DO NOT USE SPACES TO FORMAT TEXT IN WORD!!

I am sorry to shout, but I have to emphasize this, because this is the sin of all sins! I received a document from a client just yesterday which was formatted in this way, and I very nearly refused the job, just because of the extra hassle in processing the file. I will certainly be charging more in the future, and let me also say, any CV/resume I get formatted in this way, in which the applicant claims to know how to use Microsoft Word, GETS BINNED!

What people do is if they want, say, a price list that is indented, with the price following, they do this:

...and use the spacebar to make the spaces in between. And then when you have more than one item you get this:


The columns don't line up, it looks awful, you cannot edit it easily after that, and these are only SOME reasons not to commit this heinous crime! I can name plenty of others, but can I repeat again, you must NOT do this! There are LOTS of good ways to get your text spaced out like this, AND for it to line up in columns.

The easiest way is to use TAB. That is not ideal either, but it is better than using spaces!

Just press TAB however many times you want to move the text across and it will move each time, lining up with "imaginary" (actually, you can define them) ruler lines.

An even better way (THE way, in my opinion) is to use a TABLE. Just insert a table (Table -> Insert -> Table), specify the number of columns you want, and enter, say, the menu item in the first column and the price in the second column.

But wait, you say, you don't want the lines of the table showing. Well, just use the borders options on the toolbar:



... and just turn off all the borders by marking the whole table and using the second icon on the bottom row.

If you can still see faint gridlines, these are just indicators of where the border lines would be. You can turn this off too - it's under the table menu - Show Gridlines.

THIS looks SO much more professional.

...and you can change the spacing, copy individual columns, easily add another column with the same width...

Now, repeat after me,

I...
will...
not...
use...
spaces...
to...
format...
things...
in...
MS Word.

Thankyou.

Keyboard shortcuts for Center and Right and Left Justify

This is really simple, but it is amazing how few regular Word users actually know this!

If you want to centre, or right or left justify your text, chances are you will reach over to your mouse and head for these icons at the top, right?


Well, this is a very laborious way of doing it - why use the mouse at all, just learn the shortcuts!

CTRL+E to CENTRE JUSTIFY
CTRL+L to LEFT JUSTIFY
CTRL+R to RIGHT JUSTIFY

The first one isn't maybe so logical, but you will soon learn it. The second two are easy to remember. The only strange thing is that because L is to the RIGHT of R on a QWERTY keyboard, and if you're like me, you will sometimes confuse the two! But then I can never remember which is left and which is right when I am crossing the road, so that is hardly a good indicator...

Capitalize words and sentences EASILY

Imagine you have a sentence in Word:

Microsoft Word allows you to change a sentence into all caps with one keyboard shortcut

But you suddenly realise you need it all in caps. How are you going to get it into capitals? Surely you weren't thinking of retyping the whole thing in?!

The shortcut SHIFT+F3 is what you need. Just highlight the text (no need to use the mouse for this, but more about that another time!) and press this key combination and you will see the text cycle from the original, to this:

MICROSOFT WORD ALLOWS YOU TO CHANGE A SENTENCE INTO ALL CAPS WITH ONE KEYBOARD SHORTCUT

with one keypress!

By the way, if you press SHIFT+F3 again, you will get this:

microsoft word allows you to change a sentence into all caps with one keyboard shortcut

...and if you press it again, you get:

Microsoft Word Allows You To Change A Sentence Into All Caps With One Keyboard Shortcut

This is not that useful as we do not usually capitalize sentences like this in English, especially not the words like "a, the, to" etc. But if you wanted just to capitalize the first letters of "microsoft word" for example, this would be the ideal way to do it!

So once again, that's SHIFT+F3! Why not give it a go now?

Word Tips World

I have been planning to start this blog for ages. I use Microsoft Word an awful lot, and though there is still MUCH that I do not know about this hugely popular word-processing package, I do know a lot of tips and tricks that greatly speed up my use of Word.

I am no Microsoft Word guru, I do not have all the secrets, but the tips that I pick up every now and then, I would like to share with you.

So watch this space, use the tips, and see your productivity in Microsoft Word greatly increase!