The most important tips for Microsoft Word users

Most of us use Microsoft Word. However, there are some really clever features that few people know about that can make a huge difference in your Word experience. This article lists my 7 favorite tips for getting the most out of Microsoft Word.

Microsoft Word is a very easy tool to get started with. However, there are a lot of interesting features “under the hood.” Some of these features can save you a lot of time when producing documents. I’m surprised they aren’t as well known as they should be. These 7 tips are my favorites and I couldn’t imagine life with Microsoft Word before I found them!

Some information about using Microsoft Word

I left Caps lock on.

We all know the feeling. You’re typing away happily and then you look at your screen to realize you’ve hit the Caps Lock key. Now everything you typed is capitalized wrong. Don’t despair. Highlight the text, go to the Format menu, and select Change Case from the drop-down menu. Then simply choose the case you want from the list provided, which will likely be a close-fitting case.

Move quickly around the document

Try these shortcuts to quickly get around your document.

Alt Page Down: Next Page Control
Alt Page Up Control: Previous Page
Home Control: Go to the top of the document
Control Alt End: Go to the end of the document.

Also, with newer versions of Word, there is a clever little button below the vertical scroll bar called Select Object Browse. Click this and select one of its options to browse your document by going directly to the next table, graphic, heading, etc.

I lost where I was

Did you forget where you just made a change in your document? Try pressing Shift+F5.

This will take you back to the last place you made a change. You can do this two more times to go back to the previous two changes.

With one click you can find an alternative to the search method in Microsoft Word.

One of the annoying things about the Find screen when you’re searching for an occurrence of text in your document is the fact that it always seems to appear directly above the text you’re searching for. However, there’s no need to keep the screen open. Once you’ve used the Find command to find the first entry, close the Find screen. You should notice that the little double arrows below the vertical scroll bar to the right of Word have changed to blue. Click these to move up and down your document to find your text.

Numbering rows in tables in Microsoft Word

How many times have you created a table where you just want the first column to be a numbered list? It's easy to do quickly. Just select the column and click the Numbering button on your Word toolbar. The same thing works if you select a row and want to have numbering across your columns.

Create page breaks in Microsoft Word

To quickly insert a page break, simply use CTRL+Enter.
Best shortcuts for Microsoft Word
1. Copy, paste and cut with keyboard shortcuts.

Ask anyone who knows these shortcuts—Ctrl+C for copy, Ctrl+V for paste, and Ctrl+X for cut—and they’ll attest to their time-critical nature. Master these three basic commands first and you’ll find yourself scaling up document creation at surprising speeds.

2. Zoom in or out quickly to save eye strain.

Some people like to work in a Word window at 150% zoom, while others like to eliminate the need to scroll left and right or up and down by zooming in to 75% to see the entire document. Either way, use the Zoom button with the Window button to choose the setting that works for you or look for the “100%” tab in the ribbon at the bottom right of the document to easily zoom in or out.

3. Delete entire words at once.

Here's an easy trick you may not know: Instead of slowly tapping the keyboard to delete text or words, or pressing the Backspace key to delete entire words or sentences, just press Ctrl + Backspace while placing the cursor after a word you want to erase at a time, making tedious tasks much easier.

4. Use smart search to search the Internet.

Any time you highlight a word or phrase and right-click on it, you’ll see Smart Lookup, which acts as a quick shortcut to browsing the web without slowing down to open a separate browser window. From word definitions to news checks, this powerful tool can turn a simple question into a wealth of knowledge.

5. Remove unwanted formatting.

Are you trying to convert a document from an external source into something that works for you? Weird formatting can slow down your file, so instead of trying to fix one thing at a time, press Ctrl + Space or click the Clear All Formatting button (in recent versions) to remove the formatting from the selected text and start fresh with your own style.

6. Tell the program exactly what you want to do.

Most newer versions of Word include a "Tell me what you want to do" field at the top of the toolbar. Enter a word or phrase related to any instruction and the program can quickly locate the command you're looking for.

7. Use multiple clicks to select cut from copy.

Instead of using the tedious drag-and-drop method, you can use your mouse to select parts of the transcription: double-click a word to highlight it or triple-click to highlight an entire sentence or section.

8. Select the default font you want, not the default font you want Word to use.

Don't like Calibri or Cambria fonts? Prefer Arial over Times New Roman, or the new look of Verdana? The best part about Microsoft Word is that you can choose the default font. This varies by version, but the most reliable way is to click Format > Font, select the attributes you want, and then click Default.

01. Search for any word you want quickly and easily.

Instead of using your mouse to navigate to the Find command, click Ctrl+F to either open the window in older versions of Word, or automatically move the cursor to the Search in Document menu that always appears in the toolbar in newer versions.

Microsoft Word Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl + A ….. Select all.
Ctrl + B ….. Convert text to bold.
Ctrl + C ….. Copy text.
Ctrl + D….. opens the font control box and you will find all the properties you want from the font format
Ctrl + U ….. Underline the selected word or text.
Ctrl + I ….. Convert text to italic text.
Ctrl + R ….. Right align text.
Ctrl + E ….. Center align text.
Ctrl + L ….. Align text to the left.
Ctrl + H ….. Replace the selected word or text with another word.
Ctrl + Y ….. Repeats the text before the print cursor.
Ctrl + G ….. Go to a specific page in the document.