When choosing a design template for your PowerPoint presentation,
don't feel limited by the colors that appear in each design. Each
template comes with a variety of color schemes from which to choose.
Assuming you've selected Format, Slide Design and chosen a design,
click Color Schemes at the top of the open task pane. Under "Apply a
color scheme," select a scheme to apply it to your entire
presentation. Or, to apply that scheme to a single slide (or selection
of slides), right-click the color scheme and select Apply to Selected
Slides.
In our last tip, we showed you how to apply a
new color scheme to the design template selected for your PowerPoint
presentation. If you want to take this customization one step further,
you can change individual colors within that scheme.
Select Format, Slide Design to open the Slide Design task pane, click
Color Schemes, and select the color scheme you want to use, if it
isn't already. Click Edit Color Schemes (at the bottom of the task
pane), and under Scheme colors, select the color you want to change.
Click Change Color, select a new color, then click OK. Repeat these
steps until the color scheme appears as you'd like, then click Add as
Standard Scheme. Click Apply and you'll see the scheme back on your
presentation. From now on, you can select this custom look from the
list of color schemes available for that design template.
If you're an Excel user, you know that a cell reference is a
letter-number combination, such as A5, that points to a particular
cell on a worksheet. In working with formulas, it's important to know
the difference between relative and absolute cell references.
A relative reference changes if a formula is moved to a new location
on a worksheet. So for example, if you copied the formula @SUM(A1..A5)
from cell A6 to B6, the resulting formula would read @SUM(B1..B5).
Excel automatically changes the references to point to the five cells
above the formula.
Absolute references, on the other hand, refer to the same cells no
matter where you move the formula that contains them. Assuming you
used absolute references in the example above, after moving the
formula from A6 to B6, the formula would still point to the original
cells--A1 through A5.
If you type a reference using a plain letter-number combo, as in A5,
Excel reads it as a relative reference. That's the default. To
indicate an absolute references, type a dollar sign before each
portion of the cell reference, as in $A$5.
When you open a new Excel worksheet and type inside the cells, the
text appears in 10-point Arial. For a different look, simply change
the default font.
Select Tools, Options and click the General tab. Take your pick of
fonts next to "Standard font," then adjust the "Size," if desired.
Click OK, and you'll see a message that you need to restart Excel for
the change to take effect. Click OK, make sure to save your work, then
close and restart Excel. Every new worksheet will display the new
font.
In our last tip, we showed you how to change Excel's default font.
Unfortunately, you can't change Excel's default gridline color
globally, but you can change it for an individual worksheet.
Open the worksheet in Excel, select Tools, Options and click the View
tab. Next to Gridlines color, click the down arrow and select a new
color. Click OK to apply the change to the open worksheet.
(Tip-in-a-tip: You can
also remove gridlines altogether by deselecting Gridlines.)
Want Word to start in a particular folder whenever you select File,
Open or File, Save? Change the default file location for documents.
Inside Word, select Tools, Options, and click the File Locations tab.
Under File types, select Documents and click Modify. Navigate to your
folder of choice then click OK twice. From now on, the Open and Save
dialog boxes will point to that folder from the start.
In our last tip, we showed you how to change Word's default folder
-- the folder the Open and Save boxes point to automatically. In the
same way, you can change Excel's default file location.
Inside Excel, select Tools, Options and click the General tab. Next to
"Default file location," type the path of the desired folder, then
click OK.
In PowerPoint, you'll find this setting inside the Tools, Options
dialog box on the Save tab.
By default, Word displays black text on a white background (unless
you've changed these settings at the Windows level), but if you
prefer, you can opt for white text on a blue background. (It's
actually a bit easier on the eyes.)
Select Tools, Options and click the General tab. Select "Blue
background, white text" then click OK. To switch back to the default,
simply deselect the same option.
If you frequently work with different file types in Microsoft Word
-- for example, *.doc and *.txt files -- you may find it easier to
display these extensions in Word's title bar (and inside the Open and
Save dialog boxes), if they aren't already. Whether or not to display
file extensions is an option set at the Windows level.
Open any folder window and select Tools, Folder Options. Click the
View tab, deselect "Hide extensions for known file types," then click
OK.
Need to compare data from one side of your Excel worksheet with
some on the other? Split the worksheet into two, identical copies and
you can view those areas side-by-side.
Assuming you want to split the worksheet vertically, select the column
to the right of where you'd like the split, then select Window, Split.
A vertical, gray line appears just to the left of that column. (To
split the workbook horizontally, select a row, then select Window,
Split.)
Now just use the two scroll bars at the bottom of the screen to move
the focus of each copy of the worksheet. When you're finished, simply
select Window, Remove Split.
(Tip-in-a-tip: To move the
split, hold the cursor over the gray bar, and when it changes to a
double-pointed arrow, click and drag in either direction.)
Need to block out some data on that Excel worksheet before you
print it? Excel will hide rows or columns at the click of a button.
Select the columns or rows you want to hide, then select Format,
Column, Hide (or Format, Row, Hide). Like magic, they're gone. When
you want your hidden data back, select at least one cell on either
side of the hidden columns or rows, then select Format, Column (or
Row), Unhide.
Want to add some pizzazz to your Word document? How about some
shimmering text or blinking lights around an important point? Word
comes with six special effects you can apply to selected text.
Select the text you want to dress up and select Format, Font. Click
the text Effects tab, select one of the six animations (a preview
appears at the bottom of the dialog box), then click OK.
In our last tip, we showed you how to animate, or add special
effects to, selected Word text. If you want something a bit less
flashy, you can highlight text the old-fashioned way, with a bright
color.
On the Formatting toolbar, click the Highlight tool. (Note: If you
don't see the Formatting toolbar, select View, Toolbars, Formatting.
Or, if you can't see the Highlight tool on screen, click the
double-arrow on the right edge of the Formatting toolbar to display
the out-of-sight buttons.) Now simply click and drag across various
areas of text to highlight it.
