Best Microsoft Word Tips and Tricks

It is often said that we use only a fraction of the functions available in applications such as Microsoft Word. With that in mind, we have been rummaging under the hoods of Word 2003, 2007 and 2010 looking for secrets.

We have come up with best tips and tricks, and organised our ideas by application and version number, making it easy for everyone to dip in to find something useful. Within moments, you could be using these popular programs in brand-new ways.

#1. Create custom toolbars [Word 2003]

It’s possible to make toolbars that include all your favourite menus and icons. To do this, choose Customize from the Tools menu. Now select the Toolbars tab and click New. Type a name for your new toolbar, select the relevant template (if you want) and click OK. Drag and drop whatever controls or commands you want onto the toolbar.

#2. Move rows up and down a table [Word 2003]

Word makes it easy to move rows up and down a table. Click anywhere in the row and then, holding down the Shift and Alt keys, use the up or down cursor keys to move the entire row around the table.

#3. Save or Close all open documents [Word 2003]

If you have got lots of open documents that you’d like to save or close at the same time, hold down the Shift key before opening the File menu. These new options will appear.

#4. Remove personal information [Word 2007]

Sharing a document. with someone but don’t want them to have access to your personal information? Click the Office button and choose Prepare, then Inspect Document. Click the Inspect button and then choose the information to remove.

#5. On-the-fly translation [Word 2007]



To translate a word or phrase into another language, highlight it. click the Review tab, find the Proofing part of the ribbon and click Translate. Choose the ‘from’ and ‘to’ languages in the Research panel and click the Insert button to effect the translation.

#6. Repeat last formatting command [Word 2007]

To make the same formatting adjustment when working through a document section headings - use the F4 key to repeat the last formatting change.

#7. Convert text to a table [Word 2010]

Use tabs between the text, then highlight it and click the Insert tab. Open the Table dropdown menu and choose Convert text to table. Set the number of columns using the spin box control.

#8. Create random practice text [Word 2010]

To explore some of Word’s features, it’s useful to have text to work with. Rather than type out loads yourself, try this. Type=rand (4,5) and press Enter. Word will generate four paragraphs of five sentences each. This works in earlier versions of Word, too.

#9. Change the default format for pasting text [Word 2010]

If you copy and paste text from other programs into Word you are probably forever having to reformat it to fit in with the Word document. Fix this by opening the File menu and choosing Options. Click the Advanced option in the left- hand pane, then scroll down to the Cut, copy and paste section. Choose a default setting from here.

#10. Add a photo to a shape [Word 2010]

Open the Insert menu, choose Shapes and pick Oval. Draw out the shape and release the mouse button. With the shape still selected, make sure the Format tab is active, open the Shape Fill control and choose Picture. Find a photo and click Open.

16 Best Microsoft Excel Tricks, Tweaks & Tips

Here are the collection of some worthy tips, tricks and tweaks for Microsoft Excel 2007.

#1. Manual Calculations

Excel is rather like that clever kid at school, you know, the one who could sums in his (or her) head and somehow manage to keep the answers there without being distracted by a passing seagull. Nevertheless, there are times when even Excel can get its knickers in a twist, those times usually being when there’s thousands of calculations going on in real time; after a while the grind begins to show, and Excel slows to the mathematical skills of a three year old. The solution to this is to disable automatic calculation, and here’s how:

Click on the ‘Formulas’ tab in the Ribbon. In the ‘Calculation’ section, click on the down arrow under ‘Calculation Options’.

In the drop-down menu, select ‘Manual’.

When you input data, you will now have to press ‘F9’ to update the calculations, and Excel will have a sudden spurt of life.

#2. Copy As Picture

Copying a chart, graph or a set of cells to an application outside of Excel can have some disastrous effects. Formatting goes all wonky (a technical term), the sections of the nicely presented 3D pie chart end up looking like the left-over’s from the Micro Mart lunch trolley and you begin to foam at the mouth. Never fear, though, simply consider copying the item as a picture instead.

Select the chart, graph or cell range.

In the ‘Home’ tab, click the down arrow under ‘Paste’.

Scroll down the drop-down menu until you reach ‘As Picture’, then extend the sub-menu and select ‘Copy As Picture’.

You can now paste into other applications without fear of bringing down the wrath of the formatting god.

#3. A Change Of Order

Normally, when entering data into Excel after pressing the Enter key you move down to the cell below. This is great for when you’re entering data in a column, but what about when you need to enter data in rows?

