Your Work Apps
These are the Microsoft 365 apps you will use every day at Mercury. They are all pre-installed on your Mac and work just like their Windows counterparts.
Outlook — Your Email & Calendar
Outlook is the hub for your work email, calendar, and contacts. Your Mercury account is already configured — just open the app and everything is there. Use the sidebar icons to switch between Mail, Calendar, People, and Tasks.
- Focused Inbox — Outlook separates important emails into "Focused" and less important ones into "Other." Check the "Other" tab occasionally so nothing slips through.
- Quick Actions — Swipe right on a message to flag it, or swipe left to archive/delete (configurable in Outlook settings).
- Search — Press ⌘+E to jump to the search bar. You can filter by sender, date, attachments, and more.
- Frozen Outlook? — Quit with ⌘+Q and reopen. This fixes most temporary glitches.
Teams — Chat & Meetings
Teams is where you instant-message coworkers, join video meetings, and make phone calls. If someone schedules a meeting in Outlook, you join it from Teams.
The first time you share your screen in Teams, macOS will ask for Screen Recording permission. Click "Open System Settings," enable it for Microsoft Teams, then restart Teams. You only have to do this once.
- Quick mute — Dog barking? Someone at the door? Hit ⌘+Shift+M instantly, no clicking needed.
- Status — Click your profile picture (top-right) to set your status: Available, Busy, Do Not Disturb, or Away.
- Pop-out chat — Double-click any conversation to open it in its own window so you can multitask.
OneDrive — Your Cloud Files
OneDrive keeps your work files backed up in the cloud and synced across all your devices. Anything you save to the OneDrive folder is automatically uploaded.
Where to find it:
- In Finder, look in the left sidebar for OneDrive - MercuryInsurance (cloud icon).
- In the menu bar (top-right of your screen), look for the small blue cloud icon to check sync status.
Sync status icons:
Word, Excel & PowerPoint
If you have used these apps on Windows, you already know how to use them on Mac. They work almost identically. The main difference is that the menu bar is at the top of the screen (not inside the window) and you use ⌘ instead of Ctrl.
- AutoSave — When a file is stored in OneDrive, AutoSave is enabled by default. Look for the toggle in the top-left corner of Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. If it says "On," your changes are saved every few seconds automatically.
- AutoSave off? — If the file is saved locally (not in OneDrive), AutoSave will be off. Press ⌘+S regularly, or save the file to OneDrive to enable AutoSave.
- Version History — For OneDrive files, click the file name in the title bar and choose "Browse Version History" to see or restore previous versions.
Your Mac comes with Apple Calendar, Apple Notes, and Apple Mail, but do not use them for work. They will not sync with your coworkers or Mercury systems.
- Use Outlook Calendar instead of Apple Calendar
- Use OneNote instead of Apple Notes
- Use Outlook Mail instead of Apple Mail
Hands-On Practice
Work through these exercises to get comfortable with Microsoft 365 on your Mac. Check each one off as you go.
Open any Office app, then right-click its icon in the Dock and choose Options > Keep in Dock. That way, your most-used apps are always one click away.