Microsoft Word Archives

Using the Section Break in Microsoft Word

When putting together a complex document in Word, a section break can help us put together documents such as a book or manual, where one sometimes has to create multiple headers and footers, or allow for single columns, then multiple, then single again. A section …

Creating a Cross-Reference in Microsoft Word

The process of setting up a cross-reference in Word, frankly, can take a little time to get comfortable with. So don’t worry if you need a couple run-throughs. The recipe goes like this: First, create a bookmark (there are a couple other things you can …

Microsoft Word – 10 Features that will Improve Your Workflow

With so many features packed inside each Microsoft application, it’s easy to overlook some that can really add value to your daily workflow. Below is a list of some of the features you may have never noticed but will quickly become part of your daily routine.

Styles

Styles are not only a great time-saver, but they form the basis of a variety of other Word features.

Styles allow you to assign in bulk a variety of different formatting attributes, like font size, style, color, alignment, line spacing, borders, shades, indentation, etc… The list is quite voluminous. Once styles are applied to text, the text can then be bulk-updated simply by changing the style. If you modify the style, Word will automatically apply the change to all text whose appearance was created from the style. Imagine the time saved when making minor alterations like changing the font size of all headings. Change the style and all of the headings are updated to match.

Once you have your styles in place, you can now also navigate more effectively through your document via the Navigation Pane. Any text formatted with a heading style will appear as a list entry. This will become one of the greatest time-savers when navigating large documents.

Office 2013 – Recover Unsaved Documents

Admit it; you’ve done this more than once. You open an Office application like Word or Excel and type out your next great novel or number-crunching masterpiece. Then, in a state of haste, you start closing windows and accidentally close the one window you intended to leave open. One second later you realize, this was the one windows you shouldn’t have closed. All is lost… or is it?

Rename Files Fast with the Tab Key

If you scan documents from a network scanner (like the giant printer down the hall) and have the scan sent to your email, you are probably less than thrilled with the name that the scanner gives the file. The name is usually something generic and uninformative like “Scan0001.pdf” or a combination of the date and the time like “07182015-100855.pdf”.

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Microsoft Word – Replace Multiple Spaces with a Tab Character

Let’s set the stage:

You receive a file from your co-worker where data has been arranged into multiple columns to create a table-like format.

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Upon careful examination, you notice that the column alignment is just a little bit off. To discover the cause you press your Show /Hide button in Word to reveal the formatting codes.

Selecting Objects in Word with the Selection Pane

If you have ever inserted an object (like a picture, shape, or clipart) into a Word document and then made the unfortunate move where you pushed it behind your text… …and now it seems forever trapped behind a sea of impenetrable words. No matter how …