17 July 2019

Copy Styles in MSWord

Byte of the Day, Word

Dear Ms. Bytes

There are Styles in an older document that would like to use in my current document – is there an easy way to copy styles in MSWord between documents?

Sincerely – CeCe R.

Dear Cece R.,

You are in luck! 2 easy methods come to mind when you need to copy styles in MSWord.

Using Copy and Paste

First, open both documents – sometimes I like to arrange them so that I can see them at the same time, but as long as they are both open and you know how to switch between them, you’ll be okay!

In your older document – the one that has the Styles you want to copy – select a paragraph that has the Style already applied to it. It is very important that you select the paragraph marker at the end of the paragraph. Here is a visually of what I’m talking about:

Once you have the paragraph selected, press CTRL+C.

No, you need to move to the other document. You might want to go to the end of the document (press CTRL+END) because you are going to be pasting the that paragraph and style into this document and you don’t want to affect the document text in any way. Click to place the insertion point and press ENTER a couple of times.

Now, press Ctrl+V. Using this method will bring the paragraph AND the style into the current document. You can now delete the paragraph text and paragraph marker. Don’t use the Undo command or CTRL+Z to remove the paragraph.

Heads up… I wouldn’t suggest using this method if the style you are copying are MSWord’s built-in styles or if the styles exists already in your current document.

Using the Format Painter

Another great way to copy styles and/or formatting – within your current document OR between two different documents – is the Format Painter. Similar to the Copy/Paste method, this works great if the style you are copying does not exist in your current document. You can use the Format Painter to copy the formatting of the paragraph style and apply that formatting to your current documents paragraph, but the style itself is not updated in your current document.

Using the Organizer

Depending on the version of MSWord you are using, the Organizer can be used to manage, toolbars, AutoText, and macros. Luckily, the one feature that remains consistent between versions is the ability to use MSWord Organizer to manage Styles. If you would like to use this method to copy styles between documents, check out this blog.

Happy Copying!

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6 May 2019

Editing Hyperlinks in MSWord

Byte of the Day, Word

Editing Hyperlinks in MSWord

If you are browsing, navigating or searching on the internet, you have used a hyperlink. A hyperlink allows you to quickly move from web page to another simply by clicking the link. You can use hyperlinks in your MSWord documents which provides an easy way for your readers to visit a supporting web page. Editing hyperlinks in MSWord is very easy and is sometimes necessary when web pages are moved, renamed, or deleted.

Edit the Hyperlink

First, locate the hyperlink in your document that needs to be edited. Right-click on the link.

In the Address field at the bottom of the dialog box, replace the incorrect link with a new link and click OK.

Happy Linking!

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19 March 2019

Jump Around in an MSWord Document

Byte of the Day, Word

Jump Around in an MSWord Document

Why would you want to jump around in an MSWord document, you ask? It’s sounds fun, but how can it help me work faster? Well, it may not be “let’s all go to Disneyland” fun, but it is a cool thing to know and comes in handy when you want to move your cursor quickly between different parts of your document.

It’s super simple. MSWord will remember the last 4 places where you have made an edit. You can use Shift+F5 to jump to – or switch between – the last 4 edits. My favorite use for this tip is when you open a document, pressing SHIFT+F5 will take you to the last place you edited before closing the document. Happy Jumping!

Coming Soon – Webinars

Would you like to enhance your skills on a specific topic from the comfort of your home or desk? Our 60 minute webinars deliver quick, high quality training, helping you make the most of your valuable time. Some of our webinar classes are: MSWord Essentials, MSWord Styles, MSWord Outline Numbering, MSWord Headers & Footers, MSWord Table of Contents & Table of Authorities, MSExcel Essentials, MSPowerPoint Essentials, and many more! What topic, feature, or skill would you like to know more about? Drop us your wish list in the comments!

