7 March 2019

Print a Custom Range in MSWord

The Big Byte, Word

Print a Custom Range

To print a custom range of pages in an MSWord document is usually very straightforward. To print several consecutive pages you would simply type in the range using a “dash”, i.e. 1-3 (this prints pages 1, 2, and 3). If you wanted to print several, non-consecutive pages you would separate the pages using a “comma”, i.e. 1, 3, 5 (this prints page 1, page 3, and page 5). Easy peasy! But that’s not why you came here… you are probably here because you are already know this, you’ve tried to print a custom range, and it is NOT printing. I gotcha!

Multiple Sections

First, does your document contain more than 1 section? If it does, this is probably the reason you are having trouble. Here is the situation: the document below has 8 physical pages. If you were to print the entire document, you would print 8 pages. Please note: the document has 2 sections. In section 1, there are 5 pages (pages 1 through 5). In section 2, there are 3 pages (pages 6-8). If you want to print pages 4 through 7, you will have a problem if you just type in “4-7”. Here’s why: now that the document has been separated using sections, MSWord looks at each section for your custom range. Meaning, it looks in section 1 for pages 4-7 and doesn’t find it. It looks in section 2 for pages 4-7 and doesn’t find it. So it won’t print that custom range.

Custom Range

First, click on Print. Then, select the option Print Custom Range under Settings. If you start typing in the Pages field, Print Custom Range will be automatically selected. In order to print pages 4-7, you would type P4S1-P2S2 in the Pages field. To decipher this, it means print “Page 4 Section 1 through Page 2 of Section 2”. It is not case sensitive, by the way 😛

So to recap, in order to successfully print a custom range in a document containing section breaks, you need to understand that section breaks are taken seriously; they are mini-documents within a larger document and need to be identified in the Pages field. Happy Printing!

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!

Check out our Training Programs or contact us for more information. Visit our Facebook for daily up dates!

24 August 2018

Header and Footer Keyboard Shortcuts

headings, Word

DEAR MS. BYTES

I would like to know if there is a Header and Footer Keyboard Shortcut which would allow me to jump into the Header of my MS Word document?

Sincerely – Maureen W.

(more…)

13 April 2018

Heading Styles – Introduction

The Big Byte, Word

Styles

Styles are one of the most important features to understand when using MSWord. Many components within MSWord use styles – making your job easier – so it is essential to fully grasp the concepts of styles. For this article, we will focus on heading styles, named Heading 1-9.

Heading Styles

Heading styles automatically come with MSWord – they are there whether you want them, or not! For many users, ignoring them is totally acceptable; however, experienced users have learned the benefits of working with them. It won’t take long, however, before you realize that the default formatting of these styles needs to be changed to fit the formatting of most legal documents. So let’s start there…

Applying Styles

Several styles, including a couple of heading styles, can be easily applied to selected text using the Styles section on the Home Ribbon. To apply a style, select the text, then click on a style. Simple!

Helpful Keystrokes

It might be a good time to introduce a couple keystrokes that we really like. Both of these keystrokes will open a separate pane containing style commands. Either of these can be moved around by dragging the title bar, or you can dock them to the left or right by dragging it all the way to either side. Which one is the best? Whichever one fits your needs! Sometimes we have both active in the document; sometimes we switch between them depending on the document we are working in.

CTRL+SHIFT+S will open the Apply Styles pane. It reflects the name of the style applied either to the text where your cursor is placed or to the selected text. The drop-down list will let you change, or apply, a different style to your active text. The Modify button is located in the Apply Styles pane. You will use this make changes to a style. The Styles button display another pane with more commands.

CTRL+SHIFT+ALT+S will open the Styles pane (as if you clicked the Styles button on the Apply Styles pane). This pane displays the list of styles (rather than a drop-down list). A favorite in this list is the Clear All – which removes any direct formatting and removes any applied style. This is quick way to strip the active text of all formatting! Each style in the list has a drop-down arrow giving you several commands like Update to Match Selection and the Modify command. At the bottom of the Styles pane, there are 3 more buttons that are very helpful: New Style, Style Inspector, and Manage Styles. These commands are explored more fully in separate articles.

