Microsoft Word Tips & Tricks

Formatting

Increase or Decrease Line Spacing in Word

To quickly change the line spacing of a paragraph in Microsoft Word:
   1. Select the text you want to change.
   2. Do one of the following:
         To set line spacing to single-space lines, press CTRL+1.
         To set line spacing to double-space lines, press CTRL+2.
         To set line spacing to 1.5-line spacing, press CTRL+5.

Move Images in Word to the Exact Position You Want

When you position an image in a Word document, it automatically aligns (or snaps) to an invisible grid, which helps keep everything lined up. If you ever need exact control over the placement of your image, you can temporarily override the grid by pressing the ALT key as you drag the object into place. You'll notice that the image moves smoothly and not in increments along the grid.

Editor's Note: This tip works as long as the image is not set to be in line with the text.
To make sure it works for you:
    1. Double-click the image, and select the Layout tab.
    2. Under Wrapping style, choose any style except In line with the text.
    3. Then, click OK.

Create Bullets with Special Bullet Symbols

In Microsoft Word 97/2000, you are no longer limited to the bullet symbols listed in the Bullets and Numbering dialog box. Instead, you can use almost any symbol for your bullet that is available with the fonts you have installed.

To change the bullet character, click in the paragraph you want bulleted, and then click Bullets and Numbering on the Format menu. Select a bullet format, and then click Customize. Under Bullet Character, click the Bullet button. In the Symbol dialog box, select the font that has the symbol you want to use, click the appropriate symbol, and then click OK. Enter any additional information in the Customize Bulleted List dialog box, and then click OK.

Spice Up Documents with Picture Bullets in Word 2000

In Microsoft Word 2000, you can enliven your document or Web page by creating a picture bulleted list. First, select the items you want to add picture bullets to.

On the Format menu, click Bullets and Numbering, and then click the Bulleted tab. Click Picture, and then click the Pictures tab. Then select and insert the picture bullet you want.

Font Properties

  Learn More About Fonts with Microsoft Font Properties Extension.

  We use different fonts in Microsoft Word 97/2000 all the time without knowing much about each font. Selecting a particular font can influence the look and feel of your Word 97/2000 document. In some cases, it's essential to know more about a font before using it. For example, before embedding a TrueType font to make it easy to share a document, you need to know whether embedding is permitted by the font vendor. Microsoft Windows comes with basic font information, such as the type file name, location, and size.

You can get more information by downloading the Font properties extension available at the the Microsoft Typography web site at http://www.microsoft.com/typography/default.asp.

The Font properties extension adds additional tabs to the font properties dialog box. The information includes descriptions of each font, features, links to the font vendors and font designers, legal information (ownership, copyright, trademark, license, and embedding permissions), and some technical information.

To view font properties in Windows
   1. In Control Panel, double-click the Fonts icon.
  2. Right-click a font name, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu.

Place a border around one or more words

You can place a border around a text selection. To do so, select the text around which you'd like to create a border. Then choose Format/Borders And Shading from the menu bar. On the Borders property sheet, select the border formatting you desire. When you've finished, select Text from the Apply To dropdown list if necessary; this option should be selected by default since you selected a block of text prior to accessing the dialog box. When you've finished, click OK.

Copy Styles Between Two Documents or Templates in Word 97/2000

If you created a style, an AutoText entry, a toolbar, or a macro in a Microsoft Word 97/2000 document or template that you want to use in another document or template, you can easily copy it.

Just click Templates and Add-Ins on the Tools menu, click Organizer, and then select the appropriate tab.

  In the In DocumentName box, close the document or template if necessary, and then open the file from which you want to copy an item.

  Do the same thing in the To TemplateName box, only open the document or template to which you want to copy an item.

In the In DocumentName box, scroll down until you find the item you want to copy, click the item, and then click the Copy button. The item is added to the other document or template.

Keep Words on the Same Line in Word 97/2000

When you type a proper name such as "John Smith" near the end of a line in Word 97/2000, Word may separate the words, putting "John" at the end of one line, and "Smith" at the beginning of the next line.

To keep words together on the same line, insert a nonbreaking space between them. For example, type John, enter a nonbreaking space by pressing CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR, and then type Smith.

Point When You Need Paragraph Formatting Information

If you want information on how your paragraph is formatted, you can get it quickly with What's This? (on the Help menu) in Microsoft Word 2000.
  Word provides paragraph and font information, such as how far the paragraph is indented and its alignment, and the font used in the paragraph or the font used for a specific character.