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15 March 2019

Sorting Addresses and Contact Information in MSWord

Byte of the Day, Word

Sorting Addresses

Let me first say – sorting addresses is best done in Excel (or another database program). There, I’ve said it. If you have a long list of individuals that will become part of a merge, for example, do yourself a favor and put the information into Excel where the data can be manipulated easier. At the very least, you could put the information into an MSWord table. However, there are definitely times where you might want the information to stay in a “block” or paragraph format and not in a table format with rows and columns. If you have a list of contacts (names and addresses) and you would like them to appear in alphabetically order… take a deep breath and read on.

To make this happen, you must follow these rules. I’m serious.

Each address must be an individual paragraph. In the samples below, the first example has the information (name, address, city/state/zip) separated by a hard return at the end of each line. In the second example, the information (name, address, city/state/zip) is separated by a manual line break (Shift+Enter). The only place a hard return (Enter) should be is at the end of the contacts information (after the zip).

2. Connect the words using a non-breaking space. You want to sort by the last name? No problem! Take a look at the following examples. In each of them, the first line has a different set of information. “Ms. Lilly Buckhold” has three words. “Richard Eldridge” has two words. “Ms. Andrea L. Harkness” has four words. Yes, the initial counts as a separate “word.” The goal is to tell MSWord to look at the last name when sorting addresses. To do this, you will need to connect all of the words, except the last name, using a non-breaking space (Ctrl+Shift+spacebar). Note: you only need to use the non-breaking spaces on the words in the first line.

In this way, when sorting addresses, we have asked MSWord to consider all words which are connected by a non-breaking space as ONE WORD. So “Ms. Lilly” becomes one word and the second word of the line is Buckhold. “Richard” is one word and Eldridge is the second word. “Ms. Andrea L.” is now considered one word and Harkness is the second word. With me so far? Great job!

If you have made the necessary changes to your list of addresses, you can now sort them.

Select the list of addresses
Click on the Home tab, if necessary.
In the Paragraph section of the Home tab, you will see the Sort option. After clicking on the Sort option, you will see the following dialog box:

Click on the Options button.

Here, you are choosing to separate fields (words) using spaces. Click on the Other option and make sure it contains one space. This seems tricky because a space is “invisible”, but if in doubt you can select anything in that square and delete it. Then, carefully press the space bar. This works because you set up the first line of the paragraph so that the only SPACE is right before the last name.

Then click OK. You will be back to the Sort by dialog box.

In the first section, click on the Sort By drop-down list and choose the Word 2 option. Remember, the second word is the last name!
Click on OK.

Your list should now be sorted alphabetically by last name. If you understand the concepts in this technique, you can use this information to sort all kinds of text in MSWord.

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8 March 2019

Navigating in Excel

Byte of the Day, Excel

Navigating in Excel

Navigating in Excel simply means working and moving around in the spreadsheet. Excel users need to be comfortable with the various parts of the spreadsheet, the different mouse pointers and what they do. The next step is to start building your spreadsheet! There are many different ways an Excel spreadsheet can improve your productivity, create a visual representation of your data and offer an easy way to manipulate at data. Here are some examples:

Manage a List of Data

Sort
Filter
Remove duplicate entries

Basic Math Functions

Add
Subtract
Multiply
Divide

Add a Visual Element

Bar Chart
Pie Chart
Pivot Table

The ideas above barely scratch the surface of the helpful things Excel can do! Hopefully, they give you some motivation to learn how to Navigate in Excel. Let’s start by selecting rows, columns, a cell and a range.

Selecting Columns and Rows

You must make sure that your mouse pointer is pointing at the column or row header. It will look like a down-pointing, or right-pointing black arrow. Here’s a video to help out navigating in Excel!

Selecting a Cell

Selecting a cell uses the the white plus-sign pointer. Point and click at several places in a worksheet to see the cell become “active”. The dark border around the cell is your visual telling you which cell is selected. You have other visual helpers, like the column and row headers – they turn yellow. Also, the Name Box will display the name of the cell (shown with a purple circle around it in the image below). Did you know that every cell has a name? The name is the combination of the column and row – so the cell name is the intersection of the column and row. In the example below, I have selected the cell – C6.

