Despite the many alternatives that are out there, Microsoft Word remains one of the most popular word processors available.
However, most of us barely scratch the surface of its abilities.
With this selection of Microsoft Word tips, you can really step up your
game, no matter which version you use, and you'll be able to work more
efficiently than ever before.
1. Configure paste options
Word tries to be helpful when copied text is pasted into a document by
automatically retaining the source formatting, while providing the
option to change the text to match the formatting of the current
document.
To avoid having to choose formatting options every time text is pasted,
click the 'Office' button, followed by 'Word Options', then move to the
'Advanced' section. Under the 'Cut, copy and paste' heading, use the
first four dropdown menus to choose a default setting for format
pasting.
While configuring these options, untick the box labelled 'Show Paste
Options Buttons' to prevent the formatting options pop-up from being
displayed in the future.
2. Change full-justification formatting
When full justification is applied to a paragraph, Word ensures that
text is vertically aligned on the left and right of the page by
adjusting the spacing between words. While this usually isn't a problem,
there are occasions when it can lead to a lot of visible white space.
By opting to use the justification style that's utilised in WordPerfect,
the spacing between individual letters on each line is adjusted to
allow for better-looking text when it spans from margin to margin.
To activate this option, click the 'Office' button, followed by 'Word
Options', and then click the 'Advanced' link on the left. Scroll to the
bottom of the advanced options and expand the 'Layout Options' entry.
Now you just need to tick the box labelled 'Do Full Justification The
Way WordPerfect 6.x For Windows Does', then click 'OK'.
3. Use a hanging indent
One of the less frequently used means of formatting paragraphs is the
hanging indent. This is where the first line is not indented, but all of
the rest are.
Select the paragraph you'd like to format in this way, move to the Home
tab and double-click the arrow icon in the lower right-hand corner of
the 'Paragraph' pane.
On the Indents and Spacing tab, use the 'Special' dropdown menu in the
middle of the dialog to select the 'Hanging' option and then indicate
the indentation level. To apply the indent, click 'OK'.
4. Show and hide the ribbon
For many people, the ribbon interface used in Office 2007 is a great
step forward, while others find it somewhat overwhelming. If you fall
into the latter category, you'll be happy to know that the ribbon can be
temporarily hidden to provide you with a larger working area and clear
away the clutter.
It's also worth noting that the ribbon can quite easily be hidden by
accident, so if this has happened, these tips can be used to show and
hide it as required.
The first option is to click the down arrow icon at the end of the Quick
Access Toolbar and tick or untick the 'Minimize the Ribbon' option.
This menu can also be accessed by right-clicking anywhere on the ribbon.
The third option is to double-click one of the tabs at the top of the
ribbon to toggle the ribbon on and off. Finally, you can always use the
keyboard shortcut – simply press [Ctrl]+[F1].
5. Number pages
It's easy to configure a header and footer for your Word document so the
page number is displayed on every page. In many instances, though, a
document will have a title page for which a number is not required.
Set up page numbering as required and then in Word 2007 and 2010, move
to the Page Layout tab before clicking the button in the lower
right-hand corner. Switch to the Layout tab and tick the box labelled
'Different first page', before clicking OK.
6. Back up the Quick Access Toolbar
If you've spent a great deal of time customising the Quick Access
Toolbar (QAT), it's all too easy to forget about it if you ever need to
reinstall Windows. Thankfully, you can create a backup of the toolbar,
which means it can be brought back without any hassle, or copied to
other machines that you work with.
In Windows XP, use Explorer to navigate to 'C:\Documents and
Settings\[username]\Local Settings\Application Data\ Microsoft\Office',
while in Windows Vista or 7, you should head to 'C:\Users\[username]\
AppData\Local\Microsoft\ Office'.
Here you'll find a file called 'Word.qat' – this can be duplicated for backup purposes, or copied to another computer.
7. Remove formatting
If text has been formatted and you change your mind about how it should
appear, click the word in question, or select a section of text, and
press [Ctrl]+[Space] simultaneously. If the formatting has been applied
with a style, press [Ctrl]+[Shift]+[N] and it will then revert to the
default style.
8. Adjust font spacing in headings
Text space can be adjusted to help ensure that a heading fits on a
single line, rather than wrapping onto a second, or expanded to reduce
the amount of white space in a line.
Select a line of text, right click and select Font from the context
menu. Letter widths can be adjusted by selecting a new size from the
Scale dropdown menu, but it's also possible to adjust spacing. Use the
up and down arrows in the Spacing section to expand or compress it.
9. Compare documents
There are various reasons why you might want to compare two documents
and Word provides the option to open two files side by side for this
very purpose. However, if you're using a monitor in portrait mode,
side-by-side document comparison is less useful than having one document
displayed above the other.
Thankfully, this arrangement option is available. In Word 2003 and
older, open the two documents you want to compare, click the 'Window'
menu and select 'Compare Side by Side'. Now click the 'Window' menu
again and select the 'Arrange All' option.
In Word 2007 and 2010, open the documents that you want to compare and
move to the View tab of the ribbon. Click the 'View Side by Side'
button, and then click 'Arrange All'. Press 'Synchronous Scrolling' and
you can scroll then through both of your documents at the same time.
10. Paste text with the Spike
While the clipboard provides a useful way to copy and move text around a
Word document, there's a little-known feature called the Spike that
provides an alternative. Text that's added to the Spike is cut from the
document and there's no limit to the number of entries that can be
added.
When the content of the Spike is pasted into a document, it's done so in
the order that it was spiked. This provides a very handy way of
reorganising paragraphs or lists, without the need for endless cutting
and pasting.
To add text to the Spike, select it and press [Ctrl]+[F3] simultaneously
– this can be repeated as many times as required. To paste the contents
of the Spike back into a document, you just need to press
[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[F3].
This will clear the Spike, ready to start collecting more data, but it's
also possible to paste the Spike while retaining its contents for
future use. Position the cursor where the pasted text should appear,
type the word spike and then press [F3].
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