To change the color of your highlighter, click the down arrow on the
Highlight tool and choose one of the 15 available colors. When you're
finished, start typing and highlighter disappears from your pointer.
In our last tip, we showed you how to
highlight Word text. You should also know how to erase it, in case you
make a mistake or change your mind.
Select an area of the document that includes highlighted text -- even
the whole document, to remove all highlighting. Click the down arrow
next to the highlighting icon, select None, and any highlighting in
the selected area disappears.
(Tip-in-a-tip: To hide
highlighting temporarily -- for example, before printing a document --
select Tools, Options, click the View tab, deselect Highlight and
click OK.)
Need to add a footnote to a Word document? Place the cursor where
you want it and select Insert, Reference, Footnote. In the Footnote
and Endnote dialog box, select Footnotes under Location, then click
Insert. Type your footnote in the text area that appears at the bottom
of the page, and when you're done, click the Close button. Now just
keep typing where you left off. Repeat these steps for each footnote
you'd like to add to your document.
Did you know that Word offers menu entertainment? Select Tools,
Customize, click the Options tab, and in the box next to Menu
animations, click the down arrow and select one of four
options--Random, Unfold, Slide or Fade. Click Close, select any menu
at the top of your Word window, and watch the result.
Want to make sure you don't forget an appointment scheduled inside
Outlook's Calendar? Ask Outlook to remind you.
Double-click any appointment to open its dialog box, if it isn't
already, and select the Reminder option. By default, the reminder is
set to occur 15 minutes before the scheduled appointment, but if you
prefer, select a new time. Click Save and Close.
As long as Outlook is up and running, a dialog box will pop up on
screen at the time specified. Click Dismiss to close the box, or
Snooze to make it reappear in five minutes.
Let's imagine that you've just completed a rather long worksheet.
Now you see that you'd rather have the data in column F appear in
column B. Just select column F by clicking the column header (click on
the F). Move the mouse pointer over the left edge of column F until it
turns into a four-way arrow. Press Shift and then drag column F to the
left of column B and release the mouse button.
The data in column F is now in column B. Everything after column B
moves to the right.
Need a summary of that article you just wrote? Before you write one
yourself, try Word's AutoSummarize option. Based on details like
frequently-used words, Word will compile a summary of key points for
you.
With the file open, select Tools, AutoSummarize. Choose one of the
four types of summaries, such as "Create a new document and put the
summary there," then adjust the number next to "Percent of original"
to indicate the desired length. Click OK, and Word creates your
summary.
Do you find yourself typing the same text throughout your Word
documents -- for example, a blurb about yourself or your business?
Turn that text into an AutoText entry, and Word will type it for you.
Inside any document, highlight the text you type frequently and select
Insert, AutoText, New (or press Alt-F3). Type a name for the entry,
such as "closing," and press Enter.
From now on, whenever you type the first few characters of this entry
name, the entry will appear in a box above your typing. Press Enter to
insert the entry, or simply keep typing to ignore it.
(Note: AutoText entries appear only if AutoComplete is on. Select
Insert, AutoText, AutoText; select "Show AutoComplete suggestions" and
click OK.)
If you look at the Word vertical scroll bar (on the right side of the
screen), you'll see a pair of double arrows. You can use these up and
down arrow sets to browse through your Word documents. To choose how
you want to browse, click the 'Select Browse Object' button (the small
round button between the two arrow sets). This opens a dialog box from
which you can choose your browsing method.
Let's say we choose 'Browse by Heading' from the 'Select Browse
Object' dialog box. We can now click the double down arrow to move to
the next heading down in the document. If we click the double up
arrow, we will move upward through the document to the next heading.
You probably know that you can center the contents of a cell
horizontally by selecting that cell and clicking the Center data icon.
But did you also know you can center a cell's contents vertically?
This is a great option if, for example, you have text in a cell that's
higher than it is wide.
Select the cell(s) that include text you'd like to center vertically.
Select Format, Cells and select the Alignment tab. Click the box under
Orientation that shows the word "text" displayed vertically, then
click OK.
Many people use color-coded folders to help make content
identification easier. Why not do the same for your Excel worksheets?
Excel 2002 allows you to set the color of your worksheet tabs (the
tabs at the bottom of the Excel window).
To change the worksheet tab color, right-click a tab and choose Tab
Color. In the Format Tab Color dialog box, select a color and click
OK.
Suppose you're writing a long Word document and you'd like to know
how many times you've used a particular word. You can press Ctrl + F
to open the Find and Replace dialog box. Type in the word you want to
count and then select the check box labeled ' Highlight all items
found in' and click Find All.
Word will highlight every occurrence of the word and provide you with
a count of the number of occurrences.
PowerPoint 2002 allows you to create quickly a photo album that you
can view on your computer. Just choose Insert|Picture|New Photo Album.
When the Photo Album dialog box appears, you can add pictures from
your hard disk or from a camera or scanner. To add pictures from a
folder on your hard disk, click File/Disk to open the Insert New
Pictures dialog box. Now, locate and select the photos you want to
add. To add all the photos in a folder, press Ctrl + A to select them
all and then click Insert. Click Create to create the album.
Finally, choose File|Save As, name the album and click Save.
Do you frequently open two or more Word documents at a time? Here's
a quick way to switch between (or among) them: Ctrl-F6.
If you have only two files open, pressing Ctrl-F6 takes you to the
"other" one. With more than two files open, this shortcut takes you to
the "next" open file. To rotate among multiple files, hold down Ctrl
as you continue to press F6.
Does the Outlook Bar on the left side of your Outlook window take
up too much space? Then ditch it. Pull down the View, menu, deselect
Outlook Bar, and it's out of your way.
You've still got the Folder Bar to take you where you want to go.
Assuming you don't have it showing already, click the name of the
current folder (under the Print icon), and select a folder in the
list.
When you delete an Outlook message, Outlook moves the message to
the Deleted folder. The messages aren't gone; you've just moved them
to a new location. To get them off your system, you'll need to delete
them again from the Deleted Items folder.
