10 Advanced Microsoft Word Tricks for You

Microsoft Word is a part of our life, we are using it at work, schools, colleges, personal use and home. No doubt Microsoft Office made our life so easy. Here are 10 advanced tricks that will save you time and make you a Word wizard.

1. Use the Spike to Cut and Paste Multiple Items 📌

Tired of cutting and pasting items one by one? The Spike is your new best friend. It lets you "spike" multiple, non-consecutive pieces of text or graphics from your document and paste them all at once.

• To Spike an item: Select the text or object and press Ctrl + F3. The item disappears from the document and is added to the Spike. Repeat this for all the items you want to move.

• To paste everything: Go to the desired location and press Ctrl + Shift + F3. Word will paste all the spiked items in the order you collected them.

2. Master Advanced Find and Replace 🔍

The standard Find and Replace is useful, but the advanced version is a powerhouse. You can find and replace formatting, special characters, and more.

• Open the Find and Replace dialog (Ctrl + H).

• Click the More >> button to reveal advanced options.

• Use the Format dropdown to find text with specific fonts, paragraph styles, or highlighting.

• Use the Special dropdown to find paragraph marks, page breaks, or any digit. For example, you can replace all double paragraph marks (^p^p) with single ones (^p) to clean up spacing.

3. Create Reusable Content with Quick Parts 🧱

If you frequently type the same phrases, paragraphs, or tables (like company addresses or standard disclaimers), Quick Parts will be a lifesaver.

• Select the content you want to reuse.

• Go to the Insert tab, click Quick Parts, and choose Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery....

• Give it a name and save it.

• To insert it later, just go back to the Quick Parts gallery and click on your saved entry.

4. Dictate Your Document 🎙️

Why type when you can talk? Word's Dictate feature is surprisingly accurate and supports multiple languages. It's perfect for drafting documents quickly.

• On the Home tab, click the Dictate button (it looks like a microphone).

• Start speaking! You can say "period," "comma," or "new line" to add punctuation and formatting.

Of course, here is a blog post about advanced Microsoft Word tricks.

5. Generate Lorem Ipsum Placeholder Text 📜

Need some placeholder text to see how a layout will look? You don't need to go to a website for Lorem Ipsum text.

• Type =lorem(p,l) into your document, where 'p' is the number of paragraphs you want and 'l' is the number of sentences per paragraph. For example, =lorem(2,5) will create two paragraphs, each with five sentences.

• Press Enter, and the text will appear. You can also use =rand(p,l) for random (but readable) English text.

6. Compare or Combine Documents Side-by-Side 🔄

When you have two versions of a document, spotting the differences can be a nightmare. Word can do it for you automatically.

• Go to the Review tab.

• Click Compare and select Compare... to see two documents side-by-side with the differences highlighted.

• Select Combine... to merge revisions from multiple authors into a single document.

7. Use the Navigation Pane Like a Pro 🗺️

The Navigation Pane isn't just for seeing your document's structure. It's a powerful tool for reorganizing your work.

• Press Ctrl + F to open the Navigation Pane.

• Click on the Headings tab. You'll see an outline of your document (provided you've used heading styles).

• Now, you can drag and drop headings in the pane to instantly reorder entire sections of your document.

8. Shrink a Document to Fit One Page 🤏

Ever had a document that's just a few lines too long to fit on one page? The "Shrink One Page" command is here to help.

• This command isn't on the ribbon by default. You need to add it to your Quick Access Toolbar.

• Go to File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar.

• Change "Popular Commands" to All Commands.

• Scroll down, select Shrink One Page, and click Add >>.

• Now, you'll have a new icon on your Quick Access Toolbar. Click it, and Word will slightly adjust fonts and spacing to make your document fit.

9. Create Custom Keyboard Shortcuts ⌨️

Speed up your workflow by creating shortcuts for your most-used commands, styles, or macros.

• Go to File > Options > Customize Ribbon.

• Next to "Keyboard shortcuts," click Customize....

• In the "Categories" box, select the category containing the command you want.

• In the "Commands" box, select the command name.

• Click in the "Press new shortcut key" box and press the key combination you want to use. Click Assign.

10. Inspect Your Document Before Sharing 🕵️

Before sending a document out, it's wise to check for hidden information like author details, comments, or tracked changes. The Document Inspector can find and remove this data.

• Go to File > Info.

• Click on Check for Issues and select Inspect Document.

• Word will scan your file for hidden data and give you the option to remove anything it finds. A great way to protect your privacy!

Give these tricks a try and watch your productivity soar. Happy writing!