Master Microsoft Word with these Simple Tips

Dennis Snider

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Microsoft Office may be one of the most popular apps around but in terms of word processing, it can be a challenge to keep up with its features. To ensure you’re receiving maximum benefit, always keep in mind the more you learn about Word capabilities, the more productive you will be.

Composing
You can use your Word file as a whiteboard and create content anywhere on the page. Double tap where you need to start your content and start writing.

Editing
The Smart Lookup feature is accessible when you highlight a word, right-click, and select Smart Lookup. A popup containing information about the word appears, saving you research time. Use ctrl+K to quickly add hyperlinks.

Pasting
You don’t need to cut and paste to move text around. The shortcuts Cut (ctrl+X) and Paste (ctrl+V) help you move content around in Word, but there is another way that may be faster. Highlight the text you want to move, select F2, place your cursor where you want to put the content, and hit Enter. Presto, the content appears in its new location.

Deleting
Instead of holding down the backspace key, use ctrl+backspace to delete one word at a time, rather than one character at a time.

Capitalizing
Ever find yourself needing to change the case of content from lower to upper case and wish there was a way to do it on the fly? Pick the text you want to switch, hit shift+F3 and select the case you want. Options include all upper, all lower, and camel (first letter of the sentence capitalized).

Highlighting
An entire sentence can be highlighted by selecting ctrl+windows keys. Mac users select the command key, click on the beginning of the statement you want to highlight and the rest of the sentence auto-highlights.

Protecting
There are several embedded safety measure options to encrypt your document. Select file > info > protect to choose restrict editing, encrypt with password, or restrict access. Encrypt with password provides an added layer of security by allowing you to manage viewing and editing permissions.

Helping
Newer versions of Word (2016 and above) have “Tell me what to do”, a shortcut for help with formats and features. If you need assistance inserting GIFs or JPGs, typing “Insert Pictures” provides options for inserting an image. IN times when you simply don’t know how or where to access functionality, this tool can be quite powerful.