101 software tips, tweaks and tricks

Microsoft Word

023.

 Use Bookmarks
Word's Bookmark feature lets you navigate quickly through lengthy documents. Simply go to a page you'd like to bookmark and, from the Insert menu, click Bookmark (in Word 2007, it's in the Links subsection). Name your Bookmark and click Add. To find your bookmark, hit CTRL + F, then click on the Go To tab. Select Bookmark from the menu on the left and enter the bookmark name to jump straight to it.

024.

 Keep the right format
Want to paste formatted text into Word without losing the original format? After copying the selected text, in Word 2003 click on the Edit menu and select Paste Special. In Word 2007 you'll need to have the Home menu activated, then click on the down arrow under the Paste button and choose Paste Special.

You can choose among Formatted Text (RTF), Unformatted Text, HTML Format or Unformatted Unicode Text. Word 2007 also adds picture formats to the mix.

025.

 Lose the wrong format
To quickly remove the formatting from your document, highlight the relevant text, then press CTRL + SHIFT + N.

026.

 Inserting automatic page numbers
To insert page numbers automatically, first you need to enable headers and footers, then insert where you want the page number to go.

  1. You will need to be in Print Layout View first. It's the third page icon on the bottom left (see images below) in Word 2003, and in Word 2007 is the first icon on the bottom right, next to the zoom in and out controls
  2. In Word 2003:
    • Click on the View menu, then select Header and Footer. Both will then become visible at the top and bottom of the page, and a toolbar will appear
    • While you can use the autotext drop down menu on the new toolbar to insert a template, to set up things manually, simply click the icon of the page with a single hash in it to enter a dynamic page number
  3. In Word 2007:
    • Click on the Insert menu, and then click the Header button and select what style you want. You can then use the Page Number button to insert a number where you like
  4. Double click outside the header or footer to return to the document. Similarly, simply double click a header or footer to return to editing it
  5. Remember you can be fancy with headers and footers, inserting graphics, text boxes and all sorts of things for a unique layout

Switch into Print Layout View first. (Credit: CNET.com.au)



Edit your headers and footers, and insert your automatic page numbers. (Credit: CNET.com.au)

027.

 Footnotes
An easy one this one: to insert a footnote in Word 2003, click where you want to insert it in your text, then go to the Insert menu, mouse over Reference, and click on Footnote. An options dialogue box will appear — when you have selected the settings you want, hit Insert and your footnote will be created.

To do the same in Word 2007, click on the References menu, and then the Insert Footnote button.

The footnote: great for references, or amusing annotations Pratchett-style. (Credit: CNET.com.au)

028.

 Create a master document
If you'd like to collate a whole bunch of smaller documents into one, easy to read document, you can create a Master Document. A Master Document doesn't merge files, rather it links to existing separate files, and makes it look like they're part of the one document. The advantage is, whenever you update one of the smaller files, because it's live-linked it will also update in the Master Document.

Keep in mind that you'll want to create page numbers and so on in the header and footer of the Master Document, not the individual smaller documents, or managing your page numbers could become a private hell.

  1. Change to Outline View by clicking the fourth icon in the bottom left in Word 2003, or the fourth on the bottom right next to the zoom controls in Word 2007. The view will change, and the Outline toolbar will appear
  2. Type in a heading in the document to represent the file you want to import
  3. Select what you've typed, then in Word 2003, click the Insert Subdocument button and select the file you wish to link to. In Word 2007, you'll want to click the Show Document button, then the Insert button, and choose the file you want to link to
  4. The process is the same for all subsequent documents. Save the Master Document to a unique file name
  5. You can compress the Outline view to just the linked locations of the files by clicking the Collapse Subdocuments button
  6. You can view the entire live-merged document by making sure the Subdocuments are expanded (by hitting the same button as above), and then selecting any of the other page views
  7. You can edit the individual linked files by double clicking on the torn page icon next to the Subdocument, listed in the Outline view of the Master Document

Master Documents can make working with huge documentation easier. (Credit: CNET.com.au)

029.

