TIPS
Internet Explorer Tip 1
Save time using keyboard shortcuts
Question. Do you ever get tired of typing www. and .com?
Answer. Save keystrokes, for .com web sites, by typing only the site name.
What to do
- To change the address, first use the keyboard shortcut ALT + D. This will highlight (select) the address field. Leave the highlighting.
- If you are entering a .com web site, just type the site name only, then use the keyboard shortcut CTRL + Enter (hold down the CTRL key, and tap the Enter key); www. and .com, will be added to the address and Internet Explorer will take you to the web site. For example, type weather, hit the CTRL + Enter keys; you will go directly to the www.weather.com web site. That's it, you're done.
Internet Explorer Tip 2
Find text faster on large web pages
What to do
- Click the Edit menu, then click the Find on this Page command
- Enter the word(s) you are looking for in the Find box, and then click Next (or Previous), to locate next or previous occurrence of the word(s) on that web page.
Microsoft Office Tip 1
Correct mistakes with the undo function.
Question. Do you ever make one or more mistakes that you want to undo?
Answer. You can use the Undo Function to go back one or more steps to what you had previously.
Explanation
- Do you ever do something you don’t want - or something unexpected happens and you want to go back to what you had before? A mistake can be losing some text you just typed, or suddenly your document looks all messed up. You can go back one or more steps to what you had previously using the undo function.
What to do
- Word has an “unlimited” number of Undos.
- In Word - you can undo one action (the last one) by doing
Edit-->Undo, (or CTRL +Z, or click the Undo icon - the blue back arrow on the Standard toolbar.
- To undo multiple actions at one time, use the down arrow next to the undo blue arrow icon on the Standard Toolbar. Scroll to the undo point you want and click on it.
- If you undo too many steps, use the Redo Function to redo what you just undid (Edit--> Redo, CTRL + Y, or click the forward blue arrow icon on the standard toolbar)
- Power Point - has a limited number of Undos. Set the number of undo on the Tools-->Options menu. On the Edit tab, set the number of undos you want; the maximum number is 150. Use Undo just as you would in Word.
- Excel - the maximum number of Undos is 16; however you cannot always count on 16 undos. There are several actions that can wipe out the undo buffer; try undo in Excel, but to be safe, save your document frequently or consider saving multiple versions.
- Important. Undo works only when you are working on your document. Once you close your document, undo is wiped out. When you open the document again, there are no undos.
Excel Tip 1
Save time updating a spreadsheet by editing instead of re-typing.
Question. Do you ever want to change just one or two characters in a cell?
Answer. You can change some of the contents of a cell by editing, eliminating the need to re-type everything.
What to do
- Navigate to the cell you want to edit - by clicking on it, or moving to it with the Tab or Arrow keys. The cell will be outlined in black. Then use one of the 3 methods below to enter Edit mode.
- Method 1: Edit in the formula bar. Click in the formula bar (blank field, located after the fx, in the toolbar below the formatting toolbar).The cursor will be blinking wherever you clicked. You can click before or after the character(s) where you want to make the change.
- Method 2: Edit in the cell, by double clicking in the cell; the cursor will be blinking exactly where you clicked.
- Method 3: Edit in the cell by pressing the F2 key, (at the top of the keyboard). The cursor will be blinking after the last character.
- Note: Before you go into Edit mode, the status bar at the bottom of the Excel screen will say Ready. When you go into Edit mode, it will change to Edit.
- To Edit: Add or delete characters as needed. Use the arrow keys or the mouse to move to the characters you want to change/delete. When you are done, get out of Edit mode, by hitting the Enter or Tab key, or clicking another cell.
- Hint: If you ever get stuck in Edit mode, you can get out of it by hitting the Esc key (Escape key at the top left of the keyboard). The status will change back to Ready.
Excel Tip 2
Print headings automatically on every page of a spreadsheet
What to do
- Before you print your multi-page spreadsheet, do the following:
- Click the File menu -->Page Setup--> Click the Sheet Tab
- Under Print Titles, in the Rows to repeat at top: box, enter your heading rows.
- For example if your headings are in row 3 enter $3:$3, if your headings are in rows 1 and 2, enter $1: $2.
- Alternative way to enter your heading rows: You can click the Red arrow to the right of this Rows to repeat at top: box. Next select the rows with your headings, by clicking on the number(s) of the row(s) at the left of the spreadsheet. You will see blinking around the row(s) you have selected. Click the X in this box. When you return to the Page Setup dialog box, the right row numbers should be in the Rows to repeat box.
- Click Print Preview to check that you have made the right selection. When it is correct, Print.
Excel Tip 3
Print entire spreadsheet on one (or more) pages
Question. Do you often find, when printing Excel spreadsheets, that one or two columns or rows end up on a second page?
Answer. You can control which rows and columns fit on each page by setting options in the Page setup dialog box.
What to do
- Click File, then Page Setup; you will get the Page Setup Dialog Box. Make sure you are on the Page tab
- For wide spreadsheets, which most are, make sure you have set orientation to landscape
- Select fit to page (1 page wide by 1 page tall). Excel will figure out the percent (less than 100%), to make your sheet fit on one page. If the print is too small, you can enter a different percent, or enter a different number of pages wide and tall; or you can use Page Break Preview to set exactly which rows and columns will be on the each page.