Tired of deleting messages twice? Ask Outlook to empty the Deleted
Items folder for you whenever you exit the program. Select Tools,
Options, and on the Other tab, select "Empty the Deleted Items folder
upon exiting." Click OK, and from now on, exiting Outlook wipes this
folder clean.
Excel 2002 makes it easy to add a border to any range of cells.
Just locate the Borders button (just to the left of the Fill Color
button) in the Formatting toolbar. Click the arrow at the right side
of the Borders and choose Draw Borders. Now use the mouse to draw a
border around a range of cells.
Suppose you'd like to calculate quickly 32.7 multiplied by 4.5. You
enter 32.7*4.5 and that's what appears in the cell--32.7*4.5. Excel
requires an equal sign (=) before all formulas. Therefore, to make the
calculation work, you can enter
=32.7*4.5
and press Enter.
You can also change Excel so you can enter 32.7*4.5 and get a
calculation. To do this, choose Tools|Options. When the Options dialog
box opens, click the Transition tab. Select the 'Transition formula
entry' check box and then click OK to close the dialog box and apply
your settings.
When entering data in an Excel workbook, type a number that starts
with zero--such as 0765--press Enter, and the zero disappears. Want
Excel to leave your typing alone? Switch to the Text format.
Before entering data, highlight the cells you want to 'protect'
against number formatting. Select Format, Cells and on the Number tab,
under Category, select Text. Click OK and now you can type whatever
you want in those cells--Excel won't change a thing.
Suppose that you have a number of cells that you need to keep track
of as you work. You could scroll around your worksheet to check the
cells periodically, or you could add them to Excel 2002's new Watch
Window.
Try this: enter a number into cell A1, then click the Sheet3 tab and
enter a number into cell A1 in the new sheet. Right-click cell A1 in
Sheet3 and choose Add Watch. This will open the Watch Window that will
display the contents of cell A1 in Sheet3.
Move to Sheet1 now. Right-click cell A1 and choose Add Watch. Excel
will add cell A1 of Sheet1 to the Watch Window. No matter where you
navigate, you can keep an eye on the contents of the cells in the
Watch Window.
If you need to generate random numbers in Excel, you will first
have to load the Analysis ToolPak. To do this, choose Tools|Add-Ins.
When the dialog box opens, select the check box labeled 'Analysis
ToolPak' and click OK.
Let's suppose now that you would like to generate random numbers in
the range 1 to 100. Go to cell A1 and type
=randbetween(1,100)
then press Enter. Each time you want to generate a new number, press
F9.
When you add drawings to Word documents, by default all the graphic
objects align to fixed gridlines (snap to grid). To see these
gridlines, first choose View|Toolbars|Drawing (unless your Drawing
toolbar is already visible at the bottom of the Word window). Now
click Draw|Grid. When the Drawing Grid dialog box opens, select the
'Display gridlines on screen' check box. Choose the options you want
to use, and then click OK.
In previous versions of PowerPoint, once you grouped objects
together, editing any of the objects required you to ungroup first.
This isn't necessary in PowerPoint 2002. To work with an individual
object in a group, click once to select the group, and then click on a
single object to select it. Now you can format that object
individually.
Want maximum viewing space in your Outlook preview pane? Remove the
bar of information at the top. (The technical term for this bar is the
'preview pane header'.) Double-click the line at the very top of the
header, and the header disappears. If and when you want your header
back, just double-click this same line.
In previous Word versions, pasting in a hyperlink allowed you to
click that link and navigate to its web page. The problem was that
accidentally clicking a link led you to a web page when you didn't
want to go there.
You can still use hyperlinks in Word 2002 but, to navigate to a link,
you have to hold down Ctrl while you click the link. This eliminates
the accidental web navigation that occurred so easily in past versions
of Word.
When you start Word, you get black text on a white background, and
this is Ok with most users. However, Word offers you the option of
white text on a blue background. You may find this color combination
easier on your eyes. To change Word's colors to white text on a blue
background, choose Tools|Options. When the Options dialog box opens,
click the General tab. Now, select the check box labeled "Blue
background, white text" and then click OK to close the dialog box and
accept your new selection.
We ran across a bit of an Excel oddity recently. We had some
historical data on a worksheet so we decided to name the worksheet
"History." Excel reported that "History" is a reserved name. We asked
an Excel expert about this and she said that the History name is used
by Excel to keep track of changes when one uses the Track Changes
feature.
Here's a simple macro that you can use to count the number of rows
in a selected range. To enter the macro, choose Tools|Macro|Macros.
Click in the "Macro name" entry box and type in RowCount. Click Create
and enter the macro as shown below. Note that Excel will automatically
enter Sub RowCount() and End Sub so you really only need to enter the
middle two rows.
Sub RowCount()
X = Selection.Rows.Count
MsgBox X
End Sub
Press Alt + Q to return to Excel. Select cells A1 through A5 and then
press Alt + F8. Double-click RowCount to run it. It should report the
number of selected rows.
Note: This is a very simple macro, but one you can add other features
to as you learn more about writing macros.
Did a purple dotted line just appear under some Word text -- for
example, a date? That data has just been recognized as a particular
type (in this case, a date) and labeled with what Office XP calls a
"smart tag." You can now perform certain actions -- for which you'd
normally use another application--with that data.
Hold your mouse pointer over the underlined text and a Smart Tag
Actions button appears with the letter "i" in it. Hold your mouse
pointer over that button, click the down arrow, and you'll see a menu
of available actions. For example, you might choose "Schedule a
Meeting" to open an Outlook meeting dialog box with that date
selected.
(Tip-in-a-tip: Remember the Alt-Shift-F10 shortcut mentioned in the
last tip? Once you see the Smart Tag Actions button, you can use this
combo to display the list of actions.)
Don't want anyone opening a Word or Excel file? Then
password-protect it.
