Microsoft Word is one of the most widely used software applications in the world for business, home, and school purposes. The app is popular, easy to use, accessible, interactive, and adaptable to various operating systems. There are over 1.2 billion users, with over 60 million businesses trusting it with a monthly subscription.
With a cloud-based app, you can use it anywhere on almost any device. Don’t know how to do things? Many tutorials in the Microsoft Office community can help you. Add new features and updates consistently, and you can save a lot of time if you know how to navigate the system.
Here, we will share 25 Microsoft Word tricks that can make your job much easier. We’ve divided them into general tricks and specific tricks for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams apps.
Common Microsoft Office Tricks
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1. Share important documents easily
Now you don’t have to open an email client and stress looking for files. Share documents with others with the share button. Located in the upper right corner of the app, documents can be shared via OneDrive, AirDrop, and other services. It also allows documents to be edited and commented on in real time.
2. Customize your ribbon
What happens if you feel like your ribbon isn’t working to your advantage? Add the features you need! Just click Preference, then Ribbon & Toolbar, or go to File, Options, and Customize Ribbon. You can also hide the ribbon by clicking the small arrow to the right of the ribbon.
3. Enable the Autosave feature with One Drive
Enable this feature to automatically save documents while you’re working on them. Multiple versions are recorded to help you go back to an earlier time if you need to. Once your document is open, slide the Autosave button at the top to make sure your document is saved.
4. Use templates
You don’t need to be confused about how to design a document or presentation. There are many templates already created in the database to help you get what you need quickly. From resumes to brochures, Word offers plenty of templates that can eliminate all formatting-related issues (and help you produce professional-looking, neat documents or presentations).
So, how to find it? When you open Word, instead of creating a blank document, you can see several template options there—and even use the search bar to search for something specific. Don’t see that screen when you open Word? It doesn’t matter. Open the “File”menu in Word, then select“New from Template”(or just“New”on PC) to see the options you have.
NOTE: Want to create your own template? When you have the document organized to your liking, click“File“, “Save as Template“, and then name it accordingly. You will have everything for the document you create over and over again. On the PC, click “File“, –> “Save as“ –> “Browse“ to the folder where you want to save the file, and under “Save as type”select“Word template (*.dotx) “from the dropdown.
5. Know your keyboard shortcuts
If you are a person who constantly annoys your coworkers by clicking the mouse like crazy, it’s high time you got to know some keyboard shortcuts. There’s so much that can be useful in Word (seriously, check out our list of 99 Microsoft Word shortcuts for PC and Mac). There’s no way we can divide them all here. But, here are some of our favorite shortcuts to eliminate the difficulty of some common scenarios:
- Ctrl + F to search for a specific word or phrase in your document.
- Ctrl + Z to undo your last changes.
- Ctrl + Y to redo your last changes.
- Ctrl + C to copy the selected text.
- Ctrl + V to paste the copied text.
- Ctrl + X to cut the selected text.
- Ctrl + B to make the selected text bold.
- Ctrl + I to italicize the selected text.
- Ctrl + U to underline the selected text.
- Ctrl + K to insert hyperlink to selected text.
- Ctrl + A to select your entire document.
- Ctrl + P to print your document.
- Ctrl + S to save your document.
- Ctrl + N to create a new document.
- Ctrl + O to open an existing document.
- Ctrl + W to close the active document.
- Ctrl + H to open the Find and Replace dialog box.
- Ctrl + G to open the Go To dialog box.
- Ctrl + E to center the active paragraph.
- Ctrl + L to make the active paragraph left-aligned.
- Ctrl + R to make the active paragraph right-aligned.
- Ctrl + J to make the active paragraph align right and left.
- Ctrl + M to increase the indentation of active paragraphs.
- Ctrl + T to make the indent hang on the active paragraph.
- Ctrl + 1 to set the line spacing to single in the active paragraph.
- Ctrl + 2 to double the line spacing of the active paragraph.
- Ctrl + 5 to set the line spacing to 1.5 in the active paragraph.
- Ctrl + [ to shrink the font size of selected text.
- Ctrl + ] to increase the font size of selected text.
- Ctrl + D to open the Font dialog box.
- Ctrl + = to make the selected text a subscript.
- Ctrl + Shift + = to make the selected text superscript.
- Ctrl Shift + A to make the selected text all capital letters.
- Ctrl Shift + W to underline the selected text, but exclude spaces.
- Ctrl + Shift + C to copy the selected text format.
- Ctrl Shift + V to paste the copied text format.
- Ctrl + Shift + N to restore the selected text format to default.
- Ctrl + Shift + L to insert bulleted list.
- Ctrl + Shift + F to change the font of the selected text.
- Ctrl + Shift +> to increase the font size of selected text by one point.
- Ctrl + Shift + < to decrease the font size of the selected text by one point.
- Ctrl + Alt + 1 to apply the Heading 1 style to the active paragraph.
- Ctrl + Alt + 2 to apply the Heading 2 style to the active paragraph.
- Ctrl + Alt + 3 to apply the Heading 3 style to the active paragraph.
- Alt + Ctrl + S to split the document window into two parts.
- Alt + Shift + D to enter the current date.