Selecting a Range of Cells

Oftentimes you will need to work with more than one cell a a time. You will need to select several cells together – this is called a range. You can select multiple rows, columns and cells – they are all called a range, respectively. Once you have a range selected, you can format them or delete them or manipulate them all at the same time. Work faster, not harder when navigating in Excel 😛

Selecting Non-Contiguous Rows, Columns, Cells and Ranges

One more skill before I wrap up! This is helpful if you want to chose areas that are not next to one another, i.e. Columns C and F (but you don’t want to work with Columns D and E). Take a look at the video to get a few example of what a non-contiguous range would look like. To select a non-contiguous areas, you select the first range, then use the CTRL key and drag to select the second range. Let me break the actions into 2 steps. First step, you select the initial area (cell, row, column or range of those areas). Then for the second step, you hold down the CTRL key and select the next area (cell, row, column or range of those areas). Then release both the mouse and CTRL key. Happy Selecting!

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10 April 2018

How Can I Quickly Change Text Case?

Byte of the Day, Word

Showing how to quickly change text case using a simple keystroke has always been a favorite tip during a training class or webinar. We love sharing keystrokes because they can make our lives so much easier. Do you have a favorite keystroke? Share it in the comments below!

Text in All Caps

Sometimes, you will work with a document where someone has typed a company name and address in all caps or you might copy text from an internet source that was typed in all caps. Instead of retyping the information in the correct case, try these steps first:

Select the text that is in the wrong case
Press Shift+F3

It couldn’t be simpler!

Text Case Options Using Keyboard

Pressing Shift+F3 toggles through three different case options: ALL CAPS, all lowercase, and All Title Case. Keep your text selected, and continue pressing Shift+F3 until the text looks the way you want it.

Change Case: Home Ribbon

You have a few additional options if you want to change text case. Select the text and make sure you are viewing the Home Ribbon. Click on the Change Case option. This will show several choices:

Sentence Case – capitalizes the first letter of each sentence
Lowercase – all selected text will be lowercase
Uppercase – capitalizes each letter
Title Case – capitalizes the first letter of each word
Toggle Case – switches the case of each letter in the selection

Happy Learning!

Coming Soon – Webinars

Would you like to enhance your skills on a specific topic from the comfort of your home or desk? Our 60 minute webinars deliver quick, high quality training, helping you make the most of your valuable time. Some of our webinar classes are: MSWord Essentials, MSWord Styles, MSWord Outline Numbering, MSWord Headers & Footers, MSWord Table of Contents & Table of Authorities, MSExcel Essentials, MSPowerPoint Essentials, and many more! What topic, feature, or skill would you like to know more about? Drop us your wish list in the comments!

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20 March 2018

Finding the Font Color

Byte of the Day, Word

Finding the Font Color

Every once in a while you must work with a document where a custom color was used to format headings or other pieces of text. If you’re lucky, the font color used is one of the standard choices in the Font Color Palette. Changing the font color is quick and easy.

Standard Colors

First, to find the color of a piece of text. Next, click on the Font Color button (located on the Home ribbon). This displays Theme Colors and Standard Colors. If the color is a standard color, look for a color block outlined in red. If no color is outlined, it is not a standard color.

More Colors

From this point, click More Colors. A hexagon color palette will appear. If your text color is on this palette, the color will be outlined in white. If no color is outlined, you need to find the Custom color.

Custom Colors

It’s not difficult to find out if the color used was a Custom Color. Click on the Custom tab. Make note of the Red, Green, Blue values that make up that particular color. Once you know the values, enter them into the Custom Color palette for other programs – for example, creating an exact color match in MSPowerPoint, MSExcel or others.

Reveal Formatting

Last, you can also use the SHIFT+F1 to open the Reveal Formatting pane. This pane will give you information about the text you selected – or wherever your insertion point is.

Happy Learning!

