stand Out Looking for the best free Keynote templates to enhance your presentations? We've got you covered with several options for any occasion. Read more, and much more.
Are you tired of writing the same text over and over again, either for your work or your studies? Sticky text could be the answer. It allows you to save frequently used words, phrases, and paragraphs, and then place them in your document whenever you need them with a click of the mouse.
The plugin is free..
Microsoft Word has a native way to add equations to documents, but it's not the easiest tool to use.
MyScript Math Sample simplifies the process. It allows you to write equations directly in a Word document with a pen, your finger, or a mouse. Supports more than 200 mathematical symbols..
If you have an Excel sheet with thousands of cells, identifying fraudulent duplicate content can be an almost impossible task.
The free Duplicate Remover will find duplicate data and offers six different ways to deal with offending cells. You can mark duplicates with a color or status column, copy or move them to another sheet, delete repeating values, or delete the entire row containing the results.
FindTime is an official plugin for Microsoft Outlook. It's a meeting planner that shows what times will work best for everyone in a given group.
The plugin also has a voting function that allows you to propose multiple slots and get a consensus on what is the most suitable time.
The plugin is free..
These 20 plugins have only scratched the surface of what's available.
For more information, check out our guides on Microsoft Word add-ins. 5 Microsoft Office Add-ins and Apps to Boost Your Productivity. 5 Microsoft Office Add-ins and Apps to Boost Your Productivity. Microsoft Office supports add-ins that can make your life better. . We've compiled a selection of useful productivity apps, primarily for Microsoft Word. They are easy to install in Office 2010 and above. Learn More and Microsoft Office Add-ins 10 Handy Productivity Add-ins for Microsoft Word 10 Handy Productivity Add-ins for Microsoft Word Add-ins can completely change your workflow. If you no longer have to leave your document for small tasks, your productivity will increase. Try these 10 mini apps for Microsoft Word. Read more.
