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I use Word quite a lot, but I’m sure I’m not using it efficiently and there are many functions I’ve not found. How
about changing case without having to re-type?
Select the text, then go to Format – Change Case and select the option you choose.
What are the regular shortcuts for changing formats?
Easy – select text then: Control-B for Bold, Control-I for Italic, Control-U for Underline, Control-Shift-D for
Double Underline, Shift-F3 to change case of letters, Control-Shift-A to get all capitals, Control-Shift-K to
change to small caps, Control-= for subscript, Control-Shift-= for superscript, Control-spacebar to remove
formats, Control->to increase to the next size up, Control-< to change to the next size down, Control-] to go
up one point, Control-[ to go down one point.
That’s all very useful – I certainly didn’t know all of those. But how do get rid of any of these changes?
Simple. Just press the same shortcut again, and it will undo it.
Perfect! Another time-consuming problem I have is with paragraph formatting. I’ve got a paragraph formatted
just right, and I want another to have the same attributes without having to re-do it. How is this done?
Well, start off by seeing the pilcrows –
Pilwhat?
Pilcrows are ’invisibles’ – the symbol looks like a reversed ‘P’. To see it press Control-Shift-8, and you’ll
see it at the end of the paragraph. It contains the formatting information. So you select it, copy it (Control-C),
then paste it in place of the pilcrow on another paragraph.
If only I’d known that one! How about undoing mistakes, or redoing actions?
That’s very easy. Control-Z to undo, and Control-Y to redo. There are also buttons on the toolbar, or you
can use the Edit menu.
Perfect. Finally – page numbering. How can I tell it to begin numbering on page 2, not the cover?
Go to Insert, Page Numbers, then decide where the numbers will be positioned and click OK. Now go to
File, Page Setup. Click on the Layout tab and tick Different First Page, then tell it to start your page number
at 0. To see these and many other Word 2003 tips, click here.
Of course. It’s so easy when you know how!
So how about Excel? Is there a quicker way of moving around a big worksheet other than Control-Arrow?
Double-click on the border of any cell or cell range, and you’ll go the last filled celled in that direction.
Handy! How about sorting a range? I know how to select a column to do this (Data-Sort), but how about rows?
Select some data spanning more than one column, then go to Data – Sort, click Options and choose Sort
Left to Right.
That’s going to be useful. But there’s something that always gets me. What’s the difference between deleting and clearing a cell?
Deleting (Right-click then Delete) removes the cell and its contents, and makes the other cells move up
or along. But if you simply select the cell and press Delete, the contents are removed, but the cell remains.
You can also do this with a group of cells.
That’s so much clearer now. What else can I do to make Excel more user-friendly?
Colour-coding sheet tabs or cells is much easier on the eye. Just right-click on a sheet tab and choose a
colour that’s available.
What about comments for explaining the contents of a cell? How to you create and display them?
That’s straightforward. Go to Insert, Comments. To view comments, you normally have to move your mouse
over the corner of a commented cell. But you can display comments automatically by going to Tools –
Options – View and select Comment and Indicator. If a comment obscures a cell, you can drag it away a
little, but it will still point to the right cell.
That’s a very good point! I’ll start using those handy hints immediately.
Links
Word 2003: BCentral top tips for Microsoft Word
Excel 2003: BCentral hot tips for Microsoft Excel
Excel 2003: BCentral tips for Microsoft Excel
Also in this issue: Top Tips for Microsoft Word and Excel 2007 and Using Wi-Fi Hotspots
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