MICROSOFT WORD : GENERAL TIPS

Filling Word Documents with Pretend Text:
If you want to fill a page(s) with text to test something like printing, but don't want to spend time pasting the same phrase over and over,
Type in    =rand(x,y)
Where x and y are replaced by numbers ie:  =rand(3,5).
X would be the number of paragraphs
Y would be the number of sentences in a paragraph.
The text that gets generated is: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Note: This tip works for both Macintosh and Windows versions of Microsoft Word.

Instant Synonyms:
Looking for another word to describe you current selection? Word has a fantastic thesaurus. It can however be slightly time consuming.  Here is a tip to give you a synonym in an instant:
1. Select your word
2. Right click on the word
3. On the shortcut menu select Synonyms, a list will drop down giving you a selection.
4. Select  the new word you want to replace the old word.

Quick Print Preview:
Ctrl + F2 (Windows) or Cmd + F2 (Macintosh) takes you to Print Preview.

Increasing and Decreasing Font Size:
By 1 pt size:
1. Select the text to be formatted with a new font size.
2. To increase font size:  Hold down Ctrl+] (Windows) Cmd+] (Macintosh). Repeat.
2. To decrease font size:  Hold down Ctrl+[ (Windows) Cmd+[ (Macintosh). Repeat.

Applying the font menu sizes:
1. Select the text to be formatted with a new font size.
2. To increase font size:  Hold down Shift+Ctrl+> (fullstop or period key). Repeat.
3. To decrease font size:  Hold down Shift+Ctrl+< (comma key). Repeat.
Note: These keyboard shortcuts work in all programs that handle text!

Add a Smiley:
Type a : ) with no space between, then press the Spacebar.A smiley face will appear.
A quick way to enlarge the smiley face is to select it and then press Ctrl + ] or Cmd + ].

Quick Double Line Spacing:
1. Select the text, then apply the following keyboard shortcuts:
2. Cmd + 2 (Macintosh) or Ctrl + 2 (Windows) for double line spacing.
3. Cmd + 5 (Macintosh) or Ctrl + 5 (Windows) for 1.5 line spacing.
4. Cmd + 1 (Macintosh) or Ctrl + 1 (Windows) for single line spacing.

Creating an EM Dash:
Beginning with Word 95, you can insert an em dash (a long dash —) by simply typing two dashes in a row. Word would sense this as you finished the word following the dashes, and then replace them with the em dash. If you have this capability turned off, however, you may be wondering how to get an em dash in your document.  There are three ways you can do this, each of which works in all versions of Word:
1. Press CTRL+ALT+MINUS (on the numeric keypad)
2. Hold down the ALT key as you type 0151 on the numeric keypad.
3. Choose Symbol from the Insert menu, and then select Em Dash from the Special Characters tab.

Setup a Custom Button to Add a Single Colour:
You can create your own button that assigns a single specific colour to text:
1. Choose Tools>Customize. Word displays the Customize dialog box.
2. Click on the Commands tab.
3. Select the All Commands option in the list of Categories. This displays all the Word commands available. (Click here to see the dialog box. Close the window when you have finished.)
4. In the Commands list, choose Color. A Color drop-down list appears near the bottom of the dialog box.
5. Choose the colour you want to use from the Color drop-down list.
6. In Step 4 you selected the Color option from the Commands list. Click on that option again and drag it to a toolbar (for instance, to the right of the Underline tool on the Formatting toolbar). When you release the mouse button, the new tool button appears on the toolbar.
7. Click on Close to close the Toolbars dialog box.
Now you can select any text and then click on the new toolbar button to assign the colour.

Calculate Tabbed Columns:
In very early versions of Word it was possible to calculate tabbed columns of figures. This is also possible in later versions by adding a button to a toolbar as follows:
1. Choose Tools>Customize.
2. In the Categories section, click on Tools then scroll down until Tools Calculate is displayed (near the bottom of the list)
3. Drag the text Tools Calculate up to a toolbar and position the black line where you want the Tools Calculate button to appear. Release the left mouse button. (If desired you can right click on the button, select Default style, move the mouse pointer to Change button image and select a picture for the button.) Click on Close.
4. To calculate a tabbed column of figures hold down the Alt key and select the figures to be totalled. Click on the Tools Calculate button. The result will be copied to the Clipboard. Click where the total is to be positioned and click on the Paste button (or press Ctrl V).

Add a Close Button:
To create a Close button on your Word toolbar, select Customize from the Tools menu. Click the Commands tab and select File from the "Categories" heading. Next, select Close from the Commands list. Using your mouse, drag the icon to your toolbar and position it on the left-hand side, next to the Open button. You can now use your newly created Close button to instantly close documents and dialog boxes.

Converting a block of text from upper to lower case and vice versa:
1. Select the block of text.
2. Then press Shift F3 to toggle through lower case, upper case or leading characters upper case and the rest lower case.

Automatically Hyphenate text:
Word can be set to automatically hyphenate words for you. Click Tools > Language > Hyphenation (or depending on your version number and platform, choose Tools > Hypenation). To turn on hyphenation, select the Automatically Hyphenate Document check box. Use the up and down arrows next to the option boxes to control the amount of consecutive hyphens and your hyphenation zone. When you click OK to close the dialog box, Word will hyphenate your document. If you decide you would rather not hyphenate, open the Hyphenation dialog box again and deselect the option to Automatically Hyphenate Document. If you click the Manual button inside the Hyphenation dialog box Word will let you decide where to use a hyphen.

Automatically correct Accidental use of Caps Lock:
Did you know that Word can automatically turn off the Caps Lock for you? This only works if you have the feature turned on. Click on Tools on the Menu Bar and select AutoCorrect. When AutoCorrect opens, select the check box labelled Correct Accidental Usage Of CAPS LOCK key. Click OK to close the dialog box and save your selection. To see how this works now turn on Caps Lock and type a short sentence making sure to press the SHIFT key for the first letter of the first word. Word will see that Caps Lock is on but you're still using the Shift key. As soon as you finish typing that word and press the space bar, Word turns Caps Lock off and the first word in your sentence magically changes to the correct form. 

Delete a document without leaving Word (Windows only):
Have you hunted through the menus in Word looking for an option to Delete a document? Don't run Windows Explorer to delete unwanted Word files. All you have to do to delete a file is open the Open dialog box (File >Open or click the Open icon on the Standard Toolbar). Now find the document you want to delete and right click the file name. Click Delete in the menu or press the Delete key. This works in all Windows Microsoft Office programs.

Last updated: 6 Feb 07

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