Click the Office button (the round button in the top left). Click on the ‘Excel Options’ button at the bottom of the new window. Click the ‘Advanced’ link, and using the drop-down menu under the first item, ‘After pressing Enter, move selection Direction’, choose from Up, Down, Left or Right.

#4. Custom Auto-fill

The Auto-fill function is great for completing rows or columns of sequential data; simply enter the first two values into the initial cells, select the cells and drag the fill handle to extend the rest of the cells. But instead of just 1, 2, 3, and so on, you can add your own custom lists by doing the following:

Again, click the Office button, followed by ‘Excel Options’ at the bottom. Select the ‘Popular’ link, and in the first section click on the ‘Edit Custom Lists...’ button. Select ‘New List’ from the left window, and click in the ‘List entries’ box.

Start typing your new sequence, pressing Enter after each entry. When you have finished, click on the ‘Add’ button, followed by ‘OK’.

There you have it, a custom sequential Auto fill list ready for you to use.

#5. Creating A Named Range

You can quickly create a named range for a group of cells by doing the following:

Highlight the cells you want named and click in the left of the Formula bar, and start typing in a name for the range.

The named range for those group of cells is now assigned and can be called via macro, or other function.

#6. Developer Ribbon

If you’re into playing around with macro’s and form authoring tools, then you’re going to need to activate the Developer Ribbon. It’s really easy to do, and offers a wealth of otherwise hidden options. Here’s how:

Click on the Office button, followed by ‘Excel Options’. Select the ‘Popular’ link, and in the first section, tick the ‘Show Developer tab in the Ribbon’ box.

And there you have it the Developer Ribbon, containing Form Controls, - ActiveX Controls, XML Source and a Visual Basic Editor. Not for the faint of heart, but interesting nonetheless.

#7. Add Hidden Features To The Quick Access Toolbar

Excel has a number of extra hidden features that are, by default, invisible to the Quick Access Toolbar - which is that bit along the very top of the Excel window. To include any, or all, of these hidden features, do the following:

Click on the Office button, followed by ‘Excel Options’, then select the ‘Customize’ link (American spelling, I know!).

In the drop-down menu, ‘Choose commands from’, select ‘Commands not in the Ribbon’ and pick the commands you’d like to include in you customization, followed by the ‘Add’ button in the middle of the two screens.

Besides creating new icons on the Quick Access Toolbar, adding these can help improve your productivity somewhat. Or, at the very least, give you access to a more personalized Excel experience.

#8. Clipboard Pane

Another helpful boost for productivity is activating the Office Clipboard Task Pane. Once launched, it sits in the left hand side of the Excel window and gives you access to the entire contents and history of the clipboard, which is handy for multiple copy and pastes.

Select the ‘Home’ tab in the Ribbon then, in the ‘Clipboard’ section, click on the little diagonal arrow, located in the bottom right of the section. This will launch the Clipboard Pane and give you access to the set of options that lie within.
#9. Clever format painting [Excel 2003]

Even if cells don’t all have the same characteristics (some might be bold. others italic, some one colour, others another) you can still highlight them all then open the Format Painter tool (it looks like a brush) and ‘paint’ those multiple characteristics onto another row.

#10. Wrap text in cells [Excel 2007]

Type in the over-long text, click the Home tab and select the cell, then find the Alignment section of the ribbon and choose Wrap Text.

#11. Re-use a chart style

Select the Finished chart and click the Save As Template button. Make sure the Charts folder is selected, name it and click the Save button.

#12. Hide a worksheet

Right-click on its tab at the bottom of the screen and choose Hide from the pop-up menu. To restore it, right-click any of the other tabs, choose Unhide and select the relevant sheet from the list.

#13. Conditional formatting

Create a dummy worksheet, make sure the Home tab is selected and open the Conditional Formatting drop-down menu.

Choose Highlight Cells Rules and select Less Than.

Type 50 in to the first box and leave the other settings as they are. Click OK.

Whenever the contents of a cell fills below 50 it will be highlighted in red.

#14. Recover unsaved workbooks

Open the File menu, choose Info, then open the Manage Versions drop-down menu and select Recover Unsaved Workbooks. You may be able to restore an unsaved workbook from there.

#15. Add mini-charts to worksheets

Highlight the cells containing the data and click the Insert tab.

Find the Spark-lines section on the ribbon and choose a chart type.

