7 Word Tricks Not Everyone Knows About

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Lifehacker has compiled a few Microsoft Word tricks you haven't guessed about for years. Some of them are not useful, but others will leave you impressed.

1. How to find the position of the cursor

Every time you close the document, Word remembers the page where your work stopped. The next time you open the file, you will be prompted to start from the same place. Comfortable? No words!

Now imagine: you have a multi-page document, such as an annual report or a thesis. You are on the nth page and see facts that need to be double-checked further in the text. You have to dive deeply, so the number of the current sheet needs to be written down somewhere. How to get back without a reminder?

Leave the cursor and gradually move down. To return to the "anchor", press the key combination Shift + F5.

This command will instantly move you to the line where you placed the cursor ahead of time.

2. How to fill a document with random text

Sometimes Word needs a random array of lines and paragraphs. For example, to try out a new feature and show it to colleagues. You can type it in three ways: actively rattle the keys for a couple of minutes, download an add-in for Word, or set a short command.

Type = lorem (2, 3) and press Enter to have Word create two paragraphs of three sentences each. The numbers in brackets can be absolutely anything.

The filler is also useful if you are presenting a layout and do not want the text to distract attention from it.

3. How to use autotext

A separate file with company details or passport data is no longer needed. Word has a piggy bank of text passages that you can use whenever you need it. This is useful in office work full of standard expressions and form letters.

Select the text and press the key combination Ctrl + F3 - the fragment will be saved as auto text. Paste it into the document using Ctrl + Shift + F3.

Autotext is located on the Insert tab in the Text group under the Quick Blocks subsection. Please note: auto text can be sent to different parts of the document or placed in headers and footers.

4. How to quickly delete words, sentences, paragraphs

Rumor has it that the average length of a sentence in Russian is approximately 10 words. Moreover, the average word length is slightly more than 5 letters. It turns out that in order to erase one sentence with the BackSpace key, you need to press it about 60 times. If you don't mind buttons, think about your time.

Hold Ctrl and click on BackSpace to delete the entire word. Hold Alt and click on BackSpace to bring back the accidentally erased word.

To remove more fragments, you cannot do without a quick selection. For a whole sentence, this is one click with the mouse while holding down Ctrl, and for a paragraph - a triple click on any word.

5. How to calm your eyes during long reading

There is a dark gray theme in the general options for Word. Some users find it more gentle on the eyes: the white background does not hit the eyes so much if there is a contrasting frame around it. In addition, the text editor offers to simplify the reading of long documents by changing the color of the pages.

Switch to the "View" tab and switch to reading mode. Expand the advanced options to make the background black or light brown.

Here you can also set the column width or display a panel with notes.

6. How to replace all pictures in a document in one fell swoop

Let's not be mistaken if we assume that 9 out of 10 Word users cannot imagine their life without the Find and Replace feature. At the same time, almost none of them know about its additional capabilities.

Copy the image to the clipboard, open a text editor and open the Find and Replace dialog box (Ctrl + H). Enter ^ g in the Find box and ^ c in the Replace With box. Click on "Replace All" to remove all pictures from the document and replace the contents of the clipboard in their place.

We get lost in the assumptions why this is needed. By the way, a person has the same feeling if he turns to the Creator for the meaning of life.:)

7. How to use the calculator

Word has a good command of the school arithmetic curriculum. It is very simple to make sure of this: it is enough to display the calculator icon on the quick access panel.

Go to "Other Commands" in the shortcut menu. Switch to "All commands" and find the item "Calculate". Add it to the Quick Access Toolbar. The circle icon will be grayed out until you select the math expression. See the calculation result in the lower left corner.

As you can see, the text editor knows the order of mathematical operations and understands that 2 + 2 × 2 does not equal 8.

We hope we were able to surprise you. If not, try to surprise us yourself in the comments.