To view the format settings for a paragraph or a specific character:
   1. On the Help menu, click What's This?
   2. When the pointer changes to a question mark, click the paragraph or character you want
        information about.
  3. To exit the What's This? dialog box, press ESC.

Move Text and Graphics with the Microsoft Word 2000 Spike

What is the simplest way to move multiple items from different parts of your document to another place in the document or to another document?

If you're using Word 2000, just spike the items. The Spike allows you to cut multiple items and paste them as a group in a new location in your document or to another document. Every time you use the Spike, Word appends the item to a file until you empty the Spike.

To move text and graphics with the Spike
   1. Select an item you want to move, and then press CTRL+F3.
        Repeat this step until all the items are on the Spike.
   2. Click a place in the current document, or in a new document, where you want to paste the items.
   3. Do one of the following:
         If you want to paste the items once and empty the Spike, press CTRL+SHIFT+F3.
         If you want to paste the items multiple times, type spike, and then press F3.

Miscellaneous

Microsoft Word Legal User's Guide

Build Robust Legal Documents with Word 97/2000

If you're one of the growing number of people who use Microsoft Word to produce legal documents, the Microsoft Word Legal User's Guide ( http://www.microsoft.com/industry/legal/ business/word/guide.stm ) is for you.

Written and reviewed by a team of IS directors, document specialists, and other authoritative sources, the guide is intended for IS professionals, attorneys, paralegals, legal secretaries, and others who work in law firms and legal departments.

The guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to optimize Word 97/2000 to produce legal documents quickly. (For example, the Pleading Wizard can help you create a legal pleading.)

Basic techniques and solutions for meeting legal document requirements, such as numbering and styles, are covered.

The guide also provides solutions to easing the transition from other document production systems to Word 97/2000.

  The Word Legal User's Guide provides additional help when you can't find the answers in the Help file, books, or your in-house experts.

Synonym Shortcut

Find that word you're looking for fast.
You can find a common synonym for a word without using the Thesaurus command.
Just right-click the word and point to Synonyms on the shortcut menu. Then, click the synonym you want, and it automatically appears in place of your original word.
Word will sometimes supply antonyms for the selected word, for those times when you only know what you don't mean to say.

Editor's Note: You can access the full thesaurus by clicking Thesaurus on the shortcut menu.

Send an Office Document Without Opening Outlook

Ever need to get that important Word document to your boss in a hurry?
Here's how you can do it without even opening Outlook.
   1. On the File menu, point to Send To, and then click Mail Recipient (as Attachment).
   2. Fill in the Receipts, Subject, and message boxes and click Send.

Or if you have Word 2000:
   1. On the Standard toolbar, click E-mail.
   2. In the To and Cc boxes, enter the recipient names separated by semicolons.
   3. By default, the name of the document appears in the Subject box. If you want, you can type your
         own subject name.
   4. Click Send a Copy.

Opening, Closing & Saving

Find Your Place in Word Documents

If you are working on a long document, it's easy to lose your place. With Microsoft Word documents, you can pick up where you left off in your last editing session because Word keeps track of the last three locations where you typed or edited text.

Just press SHIFT+F5 immediately after opening the document, and the cursor will appear at the exact point where you last made a change.

To reach the previous two editing locations, press SHIFT+F5 until you reach the location you want.

Save All Your Word Documents at Once

If you know the "secret" key, you can save or close all of your open documents in one step.
  1. Hold down SHIFT and click the File menu.
          When you hold down SHIFT, two new options appear on the File menu: Close All and Save All.
  2. To save all your open documents at once, click Save All. Or, to close all your open documents,
          click Close All; Word will prompt you to save your changes before closing any documents.

Change the default file format Word uses to save documents

By default during setup, Word automatically saves each document as a Word 97 (Word Document *.doc) file. But if you frequently save documents with a file format other than a .doc or you need to share documents with people using previous versions of Word, you'll want to set a different format as the default. For example, you can change your Save As file format to Rich Text Format or to a Word 6.0/95 .doc format that can be read by earlier versions of Word. To change the default file format, open a document, click Tools/Options to open the Options dialog box, and then click on the Save tab. From the Save Word files As dropdown list, select the file format you want to change to the default and then click OK. Note that the next time you save a document, Word asks if you want to save the document in the new file format you chose or in another one.

Picking up where you left off in Word (95/97/98/2000)

When you open an existing Word document, Word places the insertion point at the beginning of the document by default. If you'd like to move the insertion point to the location it was in when you were last working on the same document, simply press [Shift][F5]. When you use press [Shift][F5], Word performs the Go Back command, which moves the insertion point from its current location to the last location in which a modification, such as typing, deleting or formatting text, was made. You can also execute this command by pressing [Alt][Ctrl]Z ([command][option]Z on the Mac).