When the dialogue box opens, confirm the data range is correct and select the reference for the cell where the spark-line should appear. Click OK.

#16. Check for errors

Setting up a spreadsheet for others to use? Select the cells the users type into, select the Data tab and click Data Validation. When the dialogue box opens, choose the relevant value from the Allow list, click the 'Error Alert' tab and type in your personalized error message. Click OK to close the dialogue box.

Best Time Saving tips and tricks for Microsoft Word

We use PCs for a huge range of tasks, but just about everyone uses a word processor on a regular basis. Whether it’s to write a report, a dissertation, that novel you’re working on, or a business plan, all of us can benefit from learning the many shortcuts and tricks for getting things done quicker in Microsoft Word.

From basic shortcuts that everyone should know to more advanced features, such as tracking changes when you’re collaborating on a document, you’re sure to find something here invaluable.

You might find our list includes a few tips you already use, but we hope everyone finds at least one trick that saves them time.

1. Use keyboard shortcuts

If you tend to use the mouse for everything, from making text bold to opening and saving documents, learning shortcuts will save time. Try Ctrl, B for bold and F12 for Save As.

2. Use and customise AutoCorrect



Word can automatically correct words you continually type wrong. Go to File, Options, ‘Proofing and AutoCorrect Options’. Use the ‘Replace Text as you Type’ box to set up personalised auto corrections.

3. Customise the Ribbon

The Ribbon interface hasn’t been universally welcomed by Office users, but customising it may help you to find what you need. Choose File, Options, Customise Ribbon. You can also customise the Quick Access toolbar.

4. Master F4

The F4 button repeats the last command you issued. If you’ve just deleted a line, you can move to a new point in the document and use F4 to delete that line. If you’ve just chosen a font style, select a new area and use F4 to apply it again.

5. Make templates

If you frequently write letters, create a letterhead template. Templates save you from having to retype the same text time and time again. Make a folder in which you can store templates for all the various documents you create.

6. Use the Thesaurus



If you have used the same word several times or simply want to find a term that better describes what you mean, look to Word’s built-in Thesaurus for advice. Highlight and right-click a word or phrase, then choose Synonyms, Thesaurus.

7. Track Changes

If you’re collaborating on a document with colleagues, you can keep an eye on their modifications using Track Changes. Click Review, Track Changes. You can also use the Review menu to add comments to documents.

8. Speedy editing



If you need to quickly find a word or phrase in a document, click Home, Editing, Find. Enter your search term and click Find Next. Use Replace to change all instances of a word or phrase to whatever you specify in the Replace with field.

9. Tweak margins



If you need to fit the entire document on to a single sheet of paper and it’s just too long, tweaking the paper margins may fix your problem. Click Page Layout, Margins and try the preset Narrow margins or specify a custom size.

Create ToolTip on Mouse Hover in Microsoft Word

When you hover your mouse pointer over an icon, button or shortcut in Microsoft Office, a Screen-Tip will appear after a second or two that usually offers a description of the thing you’re hovering over.

For example, hover over the left-alignment key in Word and the Screen-Tip says ‘Align Text Left (Ctrl + L)’. It can work on web pages and browsers, too.



In Microsoft Word, you can create your own ScreenTips to add descriptions to photos. To do this,

• Select the word. image, graph or whatever it is you want to add your ScreenTip to.


• Right-click it and select Hyperlink.


• Click the Screen-Tip button at the top of the window that opens.


• Type the message you want to appear and click OK.


• Give the new Screen-Tip a name in the ‘Type the file or web page name’ box (it may be called ‘address’ in older versions) and click OK.

Create Questionnaires and Quizzes in Microsoft Excel

Marking questionnaires and quizzes is much easier if you can restrict the answers that people can give. If you create the quiz in Excel it can provide a list of possible answers and refuse any alternatives using a technique called data validation.

Once the quiz has been created, make a list of possible answers for the first question in a column off to one side of the quiz so it does not distract.

Then, move the cursor to the cell that will contain the answer.

Click on the Data menu and then Data Validation.



Click on the Allow dropdown menu and select List.

Click on the small icon on the right of the Source box, select the list and click the icon on the right in the Data Validation window that appears.



Click in the box labelled ‘In-cell dropdown’ so that the tick disappears to make the quiz more challenging by not providing the answers.



You can also prevent people peeking at the answers by putting them on a separate worksheet. Select the sheet, click on the Format menu sheet and then Hide.