Microsoft Word has become an essential tool in any office environment. The product has been around for some time, and many features have been developed over the years. Strangely, the majority of users do not use these convenient and effective features.

Our Commit100 expert has put together a list of some of the most used productivity tips and tricks in Microsoft Word.

Download the Tips and Tricks in PDF format: Commit100-MSWordTipsNTricks

1. Generate random text with =rand(8,10) (and press Enter)
2. Fast text selection and navigation
   1. To select an entire paragraph, make three fast clicks anywhere inside the paragraph.
   2. Ctrl + Click selects the sentence.
   3. To select all the text in a paragraph before or after the cursor, press Ctrl + Shift + ↑ or ↓.
   4. To select text in the paragraph by word, before or after the cursor, press Ctrl + Shift + → or ←.
   5. To select text in the paragraph by symbol before or after the cursor, press Shift + → or ←.
   6. To navigate through text by word, Ctrl + Shift + → or ←.
   7. To navigate through text by paragraph, Ctrl + Shift + ↑ or ↓.
   8. To select all the text in a document, Ctrl+A.
3. Easy text alignment. Tab will move the cursor by equal space intervals to the right.
4. View two copies of the document at the same time:
   1. Go to View tab > Split View
   2. Move the divider between the two views to change the size of each.
   3. 
5. Copy and Paste Text:
   1. To copy text, select the text and Ctrl+C.
   2. To paste text, select where to paste and Ctrl+V.
   3. To cut text, select the text and Ctrl+X.
6. Undoing actions after accidentally doing something, perhaps several steps ago. There is (as far as I know) no limit on how many actions you can undo / redo:
   1. To undo an action (step backward), Ctrl+Z.
   2. To redo an action (step forward), Ctrl+Y.
7. To automatically format text as heading of different levels, use the built-in heading templates in HOME tab, Styles area:
   1. Simply place the cursor on the text you want to format, and select the style you wish to apply.
   2. To preview the style without applying, simply hold the mouse over the style block.
8. Finding and replacing text:
   1. To find text, press Ctrl+F and type the text you need to find, then Enter.
   2. To replace a number of reoccurring words / word combinations, Ctrl+H.
9. Spelling check:
   1. Spelling check is enabled by default, and it uses zig-zag underlines to mark text that has spelling mistakes.
   2. To run through all the spelling mistakes, press F7.
   3. You can choose to ignore or replace a misspelled word.
10. Inserting tables
    1. Go to Insert > Table > Select the number of Rows and Columns you need.
    2. Type “+” then Tab multiple times (depending on the number of rows/columns you need) and press Enter.

+             +             +             +             +

↓

11. Insert Table of Contents:
    1. Go to References > Table of Contents > Select one of the automatic tables.
    2. To update the table after you make changes to the document, click anywhere in the table and press F9.

12. Text Formatting.
    1. To make a word­ subscript, Ctrl and +, To make a word­ superscript, Ctrl and Shift and +
    2. To increase font size, use Ctrl and Shift and >, to decrease font size, use Ctrl and Shift and <
    3. To make a word bold, underlined, italic – Ctrl+B, Ctrl+U, Ctrl+I, respectively.
13. Easy converting /saving to PDF using Word’s built-in features.
    1. File > Save As > From the dropdown, select the PDF file format.
    2. File > Print > Select the printer Microsoft Print to PDF.

Download the Tips and Tricks in PDF format: Commit100-MSWordTipsNTricks

Stay tuned for our next blog, where we will discuss tips and tricks for Microsoft Outlook.