Recently Used Documents in Word 97/2000

Microsoft Word 97/2000 automatically lists the last four documents that you've opened at the bottom of the File menu. To open a recently used document, just click that document name on the File menu.

You can change the number of documents listed by clicking Options on the Tools menu, and then clicking the General tab. In the Recently used file list box, type or select a number from 1 to 9, or clear the number in the box if you don't want recently used documents listed.

Save a Web Page as a Word Document in Word 

If you create a Web page in Word 2000 and then decide that it should be in regular document format you can save the Web page as a Word document.

To save your document as a Web page:
   1. On the File menu, do one of the following:
         In Word 2000, click Save As Web Page.
         In Word 97, click Save As HTML.
   2. In the Save in box, type or select the name of the folder where you want to save the file.
   3. In the File name box, type or select the name of the file.
   4. In the Save as type box, do one of the following:
          In Word 2000, select Web Page.
          In Word 97, select HTML Document.
   5. Click Save.

Shortcut Keys

Useful Shortcut Keys in Word 2000

Do you find that using the keyboard is sometimes quicker than using your mouse?
Shortcut keys can help you bypass menus and carry out commands directly. You can use shortcut keys in many ways with Word, from accessing commands and toolbar buttons to repeating your last action. Shortcut keys are sometimes listed next to the command name on Word menus. For example, on the Edit menu, the Find command lists the shortcut CTRL+F.

For a comprehensive list of shortcuts, ask the Office Assistant for help. In Word 2000 or any of the other Office 2000 applications, press F1 to display the Assistant, and then type shortcut keys in the text box.

Here are some of the most useful Word shortcut keys:

Activity Shortcut Keys

Repeat your last action F4 or CTRL+Y
Find and replace CTRL+F
Go to page, section, line, etc. CTRL+G
Delete a word CTRL+BACKSPACE
Change case SHIFT+F3
Bold CTRL+B
Italicize CTRL+I
Go to the beginning of the document CTRL+HOME
Go to the end of the document CTRL+END
Select to the beginning of the document CTRL+SHIFT+HOME
Select to the end of the document CTRL+SHIFT+END
Open the thesaurus SHIFT+F7
Insert a hyperlink CTRL+K
Select all CTRL+A
Copy CTRL+C
Paste CTRL+V
Undo CTRL+Z
Save CTRL+S
Print CTRL+P
Open CTRL+O

Additional Resources

For more information, download A List of Useful Office 2000 Shortcut Keys at http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/2000/downloadDetails/O2kkeys.htm.

Tables

Type Out a Table in Word

You can create tables in Microsoft Word by simply typing out a string of PLUS SIGNS (+) and MINUS SIGNS (-).

Start the row with a PLUS SIGN (+) and then type MINUS SIGN (-) until you have the column width you want. To add a new column type PLUS SIGN (+) again.
When you're done type a final PLUS SIGN (+) and press ENTER. Word turns your text into a table.

To add more rows to your table, move to the last cell in the table and press TAB.

Editor's Note: If this tip doesn't work for you, then you need to turn on the AutoFormat feature in Word. To do this, on the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect. Then, click the AutoFormat As You Type tab and select the Tables check box.

Select Columns of Text in Word

To select a vertical block of text in Word, such as a column of numbers, press and hold down ALT, and then drag your mouse over the text.

Editor's Note: If your column of text is inside a Word table, you will not be able to use this trick to select it.

Use the Draw Table Tool to Create Complex Tables in Word 97/2000

It's easy to create complex tables with different numbers of columns in some rows or a different number of rows in some columns by using the Draw Table tool on the Table menu in Word 97/2000.

Just click the Draw Table tool and draw a table directly on your document, the same way you'd draw a table on paper.

To make changes, use the Eraser tool (Tables and Borders toolbar) to erase a line or row just as if you were using an eraser on paper.

Sorting a single table column

Occasionally, you might want to sort the cells in a single table column independent of the rest of the table. To do so, first select the table column you'd like to sort, and then choose Table | Sort from the menu bar. In the Sort dialog box, click the Options button. Select the Sort Column Only check box, and then click OK to return to the Sort dialog box. Select the sort criteria you'd like to use, and then click OK to perform the sort. When you do, the cells in the selected column are sorted according to your specifications while the rest of the table cells retain their original placement. The Sort Column Only feature remains active until you close Word.