With the *.doc or *.xls file you want to protect open in Word or
Excel, select Tools, Options and click the Security tab. In the text
box next to "Password to open," type the desired password -- up to 15
letters, numbers, spaces and/or symbols -- then click OK. Type your
password again when asked, then click OK one more time. From now on,
any attempt to open that file will bring up a password dialog box. No
password, no entry.
(Note: Write your password down somewhere. If you forget it, you won't
be able to open your own file!)
In our last tip, we showed you how to attach a
password to a Word or Excel file, to prevent anyone but you from
opening it. In the same way, you can keep anyone from modifying that
file unless he or she knows the password.
With the *.doc or *.xls file you want to protect open in Word or
Excel, select Tools, Options and click the Security tab. Type a
password -- up to 15 letters, numbers, spaces and/or symbols -- next
to the "Password to modify," click OK, type the password again when
asked, then click OK one more time. Now a person can open that file
(assuming you haven't attached an open password to it), but can't save
any changes to it.
In the last two tips, we showed you how to require a
password to open or modify a Word or Excel file: With that file open,
select Tools, Options, click the Security tab, type the desired
password, click OK, type it again, then click OK again. Change your
mind? You can modify the password or remove it altogether.
Access the Security tab of the password-protected file, as described
above, then select the password you want to change or remove. (It will
appear as a row of asterisks next to "Password to open" or "Password
to modify.") To change the password, simply type a new one, click OK,
type it again, and so on, as described above. To remove the selected
password, press Delete on your keyboard, then click OK.
If you cut/copy and paste an area of text into the
current Word XP document, a Paste Options button appears nearby (smack
in the middle of your document). What's it doing there? This button
allows you to format the pasted text. For example, to match the
formatting of the pasted text to that of the text around it, click the
Paste Options button and select Match Destination Formatting.
To get rid of this button, press the Escape key on your keyboard; or
even easier, start typing.
(Note: If you don't like the Paste Options button popping up on screen
all the time, you can turn it off as follows: Select Tools, Options;
click the Edit tab; deselect Show Paste Options Buttons; and click
OK.)
If you've used newer versions of Word, you're
familiar with the AutoCorrect Feature: You type something that isn't
correctly formatted, such as a small letter at the beginning of a
sentence, and Word fixes it. This feature comes in handy when you make
a mistake, but not so handy when you intended to type what you did.
Fortunately, Word XP adds some flexibility to AutoCorrect. Hold your
mouse pointer over the item that was just corrected and you'll see a
narrow blue rectangle below that text. Move the pointer down a bit and
the AutoCorrect icon appears. Click it for a list of AutoCorrect
options. If you don't agree with the change this time only, select
Undo [such-and-such]. To turn that AutoCorrect option off altogether,
select Stop [doing such-and-such].
Just used the same word too many times in one
sentence or paragraph? Before you start rummaging through Word XP's
thesaurus -- Tools, Language, Thesaurus -- to find a replacement, try
this neat trick: Right-click the word, select Synonym, and take your
pick from the resulting list. Word makes the replacement
automatically.
Want to start working on a new document,
spreadsheet, presentation, email message, Web page or database? Office
XP offers one central location of templates from which to choose.
Click the Start button and select New Office Document to open the New
Office Document dialog box. Click the tab that corresponds to the type
of document you'd like to open, then select any template to see its
preview (if available) on the right side of the dialog box. Click OK
to open that template in its native application.
In a previous tip, we told you that you could use
the Start, New Office Document command to preview or open an Office XP
template in its native application. Upon selecting certain templates
for preview, you'll see the message, 'Click OK to install additional
templates and create a new file' in the right pane of the dialog box.
In other words, the selected template has not been installed yet.
Assuming you want to install it, click OK and insert your Office XP
disk when asked. Click OK to complete the installation and open that
template.
(Note: Following these steps will install all templates on the current
tab of the New Office Document dialog box.)
Two tips back, we showed you how to open any Office
XP template -- document, spreadsheet, presentation, whatever -- from
one location: Select Start, New Office Document, click a tab, select a
template and click Open. Similarly, you can open any existing Office
XP file from one place. Select Start, Open Office Document, navigate
your way to the appropriate location, select a file and click Open.
In our last two tips, we showed you how to open any
Office XP template or existing file using the Start menu's New Office
Document or Open Office Document commands. If you find you use these
commands frequently, add them to the desktop or your Taskbar's Quick
Launch toolbar for quicker access.
To add one of these commands to your desktop, minimize all open
windows to display the desktop. (Tip: Click the Show Desktop icon on
your Quick Launch toolbar, or right-click blank area of your Taskbar
and select Minimize All Windows.) Select Start, right-click and drag
the New Office Document or Open Office Document command out to the
desktop, let go and select Create Shortcut(s) Here.
To add one of these commands to your Quick Launch toolbar (the row of
icons on the Taskbar next to the Start button), click Start,
click-and-drag the New Office Document or Open Office Document command
to the desired location on the Quick Launch toolbar (to the left or
right of an existing icon) and when a black, vertical line appears,
let go.
When you select a dropdown menu -- such as File,
Edit, or View -- in an Office XP program, you'll notice that only the
most basic commands appear. (Note: As you work, Office adjusts this
list to include your most frequently used commands.) In order to
display the rest of the commands, you need to click the arrows at the
bottom of that menu.
If you don't like this abbreviated-menus feature, you're fat outta
luck -- Microsoft doesn't provide a way to turn it off. However, there
is a workaround to display all of a menu's commands the first time
around: Simply double-click the menu name.
If you have your Word XP zoom set to 100%, and then
suddenly decide to turn the Task Pane on (or you select a command that
activates it), you won't be able to see all your text without the use
of the horizontal scrollbar. To alleviate this problem, change your
zoom to Text Width: Click the down arrow next to 100% on your toolbar
and select Text Width. Now when the Task Pane appears, your text
shrinks down to fit inside the smaller text-editing window. Close the
Task Pane, and the text grows again to fill the screen.
