Some Word Tricks

Like always we will keep this simple...

1. Write Anywhere on a Page

When you are using a whiteboard you can write anywhere on the board as you like (up, center, bottom, bottom right, etc. just anywhere you like). Good news, you can do same on the page of a word document. Just double-click wherever you want to type your text and start writing.

2. Change CASE

If you accidental left the caps lock ON when you need to type small letters or vice- versa, not to worry keep on typing. To play this trick, select some text and press shift+f3 to quickly change the case of the selection. It toggles between uppercase, lowercase and camel case (first letter capital)

 

3. Select Text Quickly

To select an entire paragraph, triple click (click 3x) anywhere within a paragraph to select the entire paragraph. Or press the CTRL key and click anywhere within a sentence to select the entire sentence.

You can also select rectangular blocks of text, and apply formatting to the selected area. Just hold the ALT key and drag the mouse across the area you want to select.

4. Convert to Plain Text

Do you copy and paste text from online sources, other documents, email, etc., and cringe when it pops onto the page in red at 18 point font in Verdana (because sometimes the styles and formatting are retained). Not to worry – just select the block of text, hold Ctrl and tap space bar (Ctrl+Space Bar)

5. Cut and Paste

Most people use the Cut-Paste (Ctrl-x Ctrl-v) route to move text from one location to another within a Word document but there’s an alternate way as well. Highlight any block of text, press F2 and then place the cursor at the spot where you wish to move that text. Press Enter and the selection will be moved.

6. Insert Bullets Using Your Keyboard

You are typing and suddenly you need to insert a bullet without touching the mouse? It's simple: type an asterisk and hit the spacebar to auto-create a bullet list.

7. Password Protect Work Documents

To stop your nose poking friends from invading the privacy of your word documents, you can lock them with passwords. To password protect a Word document, click on File > Info > Protect Document > Encrypt with Password.

8. Move table rows up or down

I love this one, this tip is probably most useful when you're working in a table, although you can use it to reorder paragraphs too. Let's say you decide you want the third row of a table to be the top row. Just click within the third row, hold down [Alt][Shift] and press the up arrow key twice. Each time you press the arrow key, Word will move the row up one. You can select multiple rows to move them as a block, and you can use the down arrow key if you want to move text down instead of up.

9. Duplicate selected text or objects using the mouse

This is my favorite technique for copying drawing objects and graphics because you can copy them and drag them into position in one step. Using ordinary copy and paste is old school, because objects tend to paste themselves in strange locations depending on the layout options of the original object.

To use this technique, click on the item you want to copy (it can be a selection of text or an object) and hold down Ctrl. Then drag the item--it will become a copy of the item--to the spot where you want it to go.

Contributors are needed for this blog, (guest posts) if you have anything that you know will add value or that someone can learn from and you are willing to share with others, please contact me via ucheagu@gmail.com

Contributors will be acknowledged in their articles.