Online Webinars

Would you like to enhance your skills on a specific topic from the comfort of your home or desk? Our 60 minute webinars deliver quick, high quality training, helping you make the most of your valuable time. Some of our webinar classes are: MSWord Essentials, MSWord Styles, MSWord Outline Numbering, MSWord Headers & Footers, MSWord Table of Contents & Table of Authorities, MSExcel Essentials, MSPowerPoint Essentials, and many more! What topic, feature, or skill would you like to know more about? Drop us your wish list in the comments!

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13 March 2018

Excel Shortcut Keys

Byte of the Day, Excel

How Many Shortcuts Do You Know?

We have found that having a good working knowledge of how to navigate within your spreadsheets, like using Excel shortcut keys, can make work easier and faster. Even though everyone should know these shortcuts, we are always surprised when an experienced user tells us excitedly, “Hey! I didn’t know that one!” Here are a few, easy keystrokes that you may already know – or maybe you don’t. Open a spreadsheet and try the following shortcut keys and let us know in the comments if you picked up anything new. Happy Learning!

Excel Shortcut Keys – Using the Fill Feature

The Fill Feature allows you to enter text and values into a block of adjacent cells, instead of typing them individually. You probably already know how to use the mouse and grab the Fill Handle located in the lower-right corner of your selected cell and drag it to fill in the adjacent cells. But for those of us who find it faster to use keyboard shortcuts – here are a few:

In the video below, see an example of selecting cells in a column, cells in a row, and a range of cells. Remember to select first, then press the keystroke listed.

To fill down = Ctrl+D
Fill to the right = Ctrl+R
Fill into selected cells = Ctrl+Enter

Excel Shortcut Keys – Selecting and Working with Cells

Select entire sheet = Ctrl+A
Turn Filter feature on and off = Ctrl+Shift+L
Go to a specific cell = F5 or Ctrl+G, then type in the cell name (i.e. A5)

Excel Shortcut Keys – Working with Formulas

Absolute Reference = F4 (click into the formula using the Formula Bar & press F4)

Excel Shortcut Keys – Working with Sheets

Insert a new worksheet = Shift+F11
To rename a worksheet = Alt+O+H,R (type the name of the sheet, then press Enter)
Delete current worksheet = Alt+E,L
Select current & previous sheet = Ctrl+Shift+Page Up (this will Group the two sheets)

Online Webinars

Would you like to enhance your skills on a specific topic from the comfort of your home or desk? Our 60 minute webinars deliver quick, high quality training, helping you make the most of your valuable time. Some of our webinar classes are: MSWord Essentials, MSWord Styles, MSWord Outline Numbering, MSWord Headers & Footers, MSWord Table of Contents & Table of Authorities, MSExcel Essentials, MSPowerPoint Essentials, and many more! What topic, feature, or skill would you like to know more about? Drop us your wish list in the comments!

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6 March 2018

Submit an Optimized PDF

Byte of the Day

Submit an Optimized PDF

When submitting documents for filing in San Diego Superior Court, the clerk requires that you submit an Optimized PDF document.

There are three easy steps to submit an optimized PDF

First, you will scan the document.

Second, save it as an Optimized PDF and make compatible with Acrobat 9.0 and later.

Third, upload to appropriate location.

Your specific copier/printer may automatically perform this task, but it’s a good idea to double-check the document before uploading it.

Coming Soon – Webinars

Would you like to enhance your skills on a specific topic from the comfort of your home or desk? Our 60 minute webinars deliver quick, high quality training, helping you make the most of your valuable time. Some of our webinar classes are: MSWord Essentials, MSWord Styles, MSWord Outline Numbering, MSWord Headers & Footers, MSWord Table of Contents & Table of Authorities, MSExcel Essentials, MSPowerPoint Essentials, and many more! What topic, feature, or skill would you like to know more about? Drop us your wish list in the comments!

8 November 2016

Outlook – Fast Flagging!

Byte of the Day, Outlook

This byte is for fellow neat freaks who like a tidy Inbox and want to quickly flag and find important emails. With a message, or two, or three, or however many selected, press the Insert key to toggle the flag on or marked as done.

Happy Learning!!