(In case you don't remember, the Task Pane is the pane of options that
appears on the right side of the window when you start most Office XP
programs. You can turn it on and off using the View, Task Pane
command.)
Want to open an important file as 'read-only'
(meaning you can look, but not touch), to protect it from
unintentional changes? Way back when, you had to mark the file
Read-only using its Properties dialog box. With Office XP, you can
open any file as Read-only on a one-time basis.
In Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Access, select File, Open and select the
file you want to open. Click the down arrow at the right edge of the
Open button and select Open Read-Only. Instantly, the file appears
with '(Read-Only)' on the title bar. Look all you want, but if you try
to save any changes, Office won't let you. When you're finished, close
the file as usual.
The next time you open the same file -- for example, when you are
ready to make some changes -- it will open just like always, without
the Read-Only attribute attached.
How many times have you opened a file, started
playing around with changes, and before you knew it, saved the changes
right over the original? Play around with a copy of a file, and if
necessary, you can go back to what you started with -- the original.
In Word, Excel or PowerPoint, select File, Open, select the desired
file, click the down arrow on the Open button and select Open as Copy.
The application's title bar will now read 'Copy (1) of
[such-and-such-a-file].' Make all the changes you want -- you won't
affect the original, even if you save your changes. And if you WANT
your changes to overwrite the original, you can do that, too. Select
File, Save As, select the original filename click Save, select Replace
existing file (in the resulting dialog box) and click OK.
In our last tip, we showed you how to work on a copy
of a file, so changes don't affect the original: Select File, Open,
select the desired file, click the down arrow on the Open button and
select Open as Copy. We also mentioned that you can save any changes
you make to the original by selecting File, Save As and saving the
file under the original name. So what happens if, in the case of a
Word document, you like some of what you started with (the original)
and some of the copy? Not a problem. Just merge the two.
With the copy of the document open (but not the original), select
File, Save As and choose the original filename. Click Save, and in the
resulting dialog box, select 'Merge changes into existing file.' Click
OK, and you'll be presented with the original document, changes
displayed in red.
Didn't really want to do that? Click the Undo icon (or select Edit,
Undo Merge Document) and you're back to the original.
Just the opposite, ready to go through and accept or reject changes?
More in our next tip...
In our last tip, we showed you how to merge a copy
of a Word document with the original, in case you like some of each:
From the copy of the document, select File, Save As, choose the
original filename, click Save, select 'Merge changes into existing
file' and click OK. You'll now see the original document, with changes
-- both additions and deletions--in red.
Now you're ready to accept or delete each change. Place your cursor at
the beginning of the document and on the Reviewing toolbar (which
appears like when you merge the documents), click the Next button. The
first change will appear highlighted. Assuming you want to keep the
change, click the Accept Change button (on the Reviewing toolbar). Or,
click the Reject Change/Delete Comment button to remove the change.
Click Next to jump to the next change, accept or reject it, and so on,
until you've gone through the entire document.
(Tip-in-a-tip: To accept all changes in one fell swoop, click the down
arrow on the right edge of the Accept Change button and select Accept
All Changes in Document. You can use a similar command under the
Reject Change/Delete Comment button to remove all changes.)
When you open multiple Word, Excel, PowerPoint or
Access files, you'll notice that each appears as a separate item on
your Windows Taskbar. This feature is handy for quick switching among
files, unless you tend to open lots of files at once -- then, your
Taskbar gets pretty crowded.
To display all files of the same application on only one Taskbar item,
select Tools, Options and on the View tab, deselect Windows in
Taskbar. Click OK. (Note: You must set this option separately for each
application.)
Wondering what all your hard work will look like on
the Web? Before you save that Word document, Excel spreadsheet or
PowerPoint presentation as a Web page, take a sneak peek. Select File,
Web Page Preview, and Office XP gives you a preview of what that file
will look like html-style, right in your browser window.
In our last tip, we showed you how to take a sneak
peek at what your Word document, Excel spreadsheet or PowerPoint
presentation would look like as a Web page: With that file open,
select File, Web Page Preview. Ready to actually make the save? Office
XP offers a command just for this purpose.
With the file you want to save as a Web page open in its native
application, select File, Save as Web Page. Type a new filename, if
desired, then click the Change Title button and type a page title (to
appear in the browser's title bar). Click OK, then click Save.
Just finished a powerful document or spreadsheet you
want to share with a friend or co-worker? Send it off via email with
one quick click. Click the Email button on Word or Excel's formatting
toolbar (by default, the fourth button from the left) or select File,
Send To, Mail Recipient. Fill in the appropriate address, click Send a
Copy (or Send this Sheet), and off it goes.
If you change you mind, and decide not to send the email, you can get
rid of the email fields above your document by clicking the email
button (or selecting File, Send To, Mail Recipient) again.
(Note: Your file will appear in the body of the message, so if you
want to type a message, do so on the Subject line.)
In our last tip, we showed you how to send an open
Word or Excel file to someone via email: Click the Email button (or
select File, Send To, Mail Recipient), complete the To field, then
click Send a Copy or Send this Sheet. If you'd prefer, you can send
your file as an attachment, and then draft a message in the body of
the email.
Select File, Send To, Mail Recipient (as Attachment). In the resulting
window, complete the To field and draft your message, as usual, then
click Send.
Of course, the Send To, Mail Recipient (as Attachment) command is also
available from PowerPoint and Access.
Want to add a signature -- for example, your name,
title and email address -- to all new Outlook messages? That way, you
won't have to go through the trouble of typing it over and over.
Inside Outlook, select Tools, Options and click the Mail Format tab.
Click the Signatures button at the bottom of the resulting dialog box,
and then click New. Type a name for the signature, click Next, type
the desired signature text and click Finish. Click OK, and the
signature you just created appears next to Signature for New Messages.
Click OK. The next time you draft a new message, there's your
signature in the body of the message.