Hopefully these options – the Style section on the Home Ribbon and the 2 keystrokes – will give you access to the commands you need while working with styles in your documents.

Why Use Heading Styles

We have mentioned that there are several elements in MSWord that use heading styles. If you need more motivation to learn about and use heading styles, the fact that the following features use heading styles should give you some incentive:

Numbering
Cross-References
Table of Contents
Hyperlinks
Page Numbering and Captions that use Chapter Numbering
SEQ Fields
HTML (publishing to the internet) uses H1, H2, etc.
Creating Bookmarks in PDF’s
Outline View
Navigation Pane (one of our personal favs!!)
Stability (saved the best for last)

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!

Check out our Training Programs or contact us for more information. Visit our Facebook for daily up dates!

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!

Check out our Training Programs or contact us for more information. Visit our Facebook for daily up dates!

10 April 2018

Working with Headers and Footers

headings, Word

Headers and Footers are great for adding additional information to your documents like file names, dates, and page numbers. Generally, the information you add to a Header shows up at the top of every page. And, the information you add to a Footer shows up at the bottom of every page. You can specify a Different First Page Header and/or Footer. This will allow you to specify text that is unique and only appears on the first page. Additionally, with the addition of Section Breaks, you can specify different Header and Footer information for each section. You can also specify a Different First Page for each section. This means that each section behaves like a mini-document within the larger document container. Working with Headers and Footers can be as simple and easy as you need, but this feature can also handle more complex page formatting needs for larger documents.

(more…)

3 April 2018

Automatic Border Lines in MSWord

Dear Ms. Bytes, Word

Dear Ms. Byte,

When I type 3 or 4 dashes and then press ENTER, an automatic border line appears in my document. I know I can press CTRL+Z to undo it right after it happens, but how can I stop this from happening in the first place? It is seriously frustrating!

Sincerely – Mary L.

Dear Mary L.,

MSWord has several automatic formatting options that can be very frustrating – this is one of them! MSWord will drop in automatic border lines when you type 3 or more dashes, equal signs, and underscores. Watch this short video to see how to turn off automatic border lines.

Sincerely – Ms. Bytes

Word Options

Here is some additional advice: spend some time looking at Word Options. There are many features that can be customized – turned on or off. There are many more just in the Proofing section! But don’t stop there… explore all of them. 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!

Check out our Training Programs or contact us for more information. Visit our Facebook for daily up dates!

28 March 2018

Deleting Footnotes in MSWord

Dear Ms. Bytes, Word

Dear Ms. Byte,

I opened a document that had all the information I needed and saved it with a new name. I’ve been working on it today and just realized that it has several footnotes. I would like to delete all of the footnotes in this document, is that possible?

Sincerely – Isaac R.

Dear Isaac R.,

It sure is! And pretty simple, too. Read on…

Sincerely – Ms. Bytes

Footnotes

Many documents can benefit from a footnote – they allow you to provide a source for a cited piece of text or add helpful information. But deleting footnotes is also important. The first thing we like to try is utilizing the power of MSWord’s Find and Replace feature. There are so many useful things you can look for in your document (i.e. a specific style, a symbol, etc.) and many things with which you can replace them.

Split Screen

Here is an example of a few footnotes – notice the active Split Screen? If you would like to get more information on how to use a Split Screen, click here . For the purpose of this example, the Split Screen makes it easy to see the top and bottom of the page at the same time. In your document, Isaac, you won’t need to split the screen as you search for footnotes.

Deleting Footnotes

Pressing Ctrl+H will display the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.

In the Find What box, enter the following: ^f. This means you want to search for footnotes.
Make sure the Replace With box is empty.
You can click on Find Next to find the footnotes one at a time. When a footnote is found, you can click Replace and it will remove the footnote and find the next footnote in your document.
Or you can click on Replace All – all of the footnotes will be deleted. Or to be specific, all of the footnotes will be replaced with nothing.
Close the Find and Replace dialog box.

Watch the video to see how deleting footnotes is super easy!

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!

Check out our Training Programs or contact us for more information. Visit our Facebook for daily up dates!

21 March 2018

Can I Delete Fonts in MS Word?

