Word 2000 Tips
Read these 50 Word 2000 Tips tips to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. Each tip is approved by our Editors and created by expert writers so great we call them Gurus. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Software tips and hundreds of other topics.
Bring up the Cell Height and Width dialog box in MS Word
Repeatedly selecting Cell Height and Width from the Table menu in MS Word can waste time, particularly when first creating the structure of your table.
To bring the dialog box up instantly, double click on the Column Marker (the grey square with white dots on it on the ruler) and the box will appear.
Apply a style to selected text in MS Word
To apply a style to your selected text in MS Word, select the text, bring up the style list (by clicking the drop down arrow by the side of the Style Box) and select the required style. If you wish to apply all of the paragraph formatting within the style, you must ensure that the entire paragraph (including the paragraph marker) is selected.
AutoFormat works in MS Word
Word has an AutoFormat tool which is generally overlooked, yet it is surprisingly useful.
The tool is found under the Format, AutoFormat and allows you to either review each change as Word makes it or to let it make all the changes in one go.
Give it a go - you may be surprised how effective it is. Even if you need to make a few modifications yourself, it should save you some time.
Navigating using a table of contents in MS Word
If you use Word's Table of Contents feature, then try clicking on the page numbers in the TOC. You will automatically be taken to the page that you clicked on.
Sort outside of tables in MS Word
Most people are aware that you can sort information in a Word table (if you weren't, then I guess you are now), but you can also sort any other text within your document.
Select the text that you'd like to sort (either paragraphs, lists or bulleted/numbered lists) and select Sort from the Table menu. Select Paragraphs from the Sort By menu and then choose either Text, Number or Date from the Type menu. Select either ascending or descending and press OK.
Modify a style in MS Word
To modify a style in MS Word, follow these steps:
1) Select a paragraph which has been formatted with the style you wish to modify
2) Make the required formatting changes to the paragraph using any method you choose
3) With the paragraph still selected, reselect the style from the Style List. A dialog box will appear which will give you two options - either reapply the original style, or Update the style to reflect the changes you have made.
4) Select Update the style to reflect recent changes and click OK.
The style will now be updated to include your changes and anywhere within your document where the style has been used will now reflect those changes.
Select a word with the keyboard in MS Word
To select a word with the keyboard in MS Word, place the cursor at the start of the word, hold down Ctrl and Shift and press the Right arrow.
Pick up where you left off in MS Word
Each time you open a Word document, by default the cursor will appear at the start of the document. If you're working on a large document, this can be time consuming as well as inconvenient.
Word provides a Go Back To command which will automatically take you back to the last place in a document where you made a modification.
To activate this, hold down the Shift key and press F5.
Select all text in a document in MS Word
To instantly select all the text in a Word document, hold down the control key and press A.
This can also be achieved by selecting Select All from the Edit menu.
Increase font sizes with the keyboard in MS Word
How do you increase the size of your text with the keyboard in MS Word?
Select the text, hold down the control key and press the [ key (square brackets, next to the P). Each press increases the font size by one point. The ] key decreases by one point.
Restore the normal template in MS Word
If you've modified the normal template in MS Word and would like to revert to the original template, then just delete or rename the current normal.dot and restart Word.
When Word doesn't find the normal template in your templates folder, it will create a new one itself which contains the default settings.
What does Word's AutoCorrect feature do?
Word's AutoCorrect function corrects common spelling and grammatical errors in the background while you type. Its extremely effective and you may not even be aware that you're using it (but in most cases you will be by default). Select AutoCorrect from the Tools menu to see the default options.
Insert a page break quickly in MS Word
To insert a page break while you type in MS Word, hold down the control key and press enter.
Improve the clarity of your text in MS Word
Some of the automatic formatting tools within Word can actually make your documents harder to read, but there's generally a way around it. If you have a date or a name near the end of a line, for example Mr M Gurner or 15th July 1968 then your document will read better if Word keeps it all together on the same line.
This can be achieved using a Non-Breaking Space and these can be entered by holding down Ctrl and Shift when you press the spacebar.
Activate the Go To menu in MS Word
There are a number of different ways to activate the Go To dialog box in Word. Try any of these:
1) Select Go To from the Edit menu
2) Press the F5 key
3) Hold down the Ctrl key and press G
Add AutoCorrect entries via the spellchecker in MS Word
If you find yourself always using the spell checker to correct the same words, then Word can probably help you speed things up a bit.
One of the options in the spellchecker is AutoCorrect. Click this and then choose the correct spelling - Word automatically includes this in it's AutoCorrect list and will correct this mistake itself the next time you make it.
Move to the beginning of your Word document
To move to the beginning of your document, hold down the Ctrl key and press the Home key.