In our last tip, we showed you how to add a
signature, such as your name, title and email address, to all new
Outlook messages: Inside Outlook, select Tools, Options; click the
Mail Format tab; click the Signatures button; click New; type a name
for the signature; click Next; type the desired signature text; click
Finish; and click OK twice.
If you've used previous versions of Outlook (or even if you haven't),
you'll notice that Outlook 2002 allows you to add a signature to
replies and forwards as well. Assuming you've followed the steps above
to create a signature, open the Tools, Options dialog box and click
the Mail Format tab. Under Signature, click the down arrow next to
Signature for Replies and Forwards and select the signature you
created. (Alternatively, click the Signatures button to create a new
signature, then come back and select it on the Mail format tab -- you
don't have to use the same one for both.) Click OK.
Word (and other Office XP applications) comes packed
with templates (document designs). However, if you can't find what
you're looking for, take a trip online to the Office Template Gallery.
With the Task Pane displayed (if it's not, select View, Task Pane),
under New Templates, click 'Templates on Microsoft.com.' (Note: If you
aren't online already, Office XP will prompt you to connect.) Select
your country on the map, and you'll find yourself in the Template
Gallery. Select a category and so on, until you find what you're
looking for. Click 'Go to Preview' to view that template, and if it's
what you're looking for, click Edit in Microsoft Word (or Excel,
whatever). Wait for the download, and you'll find yourself back in
Word with a new document based on that template. Edit it as you would
any other document.
Want to uncover the formatting of some Word text --
for example, if you don't have the Formatting toolbar displayed?
Highlight the text, then select Format, Reveal Formatting.
Immediately, the Task Pane displays information such as font,
language, alignment and indentation. (Tip: Click the plus sign next to
Section and you'll see the margins, layout and paper size, too.)
Working on an Excel spreadsheet, and suddenly you
see a little icon with an exclamation point in it? Don't panic -- it's
only a Trace Error button. Excel notifies you whenever a formula
appears to have an error in it. (You'll also see a green triangle in
the upper-left corner of the cell containing the formula.) Right-click
the arrow next to the Trace Error button to view a list of error
checking options.
In our last tip, we mentioned Excel's Trace Error
button (an exclamation point button that appears when Excel believes a
formula has an error in it). And in a previous tip, we mentioned the
Paste Options button that appears in Word and other applications when
you paste text or data. Want a quick way to display the options
offered by these and other buttons without touching your mouse? When
the button appears, press Alt-Shift-F10.
In our last tip, we showed you how to view the types
of data Word labels with smart tags: Select Tools, AutoCorrect Options
and click the Smart Tags tab. If you like this whole Smart Tag thing,
you may want to add more 'Recognizers' to the list.
On the Smart Tags tab, click the More Smart Tags button. Assuming
you're online (if not, Office XP will prompt you to connect), your
browser window will open to the eServices Smart Tags page. Select a
category, then select a smart tag you want to download. For example,
under News and Weather, you might choose to download the MSNBC.com
smart tag (so you can check the weather, local news or sports in up to
190 recognized cities). Close all Office XP applications, then follow
the directions to complete the download and installation. Open Word,
select Tools, AutoCorrect Options, click the Smart Tag tab, and you'll
see the new smart tag listed under Recognizers.
Want to be sure you lose no more than a few minutes
of work if your computer hangs while you're using an Office XP
application? In Word, Excel or PowerPoint, select Tools, Options and
click the Save tab. Next to 'Save AutoRecover Info Every,' use the up
and down arrows to adjust how often the app creates a document
recovery file. For example, you might set this interval to five
minutes. Click OK and rest assured -- if for some reason, your work is
interrupted (crash, power loss, whatever), starting that application
will bring up the AutoRecover file. Even if you hadn't saved that file
in over an hour, Office XP did!
Want to insert some clip art into a Word, Excel or
PowerPoint document? Select Insert, Picture, Clip Art. Assuming this
is the first time you've worked with Office XP clip art, the Clip
Organizer will appear and give you the opportunity to organize all the
clips on your system into collections. (It takes a few minutes, but if
you're going to be working with clips a lot, it's worth it.) When it
finishes, you'll see all the clips on your system organized into
folders (with their original names) under My Collection. Nothing has
been moved -- these are just shortcuts.
Now to insert that clip art. Open the collection that contains the
graphic you want to use -- probably Office Collections, and navigate
your way to the desired clip. Right-click its thumbnail, select Copy,
then switch over to Word and click Paste (or press Ctrl-V).
In our next tip, using the Insert Clip Art task pane.
In our last tip, we showed you how to insert your
very first piece of clip art into a Word, Excel or PowerPoint file:
Select Insert, Picture, Clip Art; allow the Clip Organizer to organize
all the clips on your system into collections; open a collection --
probably Office Collections; navigate to the desired clip; right-click
its thumbnail; select Copy; switch over to Word and click Paste.
In the future, selecting Insert, Picture, Clip Art will display the
Insert Clip Art task pane. If all you want to do is browse, open the
Clip Organizer by clicking its link at the bottom of the pane.
However, if you know what you're looking for, it's much easier to
conduct a search. Type a keyword, such as 'Food,' in the Search Text
box, then click Search. Right-click the image you want to use and
select Insert. To start over or modify your search, click the Modify
button.
In our last tip, we showed you how to search for
clip art using the Insert Clip Art task pane. Can't figure out why
sometimes you end up with lots of search results, and sometimes not,
even with the same search criteria? It all depends on whether you're
online.
If you're connected to the Web, Office XP includes clips from
Microsoft's Design Gallery Live in the results. (An online clip
displays a globe in its lower-left corner.) Obviously, if you aren't
connected when you conduct a search, or when you open the Clip
Organizer, Office XP can't display these clips.
You probably know what the Windows Clipboard is.
When you cut or copy an item -- text, graphics, shortcut, whatever --
it goes to the Clipboard and stays there until you choose the Paste
command. (Actually, it stays there until you cut or copy another item,
which replaces the first one.) But did you know that Office XP has its
very own clipboard, called -- what else -- the Office Clipboard?