 Stop correcting me
Speed up spell-check by preventing Word from grammar-proofing your documents. To disable grammar check in Word 2003, go to Tools > Options, and click the Spelling & Grammar tab. Clear the check box labelled Check grammar as you type. If you want to disable the grammar check during the manual spell-check, then also clear the check box labelled Check grammar with spelling. When done, hit OK.

To disable it in Word 2007, click on the Review menu, click the Spelling & Grammar button, and then hit the Options button. Deselect Mark grammar errors as you type and Check grammar with spelling, then click OK.

030.

 Add a word count toolbar
This feature is enabled by default in Word 2007 — only Word 2003 users may apply. You can count the words in a document with a single click by adding a word counter to your toolbar. Go to View > Toolbars and check Word Count. Drag onto your toolbar the small bar that pops up. Now you can just click Recount whenever you want to know your word count — extra stats are stored in the drop down menu.

Always have word count on standby. (Credit: CNET.com.au)

031.

 Stop Word 2007 using horrible spacing
By default Word 2007 inserts a trailing space after every carriage return, and makes things a little more spread out. To return this to normal for every document:
  1. Click the Home menu, then click on the Line Spacing button (it's the fifth from the left in the Paragraph section)
  2. Select Line Spacing Options
  3. Under the Spacing section, set After to 0 pt, and set Line spacing to single
  4. Click the Default button, then click Yes. All new documents will now use proper spacing

032.

 Make Word 2007 save to .doc by default
Word 2007 uses a highly incompatible .docx file format for saving files, making it difficult to share with friends and colleagues who don't have the same version. To change this:
  1. Click the Office button in the top left
  2. Click the Word Options button
  3. On the left-hand side, select Save
  4. Change the Save files in this format drop down box to Word 97 - 2003 Document (*.doc)
  5. Click OK

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Talkback 9 comments

    Ignore "tip" #7 Dean -- 26/09/08

    I didn't bother reading them all, but "tip" #7 (turn off UAC) is totally irresponsible. DO NOT TURN OFF UAC! Demand that your vendor fix their application to work correctly with UAC.

    I am a software developer, and on a daily basis, I see maybe 1 or 2 UAC dialog prompts. For a non-developer, you should practically *never* see the UAC prompt in day-to-day activities.

    But they don't apply to my PC Anonymous -- 27/09/08

    "Our insider secrets will help you master your PC and its most important applications"

    Where are the tips and tricks for Apple and Linux users? Barely any of these 101 tips and tricks apply to MY PC or the applications I use on it.

    Craig and Luis, not everyone in the world uses a Windows PC. Most, but not all. I was more than a little disappointed not to see these facts acknowledged.

    Hamish

    Good Work Anonymous -- 29/09/08

    There's some handy tips in there. Good Stuff.

    A safer alternative to turning off UAC would be using TweakUAC and selecting silent mode.

    party Anonymous -- 29/09/08 (in reply to #320112953)

    Wuz up

    #1 tip for a windows PC Anonymous -- 29/09/08

    I suggest that the number one tip to turn your Win PC into a fast, secure, reliable and productive machine is to install any one of the Linux flavors and remove your buggy, virus ridden, DRM controlled Win partition.

    Re Anonymous -- 30/09/08 (in reply to #320112989)

    I did that. Now life is good

    Another PrintScreen Shortcut Joel Potgieter -- 03/10/08

    You can also get a printscreen of only the window that has current focus [nto the whole screen] by using ALT-PrintSCRN. Also works for dialog boxes.

    Tip 51: Outlook - get rid of the large [emails] Anonymous -- 03/10/08

    If you want to keep the email but delete its (large) attachment, Open the email then go to Edit then Edit Message. Delete the attachment and re-save the email.

    Tip 048 Lookout Anonymous -- 13/07/09

    Nice article, there are really some good tips in there!
    But with one point I am not do not really agree with you...I wouldn�´t recommend Lookout, because it is an old an undeveloped tool! I think it would make more sense to work in Outlook with an modern, supported and developed tool, for example Lookeen( www.lookeen.net)! In my opinion this search tool is the best of all!

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