21 “Best-Of” Word Tips

 

PASTING TEXT COPIED FROM THE INTERNET Sometimes when you paste text from a website, it can be embedded with formatting that you do not want. Instead of simply Pasting the text into Word, from the Edit pull-down menu, select Paste Special, choose Unformatted Text, followed by OK. 

 

 

ERASING TEXT

 

• Deletes a character to the right <Delete>
• Deletes a word to the right <Ctrl> + <Delete>
• Deletes a character to the left <Backspace>
• Deletes a word to the left <Ctrl> + <Backspace>
  

REPEATEDLY MAKE THE SAME TYPO?  Instead of <Right-Clicking> on the “red squiggly” and simply correcting the spelling; select AutoCorrect then choose the proper spelling. Or if this is a unique word, Add the proper spelling from the AutoCorrect Options selection.

 

 

KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS 

 

• Microsoft’s KB290938 lists the keyboard shortcuts, along with a detailed explanation. 
• But you can also print the list directly from within Word:

1. Create a New Word Document 
2. From the Tools pull-down menu select Macro, followed by Macros. 
3. From the Macro name:, scroll-down and select ListCommands 
4. Click Run, followed by OK (Current menu and keyboard settings)

 

 

QUICK RESEARCH  <Alt>+<Right-Click> on any word within Word 2003, and the Research Pane pops up selected on that word.

 

 

SELECTING TEXT 

 

• <Double-Click> on a word, selects it.
• <Triple-Click> on a word selects the entire row.
• <Ctrl+Click> on a word selects the sentence
• <Double-Click> in the left margin (the cursor’s arrow will change) to select the paragraph
• <Triple-Click> in the left margin (the cursor’s arrow will change) to selects the entire document.

 

REPEAT LAST ACTION  Press <F4> to repeat your last action (i.e. keystrokes, text, formatting)

 

DRAWING LINES  At the beginning of a new line type at least three hyphens (“–“), and press <Enter>.

To quickly create other type of lines, the same tip works with: 

–  (hyphen) standard line

_  (underscore (shift-hyphen)) thick line

=  (equals) two parallel lines

~  (tilde) squiggly line

#  (pound/number sign) ribbon line

*  (asterisk) dotted line 

 

QUICKLY CHANGE TITLE CASE  Highlight text, then press <Shift> + <F3> to switch between lowercase, Title Case, UPPERCASE 

 

 

KEEPING TEXT GROUPED TOGETHER 

 

• WORDS Proper names such as "Bill Gates" might be separated at the end of a line; putting "Bill" at the end of one line, and "Gates" at the beginning of the next line. To keep words together on the same line; instead of simply pressing <Spacebar>, use a nonbreaking space by pressing <Ctrl> + <Shift> + <Spacebar>

• PARAGRAPH To prevent a sentence or paragraph from spilling onto a separate page, highlight the text you wish to keep together, from the Format pull-down menu click Paragraph, on the Line and Page Breaks tab, select Keep lines together, followed by OK.

 

SHOW MARGIN SIZE  Holding the <Alt> key as you adjust top & bottom margins will show you the exact margin measurements.

 

 

TIPS WHEN SHARING DOCUMENTS
  

• STOP EMBARRASSING ATTACHMENTS  When you email a document it might contain information that you do not want to share publicly, such as information you’ve designated as “hidden” or information that allows you to collaborate on writing and editing the document with others.  The Remove Hidden Data Add-in Tool  permanently remove hidden and collaboration data, such as change tracking and comments.

  UPDATED! Redaction Add-in allows marking sections of Word 2003 documents for redaction. Create a new, redacted version of the document in which the marked text is replaced with a black bar that cannot be converted back to text. (Online Support).

• STOP FORMATS FROM CHANGING  Before you save the document; from the Tools pull-down menu, select Templates and Add-Ins – ensure that Automatically update document styles is not selected.

• USE STANDARD FONTS  If you use a non-standard font, the recipient may be forced to use font-substitution to view the document (reformatting your document). 

HOW TO TYPE A CENT “¢” SIGN  

Press <Ctrl> + / then type C

 

 

CUSTOMIZE YOUR “SAVE AS”  If you commonly save documents in a folder, add the location to the Save In locations. 

1. From the File pull-down menu, select Save As
2. Browse to the folder you want on the Save In quick bar
3. From the Tools drop-down menu choose Add to "My Places"
4. Now when you use Save As you can quickly pick that folder location.

 

SAMPLE TEXT FOR POSITION ONLY When you need to create a block of sample text (The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.) to test a design format. At the beginning of a new line type =rand() followed by <Enter>

 

PASTING AN EXCEL SPREADSHEET  When pasting a spreadsheet into a document, you’ll lose some of the formatting. Instead of simply using Cut-n-Paste, from the Insert pull-down menu, select Object, from Create from File tab, browse for your spreadsheet, click Insert then OK. 

NOTE: To move this anywhere in your document; <Right-Click> on the object and select Format Object, from the Layout tab select Tight, followed by OK. Now you can move the (Excel) object anywhere in your document.

 

NEW! I had to add this BONUS Tip from the  Microsoft Typography blog on using the hyphenation justification feature to improve the look of your page.

 

 

 

More “Best Of” Tips: 10 Excel "How to" Tips

20 Outlook "How to" Tips

Windows Tips by the Baker’s Dozen

 

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