To display the Office Clipboard from inside Word, Excel or PowerPoint,
select Edit, Office Clipboard. The clipboard appears as a task pane on
the right side of the screen. Each of the items you see inside the
rectangular box is an item that's been cut or copied. The Office
Clipboard can hold up to 24 of these items. To paste a clipboard item
into the current document, just click it.
In our last tip, we told you that you can display
the Office Clipboard (a holding area for up to 24 cut or copied items
that you can then paste into other locations) by selecting Edit,
Office Clipboard. If you're a keyboard person, there's an even faster
way to get there: Press Ctrl-C, and while still holding down the Ctrl
key, press the 'C' again.
You can also display the Office Clipboard using the dropdown menu at
the top-right of the task pane. Click the down arrow; then select
Clipboard.
Need to save the current document under another
name? Don't waste time dragging your mouse all the way up to that File
menu and selecting Save As. Simply press F12 on your keyboard to open
the Save As dialog box
Just typed some Word text in ALL CAPS by mistake?
Before you start re-typing, try this neat trick: Select the text, then
press Shift-F3. (Note: Continuing to press Shift-F3 will rotate the
text through title case, uppercase and lowercase.)
Want to switch from one open window to the next in a
given Office XP application? Press Ctrl-F6. (Note: If all files are
open in a single window, Ctrl-F6 will still rotate you through those
files.) To move backwards through open windows or files in a program,
press Ctrl-Shift-F6.
Want Outlook to open every time you start your
computer? Place a shortcut to this application in your Startup folder.
Locate the shortcut you use to open Outlook -- in the Start menu, on
the desktop, wherever -- right-click it and select Copy. Now
right-click the Start button and select Open, double-click Programs,
then double-click Startup. Inside the Startup folder, right-click a
blank area and select Paste. Close all open windows.
From now on, whenever you start your computer, Outlook starts, too.
(Of course, you can use this technique to launch any other Office app
at startup.)
By default, Outlook always opens to your Inbox
folder, but if you prefer, it will start in your folder of choice.
Inside Outlook, select Tools, Options. Click the Other tab, and under
General, click Advanced Options. Click the down arrow next to "Startup
in this folder," select your startup folder of choice, then click OK
twice to close all open dialog boxes.
In our last tip, we showed you how to start Outlook
in a folder other than the default Inbox. You can still jump directly
to your Inbox at any time. Simply press Ctrl-Shift-I on your keyboard.
In previous versions of Outlook, there was no way to
request a return receipt -- a message to let you know your e-mail had
been delivered or read -- when sending a message. Office XP includes
this functionality in Outlook 2002.
Upon completing your message, but before clicking Send, select File,
Properties (inside the message window). On the General tab, select
"Read receipt requested" and/or "Delivery receipt requested," as
desired, then click OK. Click Send, as usual, and off goes your
message.
If you've requested a delivery receipt, as soon as the recipient gets
the message, an e-mail is sent to let you know. If you've requested a
read receipt and the recipient is also using Outlook 2002, he or she
will see a message that you've asked for a receipt and can decide
whether to send it or not.
In our last tip, we showed you how to request
delivery or read receipts for individual Outlook messages. If you use
these features all the time, you may want to use them for all outgoing
messages.
Inside Outlook, select Tools, Options. On the Preferences tab, click
the E-mail Options button, then click Tracking Options. Select "Read
receipt," "Delivery Receipt" or both, then click OK until all open
dialog boxes are closed.
Need help with an Office XP application? The most
straightforward way is to use the Ask a Question box on the right side
of that program's menu toolbar. Click where it says, "Type a question
for help" (in gray letters), then type your question. Press Enter and
a list of related Help topics appears. Click any one to view it in a
full-sized Help window.
In our last tip, we showed you how to use the Ask a
Question box to find help with any Office application. Want some
assistance with a bit more personality? Try the Office Assistant -- by
default, an animated paper clip.
From inside any application, press F1 or select Help, Microsoft
[Program Name] Help. (If the assistant is already on screen, click it
once.) Inside the "What would you like to do?" balloon, type your
question and click Search. Select any topic to display it inside the
Microsoft [Program Name] Help window.
To search for another topic, click the assistant again or use one of
the three tabs -- Contents, Answer Wizard, or Index -- on the left
side of the Help window. (Note: If you don't see these tabs, click the
Show icon -- second from the left at the top of the Help window.)
In our last tip, we showed you how to call upon the
Office Assistant for help with any Office application. Sometimes,
though, it appears on screen even when you didn't ask for help. If you
find this feature annoying, ask the assistant to stay out of sight
until you ask for help.
Right-click the assistant and select Options. (If you don't see it on
screen, select Help, Show the Office Assistant.) Deselect Guess Help
topics, then click OK. Now, the assistant will appear only when you
press F1 or select Help, Microsoft [Program Name] Help.
Do you like the idea of the Office Assistant, but
wish it came in another form? There are eight different assistants
from which to choose.
Right-click the assistant and select Choose Assistant. If you don't
see it on screen, select Help, Show the Office Assistant.) Use the
Next and Back buttons to rotate through all available assistants, and
when you settle on one, click OK.
Unless you've picked Merlin, you'll see a message asking if you'd like
to install the selected character. Insert your Office XP installation
CD, click Yes, and when the installation finishes, the selected
character appears on screen.
Want to turn the Office Assistant off altogether?
Right-click the assistant and select Options. (If you don't see it on
screen, select Help, Show the Office Assistant.) Or, if you're looking
at the yellow, "What would you like to do?" balloon, click the Options
button.
Deselect "Use Office Assistant," then click OK. From now on, selecting
Help, Microsoft [Program Name] Help or pressing F1 brings up only the
normal Help dialog box. If you change your mind and want the assistant
back, select Help, Show the Office Assistant.
Over the past tips, we've discussed how to use and
change the behavior of the Office Assistant and Office XP Help. If you
can't find what you're looking for there, try going online to track
down an answer.