Move around a document one word at a time
When navigating around a document using the cursor keys, it can be tedious having to move a character at a time. To speed things up, hold down the ctrl key and the left and right cursor keys will you move you a word at a time.
AutoFit a word table
It can take a lot of time and trouble to resize a table to fit the text within it. To automatically resize a table to fit the text within it, hold the cursor over the right hand border of the column and double click.
Apply a style to the current paragraph in MS Word
To apply a style to the current paragraph in MS Word, simply select the required style from the Style list. The Style you select will automatically be applied to the active paragraph.
What formatting has been applied in MS Word?
To find out what formatting has been applied to a character or paragraph in MS Word, press shift and F1 and then click on the character or paragraph.
A box appears which shows the formatting that exists. Press esc to remove the box.
What does automatically update mean in MS Word
If you have the Automatically Update option checked for any style in MS Word, any changes you make to text formatted with that style will automatically be incorporated into the style.
This means that if you change one paragraph formatted with the Heading 1 style, the changes you make will automatically be carried out anywhere else in the document where you've used the Heading 1 style.
Major benefits of using styles in MS Word
The major benefits of using styles in MS Word are:
1) Consistency - you can be sure that all of your headings are the same if you format them using a style.
2) Time saving - you can apply all the formatting that a section means in one go. No more changing the font, then the size, then the colour, then the alignment etc.
3) Changes can be made globally - to make a change to all of your main headings would normally be a pain. You'd have to search through your document, find each heading and make sure you made the changes correctly each time. With Styles, you don't need to worry. Just modify the style and your changes will be reflected everywhere you've used that style.
4) Advanced features - If your document is formatted using styles, then advanced features like Table of Contents can be created in a matter of seconds.
3. Selection is the key in MS Word
Once you've entered some text in MS Word, everything you need to do with that text requires that you select it.
While anyone can select text by clicking and dragging, there are far better ways of selecting different amounts of text.
The section of this site which deals with selecting text can be found here.
Set AutoFormat Options in MS Word
To control the formatting which Word's AutoFormat function uses on your document, select AutoFormat from the Format menu.
Before you click OK, click the Options button and make any modifications you require.
View the full style list in MS Word
To view the full style list in MS Word, hold down the Shift key and click on the drop down arrow by the side of the Style Box.
A longer list of styles will appear, including a scroll bar to the right hand side which allows you to see all available styles.
1. Listen to the voice in MS Word!
Listen to the voice in MS Word.
We all have that little voice in the back of our minds which says "There must be a better way of doing this". (If you don't think you have one, then the voice I mean is the one which just told you that you don't have a voice like that.)
The natural tendency when the voice appears is to ignore it, because you're too busy to listen right now.
When you start to listen to the voice, you will start to identify the areas where your productivity needs to improve.
From there, it's simply a matter of searching this site to find the answers you need, because if you think there should be a better way, you'll generally find that there is.
Listen to the voice - the voice gives you the right questions to ask.
Activate the format painter with the keyboard in MS Word
Use Ctrl Shift C to copy formats and Ctrl Shift V to paste formats in MS Word. You can continue to apply the formatting by selecting new text and pressing Ctrl Shift V.
Open your last document with Word
If you want Word to automatically open the last document you worked on when you start it, there's a special switch that you can use which will let you do just that.
Right click on your Desktop, choose New and then Shortcut.
Click on the Browse button to find Winword.exe and then add the switch /mfile1 (including the space) on the end. (it should look something like this "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 2000\Office\WINWORD.EXE" /mfile1)
Click Next, enter a name for your shortcut and then click Finish.
Move around a Word document one paragraph at a time
To move around a Word document one paragraph at a time, hold down the Ctrl key and use the up and down arrow keys.
This can really help to speed up your navigation through your document.
Move to the end of your Word document
To move quickly to the end of your document in MS Word, hold down the Ctrl key and press the End key.
Selecting a line of text with the mouse in MS Word
To select a line of text with the mouse in MS Word, move the cursor to the left of the text (the cursor will change to a white arrow) and click the mouse. The whole line will be selected.
Apply the Normal style to the active paragraph in MS Word
To apply the Normal style to the active paragraph in MS Word, hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and press the N key.
2. Navigation techniques in MS Word
No matter how big or small your Word documents are, you can dramatically improve your productivity by learning to move around your documents efficiently.
While each shortcut may only save you seconds, you'll use them so often that they'll make a big difference.
The section of this site which deals with navigation can be found here.
Make changes throughout your document in seconds in MS Word
One of the major benefits of using styles in MS Word is that you can make changes throughout your document in a matter of seconds.
If you have formatted your main headings using the Heading 1 style and want to change the point size, all you have to do is modify the style itself. This will automatically update every part of the document where you used that style.