Dear Ms. Bytes, Windows, Word

Dear Ms. Byte,

When I display the font list in MSWord, it is very long and contains many fonts that I never use. Is there a way to delete fonts I find useless ?

Sincerely – Tracy G.

Dear Tracy G.,

I know what you’re talking about! At work, I only need a handful of professional fonts, too. Follow the steps below to delete fonts from the font list in MSWord.

Sincerely – Ms. Bytes

Windows System

The fonts you see when you are working on an MSWord document are actually stored on your Windows system. The fonts are stored there so that other programs have access to them too, like MSPowerPoint and MSExcel. While you cannot delete fonts from within MSWord, it is a simple process to access the Windows Font folder and make changes within the Control Panel.

Depending on your Operating System, the steps to access the Control Panel may be different. Essentially, you will need to either search for the Control Panel (my favorite method), or click on it in your Start Menu.

Control Panel

To see the fonts that come with Windows, open the Control Panel and then click on Fonts.

From there you can do all sorts of fun things with your fonts: organize, preview, add and delete fonts. Also, if you are using a later version of Windows (7 or later), you can “hide” individual fonts. This allows them to stay installed in Windows, but they won’t display in the applications you use. Just remember to click on – or select – the font you want to mange first!

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!

Check out our Training Programs or contact us for more information. Visit our Facebook for daily up dates!

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!

Check out our Training Programs or contact us for more information. Visit our Facebook for daily up dates!

15 March 2018

Making Use of Split Screen in Word

The Big Byte, Word

Making Use of Split Screen in MSWord

There are several ways to navigate a document in MSWord. When you have a large document, the Split Screen option can make navigating faster and easier. No one likes to spend time scrolling backwards and forwards! If you split the screen, you can see two different sections of your document on the screen simultaneously. Use this feature to see your introductory paragraph and compare it to your concluding paragraph. Another reason to use a split screen in Word would be to quickly cut/copy/paste between different sections in your document.

There are a couple of ways to activate the split screen.

Using the Ribbon

The split screen button is found on the View tab. Click View, then click Split. This will activate the horizontal split screen bar.

Move your cursor up or down to move the split screen bar until it appears in the desired location – then click to place the bar. Your screen will be split and you can navigate the two sections independently of each other. You will see 2 separate scroll bars on the right side of your screen.

Notice how the top and bottom screens scroll individually, and each pane has its own ruler and scroll bars.

Removing the Split Screen in Word using the Ribbon

To remove the split screen, simply click on the Remove Split button found on the View tab.

Alternative Method to Activate the Split Screen

You may already know about the Split Screen button on the View tab; it’s pretty easy to discover by looking at the options on the Ribbon. The following option is less known and allows you to activate the Split Screen without using the Ribbon.

On the right side of your Word screen, look for a small, horizontal, black bar at the top (or bottom) of the vertical scroll bar – it looks kind of like a minus sign. When you point at it (with your mouse), the pointer will turn into a double-sided arrow.

Click, and drag down to split the screen.

To remove the split screen

Use your mouse to point at the horizontal split screen bar, then either click and drag the bar all the way up or double-click the split bar to remove the split screen and return the document to a single screen.

Compare Two Different Documents Using a Split Screen

If you would like to compare two different documents – or view them side-by-side – use the View Side by Side button on the View tab.

Both files should be open before selecting this option.

Go to the View tab, then select the View Side by Side button. You can remove this view by clicking the same button again; your view will return to a one-document view.

The Synchronous Scrolling option can be turned on or off. With this feature activated, both documents will scroll simultaneously. Meaning, as you scroll up or down in one document, the other document will also scroll in the same manner.

Happy Learning!

Webinar Available: January 23rd @ 12pm

If you liked this article and want more of the good stuff, join our monthly Webinar Training! Our lead trainer is offering MSWord online webinar classes on the 4th Wednesday of every month @ 12:00pm. Lunchtime is a great time to feed your brain and your belly! You can join the webinar using the GoToMeeting code below – just click on the link 5-10 mins prior to the start of training to make sure you get all set up in time. 60 min classes are $75. If you have questions – or would like to register for the online class – please contact julie@braincandyinc.com.

MSWord Training
Please join my meeting from your computer, tablet or smartphone.
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/606413837

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!