From inside the Microsoft [Program Name] Help dialog box, type your
question on the Answer Wizard tab, then click "Search on Web." (Note:
If you don't see an Answer Wizard tab, click the Show icon -- second
from the left at the top of the Help window.) Then, in the right pane,
scroll down and click where it says "Send and go to the Web." Assuming
you're already online (if not, you'll be prompted to make a
connection), your browser window will open to the Microsoft Office
Website Search results.
Not too familiar with PowerPoint? Use the
AutoContent wizard to get started on a presentation in seconds flat.
Open PowerPoint and in the task pane that appears on the right side of
the screen, click "From AutoContent Wizard." Click Next, click the
button that corresponds to the category of presentation you want to
create, select a type of presentation and click Next. Select the type
of output you'll use, then click Next again. Type a title and any text
you want in the footer of each page, click Next, then click Finish.
You're now presented with the title page of your presentation,
complete with an outline on the left side of the screen. Move from one
page to the next, replacing titles and bullet points with your own
text, and don't forget to save your hard work.
In our last tip, we showed you how to use the
AutoContent Wizard to whip up a quick presentation. Now happy with
PowerPoint's design choice? Then change it.
Select Format, Slide Design (or click the Design button), and in the
Apply a design template box on the right side of the screen, select a
new design. By default, PowerPoint applies the design to all slides in
the presentation. If you don't like it, select another until you do.
(Of course, you can use these steps to change the design of any
presentation -- not just one created from the AutoContent Wizard.)
When you select Format, Slide Design inside
PowerPoint to choose a new design for an open presentation, by
default, PowerPoint applies the design to every slide. But if you
prefer, you can apply a design to a single slide or a selection.
To re-design a single slide, switch to that slide and select Format,
Slide Design (or click the Design button). Right-click the design you
want to use and select Apply to Selected Slides.
To apply that design to a number of slides, hold down the Ctrl key as
you click each slide on the left side of the screen. Now right-click
the desired design and select Apply to Selected Slides.
Many tips back, we showed you how to highlight Word
text. Assuming you've highlighted a number of areas in a single
document, it's easy to jump from one to the next.
Select Edit, Find and make sure the Find What field is blank. Click
the More button to display all search options, if they aren't already
visible. Click the Format button, select Highlight, then click Find
Next.
Don't have time to proofread outgoing e-mail? Ask
Outlook to do it for you. Select Tools, Options, and on the Spelling
tab, select "Always check spelling before sending." Click OK, and from
now on, Outlook will check the spelling in each message before sending
it.
If you're creating a Word masterpiece, don't assume
you're stuck with the standard Portrait layout (8.5" wide by 11" high,
assuming that's the size paper you're using). Landscape orientation
offers a much wider view by turning your page on its side.
Before you start designing, select File, Page Setup, and on the
Margins tab, under Orientation, select Landscape. Click OK and Word
makes the change. To be sure, select File, Print Preview.
Want to get up close and personal with your Word
document--for example, when you're working with small text or
graphics? Zoom in a little.
See the box that says "100%" on the Standard Toolbar? Click its down
arrow and select a zoom option. For example, Page Width gives you a
slight zoom, while 150% makes things really big. To switch back to the
100% view, follow the steps above, but select 100% in the dropdown
zoom list.
Want to know how many words you've typed so far in
that Word document? Select Tools, Word Count and you'll see more than
just a word count--pages, paragraphs, lines -- more info than you'll
ever need.
(Tip-in-a-tip: To see how many hours you've spent creating that file,
select File, Document Properties, click the Statistics tab, and check
out the total editing time.)
Do you save lots of Outlook messages for future
reading? Don't leave them in your Inbox, where they just become
clutter. File them away in custom folders, where they're easy to find.
To create a new folder, select File, Folder, New Folder. Type a Folder
name, select the folder in which you'd like to create the new folder
(most likely, Personal Folders), and click OK. Your new folder now
appears in the folder list.
To move a message to the new folder, click and drag it from the
message list to the new folder and let go. (Note: If the Folder List
is not visible, right- click the message, select Move To Folder,
select the appropriate folder, and click OK.)
By default, Outlook marks a message "read" (meaning
it no longer appears in bold text) after it's been open in the preview
pane for 5 seconds. But that doesn't necessarily mean you've READ the
message. For more control over when messages are marked read, turn
automatic marking off.
Select Tools, Options, click the Other tab, then click the Preview
Pane button. Deselect "Mark messages as read in preview window," then
click OK. From now on, a message will be marked read only if you open
the message in a separate window by double-clicking it, or you
right-click the message and select Edit, Mark as Read.
Just format some text in Word--for example,
italicized, underlined, 16-point, Perpetua--and now you want to apply
these same attributes to more text in the same document? Don't waste
time selecting all those options again. Word's Format Painter will
copy formatting from one area of text to another.
First, select the area of text that has the formatting you'd like to
copy. Next, click the Format Painter icon (it looks like a
paintbrush), and your mouse pointer will have a paintbrush symbol
attached. Click and drag to highlight the area of text to which you'd
like to apply the formatting, let go, and the Format Painter
transforms the text.
In our last tip, we introduced the Format Painter
icon: Select an area of text that has formatting you'd like to copy,
click the Format Painter icon, click and drag to highlight the area of
text to which you'd like to apply the formatting and let go.
By design, you can only copy formatting to one area of text. That is,
unless you know this trick: Double-click the Format Painter icon. Now
go ahead and select each area of text you want to format. When you're
finished, click the icon to deselect it.
Just get interrupted in the middle of writing an
important e-mail? Save the message in Outlook's Drafts folder, and you
can finish it later.
Inside the new message window, select File, Save. You won't see
anything happen, but the message has been saved in your Drafts folder.
When you're ready to get back to work, open the Drafts folder,
double-click the partially-completed message, and pick up where you
left off. When you're finished, just click the Send button, as always.
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