- To use Page Break Preview.
- On the Print Preview screen, click the Page Break Preview Button, or on the Excel screen click View, then Page Break Preview.
- Drag the page break (blue dotted line) to put the page break where you want it.
- When you are finished with Page Break Preview, to go back to the regular Excel Screen, click View, then click Normal.
- Now you can print your spreadsheet, from the print preview screen or the main screen.
Outlook Tip 1
Organize and find the email(s) you want by sorting.
Question. Are you looking through long lists of emails to find the one you want?
Answer. Sort your emails into date, sender or subject order.
Explanation
- You can easily sort your emails by Sender (From field), Subject, or Date (Received field), with one click, at anytime. Once your emails are sorted it will be easier to find the one(s) you want. Choose the order that will be most helpful to you - sender name/email, date or subject.
What to do
- Whether you are using Outlook or Outlook Express, when you are looking at your emails, note that the top of the email list has 3 categories (fields): From, Subject, and Received. To sort, click once on the name of the category you want.
- If you want to find all the emails from a particular sender, just click on From at the top of the email list - and all emails from the same sender will be together, and senders will be in alphabetical order. Click on From a second time and they will be in reverse alphabetical order (from Z to A)
- To put emails in order by date click Received at the top of the list. They will be in order from most recent to oldest (note down pointing arrow). If you click Received again they will be in order from oldest to newest (up pointing arrow).
- NOTE: There are other ways to find emails as well, for example, try using the Find Function (toolbar icon). In Outlook only, you can also use Search folders, and the Right click Find all function (Right click on an email, left click on Find all - related messages, or messages from sender).
Power Point Tip 1
Run your slide show with additional special options
Question. Do you want more control over which slides display and how, during a show?
Answer. With right clicking and keyboard shortcuts you can use a wealth of options to control your slide show.
What to do
- When running your slide show, Right click anytime, anywhere on a slide. A menu pops up with several functions including switching to any slide, and adding ink annotations
- To switch to another slide, Click on Go to Slide
- To add ink annotations
- Click on Pointer Options, then Click a pen option (Ballpoint, Felt Tip, or Highlighter). To select a color (other than the default, white), click Pointer Options again, and click Ink color.
- Hold your left mouse button down, and draw (underline, circle, etc.) on the slide by moving your mouse
- To move to the next slide when using the pen, use the keyboard (PgDn, spacebar etc.)
- To end annotating - right click on the slide with annotations, click on Pointer Options, then click Arrow
- To discard all annotations - when you exit the slide show, you will have an option to keep or discard your annotation
- To erase annotations on one slide, right click on the slide click Pointer Options, then Erase
- Use the following keys to control the show
- Start the Show: Function key F5
- Go to the next slide: Pg Dn, Enter, Spacebar, right or down arrow key
- Go to the previous slide: Pg Up, Backspace, left or up arrow key
- End the show: Esc key
- To change entire screen to white (black), press W (B) key once, to return to screen press W (B) again
Word Tip 1
Control Word behavior with “behind the scenes settings”.
Question. Do you find Word making changes you do not want?
Answer. Change some Word settings, and these automatic changes will stop.
1. Prevent Automatic Capitals.
Explanation
If the automatic capitals option is checked, Word erroneously thinks you are starting a new sentence after every period (e.g. initials, etc.); so it makes the next word start with a capital. Unchecking this option will stop Word from automatically capitalizing words.
What to do
- Click the Tools Menu, then click Autocorrect Options.
- On the Autocorrect Tab, Uncheck Capitalize first letter of sentences, click OK.
2. Prevent unwanted automatic formatting.
Explanation
You can prevent automatic changes in formatting, from added lines to the look of dashes and hyphens and more, by telling word not to do automatic formatting.
What to do
- Click the Tools Menu, then click Autocorrect Options.
- Click on the Autoformat as you Type Tab
- Uncheck the following options:
- Under Replace as you type:
hyphens (--) with dashes (−).
- Under Apply as you type:
Border lines
Tables
Built-in Heading styles
- Under Automatically as you type:
Define styles based on your formatting.
- Click OK
Word Tip 2
Right Click to permanently eliminate common typos.
Question. Do you find yourself making the same typos over and over?
Answer. Give Word the correct spelling and it will correct your typo automatically.
Explanation
- This Right Click technique will let you permanently correct your typical typos and misspellings. You fix them once, and then anytime you mistype the same word, the same way, it will be automatically replaced with the correct spelling, after you hit the space bar once or type a punctuation mark. MS Word only recognizes a word once you finish typing it. It knows you are done when you either hit the space bar or type a punctuation mark.
What to do
- First make sure the spell check option is turned on. Click the Tools menu, then click Options, then the Spelling and Grammar Tab. Make sure Check Spelling as you type is checked.
- Whenever you misspell/mistype a word, it will be underlined in red),
- Right click on the misspelled word.