Go to the last place you were working in MS Word
When you open a Word document, it automatically opens up at the start of the document. If you were working somewhere in the middle of your document, then it can take ages to scroll your way through to the correct bit.
To automatically move to the last place you were working, hold down the Shift key and press the F5 key.
Selecting a paragraph with the mouse in MS Word
Selecting a paragraph with the mouse in MS Word can be tricky and time consuming - it is easy to either start or finish in the wrong place, or to let go of the mouse button at the wrong time.
The easy way to select a paragraph is to triple click anywhere inside the paragraph. The whole paragraph will now be selected.
Making Word prompt you for Properties
Word's document properties function can be really useful when searching for documents and if used carefully can save loads of time. Unfortunately that won't help much if you don't use it and because it doesn't ask you to when you save, then most people don't.
To make Word prompt you to ask for properties when you first save a document, Select Options from the Tools menu. From the Save tab, check the box which says Prompt for document Properties.
The properties screen will now appear the first time you save a document.
How can I add something to the AutoCorrect list in MS Word?
To add a mistake which you commonly make to Word's AutoCorrect library, select AutoCorrect from the Tools menu.
Enter how you normally type the word in the Replace box and what you want Word to change it to in the With box.
Make sure that the Replace text as you type box is checked and click OK
Use Format, Style to modify a style in MS Word
You can modify a style in MS Word using the Format, Style option using these steps:
1) Select Style from the Format menu
2) Select the style you want to modify from the list of styles on the left of the dialog box and click the Modify button
3) Click the Format button and you can choose to modify the Font, Paragraph, Tabs, Border, Language, Frame and Numbering.
4) When you have made your changes, click on OK
5) Click Close to accept changes to the style or click Apply to accept changes to the style and apply them to the active paragraph.
Apply a Heading style to the active paragraph with the keyboard in MS Word
To apply a heading style (heading 1, heading 2 etc) to the active paragraph in MS Word, hold down the Alt and Shift keys and press the Left or Right Arrow keys.
The style which is selected will depend on the other styles used in your document, but holding down the Alt and Shift keys and repeatedly pressing the Left arrow key will step you through the Heading Styles until you get to Heading 1. Holding down the Alt and Shift keys and repeatedly pressing the Right Arrow key will step you through in the other direction until you reach Heading 9.
Selecting a word with the mouse in MS Word
Selecting a word with the mouse can be difficult in MS Word - you can easily drag too far, or start from the wrong place.
The easy way to select a whole word with the mouse is to double click anywhere in the word. The whole word will be selected.
Right click without a mouse in MS Word
If you are used to using the Right mouse button to bring up the shortcut menu in MS Word, it can be almost impossible to adjust if your mouse breaks or you end up on a laptop.
To bring up the same shortcut menu from any keyboard, hold down Shift and press F10.
Select a whole table in MS Word
To select a whole table in MS Word, hold down the alt key and double click anywhere in the table.
Speed up boot time
To speed up load time, reduce the number of installed fonts you have in Microsoft Word. When word first opens, it performs a thorough check to see which fonts are installed on your system. If you have too many fonts, Word can take a considerable length of time to open.
What is a style in MS Word?
A style in MS Word is a collection of formats. It can consist of any combination of character and paragraph formats and allows you to apply that formatting in one simple step.
You can see Word's built in styles by clicking on the drop down arrow on the Style Box (it probably says Normal at the moment) - you will see a short list of available styles.
Other tips within this section will show you how to create your own styles and modify existing ones.
4. Learn to use styles in MS Word
The key to working effectively in MS Word is Styles.
Styles, styles, styles, styles, styles and styles.
Styles are important.
Not only will using styles make you more productive in everyday document creation and formatting, it will also unlock the potential of lots of Word's advanced features.
The creation and editing of documents becomes something simple and joyous, birds are singing in the trees and the world is a happy place.
Am I getting my point across here? Styles are important - now go and learn how to use them here.
What does Add To Template mean in MS Word
When you make changes to a style in MS Word, the changes will only apply to that document.
If you want your changes to be available to any new documents based on the same template, place a check in the Add To Template box and the changes will be saved in the template itself.
If the current document was based on the Normal.dot template, then those changes will be available every time you click the New button.
Learn to use styles in MS Word
If you find yourself spending time applying the same formatting over and over again (and to be honest, I'm sure that we all do), learn to use Microsoft Word's style feature.
Styles are a collection of font and paragraph formatting which you specify which can be added to a paragraph with a single click of the mouse.
Press Alt, O, S to bring up the Style dialog box (or select Style from the Format menu)
Select a line of text with the keyboard in MS Word
To select a line of text using only the keyboard in MS Word, place the cursor at the beginning of the line, hold down the Shift key and press the down arrow.
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| George Sayour |