- On the shortcut menu, point to (highlight) Autocorrect.
- Left click on the correct spelling. Notice the spelling is corrected.
- Next time you make the same mistake, it will be corrected automatically (after you hit space or a punctuation mark).
Word Tip 3
Gain more control over Word formatting
Question. Does Word ever “refuse” to do the formatting you want?
Answer. With the right settings, and some troubleshooting and formatting techniques you can reduce the time you spend on Word formatting.
What to do
- Control automatic formatting options with the following settings.
- Click Tools -->Options-->Edit Tab . . .
- Uncheck Keep track of formatting. This will prevent Word from adding unneeded and confusing automatic formats.
- Check Prompt to update style. This will ensure that Word will ask you first before it tries to change any formatting styles; always answer no, so existing formatting styles will not be changed.
- Also be sure to use the January Tip on Tools-->AutoCorrect Options.
Tools-->Autocorrect Options-->Autoformat as you Type
- Note: Styles are predefined formats that you can use. Using styles is a more advanced method of applying formats. For more info on how to use styles, please contact us for a training session.
- Troubleshooting tip. When you try to change some text format and the text will not change to what you want.
- Select the text that will not change. Then click Edit-->Clear--> Formats. This will remove the formatting, and let you start formatting again.
- Formatting shortcut, to increase your formatting efficiency.
- To copy formats (rather than having to do them again): Select the text that has the format you want; do the following keyboard shortcut CTRL+SHIFT+C. Next, select the text that you want to format the same way, and do the keyboard shortcut CTRL + SHIFT+V.
Word Tip 4
Find and replace text faster in longer documents
Question. Do you ever have trouble finding and/or changing multiple occurrences of a word in longer documents?
Answer. You can find and replace faster by using the Find/Replace Command.
What to do
- To Find words, click the Edit menu, then the Find command
- Next, enter the word(s) you are looking for.
- Click Find Next to see each occurrence.
- To see all occurrences, check Highlight all items found in: then scroll through the document and you will see all the “found” word(s) highlighted
- To Replace a word(s). This is especially useful for a word/phrase that occurs multiple times in a document, e.g. a date or place or name that must be changed.
- Click the Replace tab (or click Edit, then Replace). Enter the original word in Find What and the replace word(s) in Replace with
- To change one occurrence at a time, click Replace
- Or, to change all occurrences, click Replace All. Word will tell you how many replacements it made. Remember you can always do Edit, then Undo if the replacement was in error.
Windows Tip 1
Use the Mighty Right Click to find functions quickly.
Question. Do you every find yourself searching for a function, you know it’s there but you’re not sure where and you can’t find it.
Answer. Right clicking is often the fastest way to find a function - in Windows, Word, Excel, Power Point and Outlook.
Explanation
- The mouse (trackball, touch pad) has 2 buttons. Normally you use only the left button. There is ONLY ONE reason, to use the right button - and that is to get a shortcut (also called in-context) menu.
- A shortcut menu is a list of functions that can be performed where and when you click. For example, if you right click ON a selected (highlighted) word, you can change the font, copy it, or do many other formatting functions.
- You can RIGHT click anywhere - on a blank part of the screen, a toolbar, the taskbar, an icon on the desktop (the main screen), on selected (highlighted) text, on a filename etc.
- Where and when you RIGHT click will determine which functions will appear on your shortcut menu. The key to successful use of this function is to be very precise about WHERE you click. ON really means exactly ON the item you want to perform the function on (selected word, filename, icon, etc).
- If an option on the shortcut menu is grayed out - it means it is not available at that time. For example, if you right click on text, you will not see the copy function unless you have selected the text first. (The system does not know what to copy unless you tell it; it cannot read your mind. Selected text tells the PC what you want to copy.)
- When in doubt, right click. Right clicking can be invaluable.
Windows Tip 2
Become more efficient by using keyboard shortcuts.
Explanation
- Keyboard shortcuts can make you significantly more efficient. It’s faster to keep your hands on the keyboard, instead of clicking on menus or icons with your mouse. A little time saved over and over will add up.
- Sometimes the sub-menu or toolbar icons may not be available for the functions you want, but the keyboard shortcut will still work.
- Also, over time, for some computer users, over-use of the mouse can become uncomfortable, and even lead to RSI (repetitive strain injury), another good reason to reduce mouse usage by using keyboard shortcuts..
What to do
- To save a file CTRL + S
- CTRL + S means hold down the CTRL key (either one, there are two), and tap the S key once.
- This shortcut is especially useful because it makes it easier and faster to make sure you don’t lose your work - just do CTRL + S every few minutes to save your latest changes.
- To Print CTRL + P
- To Copy CTRL + C. To Cut CTRL+X. To Paste CTRL + V. If the edit menu, or the copy/cut/paste icon is not available, you can almost always use these keyboard shortcuts to accomplish copy (cut) and paste.
- To find additional keyboard shortcuts
- Enter keyboard shortcuts in HELP (in Windows Help or any MS Office program's Help), you will get a long list of shortcuts.
- Notice that some submenus show keyboard shortcuts, for ex. File, Edit.
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