Microsoft Word in one page
Persuade 'Word' to behave better
Do you need Word 2007 info?
File format problems
Problems may arise when work's moved between Office 2007, Office 2003, Microsoft Works and OpenOffice - this is to do with the different file formats used not to mention some 'Office politics' ... Word has built in translators for various formats, but not for Openoffice files (.odt) or, surprisingly, Microsoft Works files (.wks) among others. As an additional twist, Office 2003 will not open Office 2007 files until you've manually installed an addin. If your Office 2003 installation won't read docx files from Word 2007, log a job with the helpdesk to install this compatibility tool.
When moving Word files between computers ...
If you need to be confident that the file will remain useable:
- Save as rtf
- Rich Text Format files retain both the content and formatting (unless your document contains something truly esoteric). When saved as rtf, the chances are that most word processor software can open the file ... so have the sender save and supply their work as rtf.
- if you're stuck, use an online translation service
- Mediaconvert will translate documents between various formats - feed it the original. Though the site is generally trusted, this is not a good course of action to take if your material is in the least bit confidential, as it's passed over an unencrypted connection and through someone else's system.
If you're using Office 2004 on a Mac - ask people to supply documents in .rtf format, Office 2003 format, or something else with which Office on the Mac is happy.
Office 2008 will be able to read .docx files, and Microsoft also have a beta docx document viewer.
Finding your way about
Need an online course on using 'Word'? The word processing section of the ECDL online course is available to you - give us a shout.
If you need to troubleshoot 'Word', the Office Experts site often helps ... if you just need help with techniques, here's an excellent 'Word' resource from Shauna Kelly. It's particularly good at explaining how to exploit Styles in 'Word' - or check my (incomplete) page of word aggravations
First steps
Before you can type something into a document, move the cursor until it turns into an 'I beam' like the one ringed in red on the right - you may see the same thing if you move the cursor over the text on this web page. Using 'Word', you'll be able to click the document to position the 
Insertion point, which looks a bit like this:- | - it marks where things will appear when you type.
Problems with the top of a page?
If you're finding it difficult to type something into the first line of a document because say you have a table or image at the top of the page, try this:
- Select the table or image
- Cut it
- Place the insertion point at the top of the page
- Type your entry
- Paste the image or table after it.
Unhide line breaks etc
Look for the following symbol in the toolbars.
Select it to reveal non-printing characters in your document - which can be useful when sorting out paragraphs, line breaks etc
Toolbar problems
Office's toolbars are those strips of buttons, usually at the top of the page
Anatomy of a toolbar
Toolbars have a vertical line at the left hand end, which acts as a handle. You can select it, and drag on it to move the toolbar. You can reposition it below other toolbars at the top of Word's window, you can even drag it from the top of the window so it floats. Drag it to the top once more and it snaps back into position. It's even possible to position two toolbars so they occupy one line - obcuring many of the buttons. People usually discover all this by mistake, and it's not a nice surprise.
The handle looks like this:
Click and drag it to move the toolbar.
At the other end, there may be something which looks like a spider's bite 
- select this symbol to reveal extra buttons that won't fit into the existing window space.
Can't see the toolbar you need? Use the menu 'View/Toolbars' to reveal the one you want.
Menus
'Office' hides many menu commands that you've not used before.
If you're learning, the hidden ones may be those you're actually looking for.
Change this behaviour by using the menu 'Tools/Customise', then the 'Options' tab, and uncheck the one 'Menus show recently used commands first'. Then the button 'Reset my usage data?' and 'Yes' to the confirmation box. Your menus will now show you everything, making it easier for you to learn as you go.
Getting going
There's usually two stages to tasks in Word.
- Select something
- Select whatever it is you need to change, or position the insertion point in the document
- Act on it
- Start typing - paste whatever it was you were going to add - or use the menus carry out some operation on your selection - or see the next item.
Not sure what to do next? - Having selected something, 'right mouse click' it - up pops a helpful context sensitive menu offering likely tasks - much quicker than using the help.
Typing skills
If at Bath Spa University, improve yours with the online typing tutor available from open access machines.
Keyboard shortcuts
You don't need them all - here's a list of the useful half dozen - print it and stick it beside your pc.
Bulleted lists
Break out of a bulleted list by pressing the 'Enter' key twice in quick succession.
Use styles
'Word' tends to push beginners towards using the 'font' and 'font size' buttons to format work - fine for a quick fix or a ransom note.
It's not difficult to adopt a better approach - format your work using Styles.
The control for these isn't marked, but its easy to find - see the graphic, the control's marked in red - use it to apply for instance headings by selecting your heading text and then one of the Heading levels from the list of available styles in the 'Normal' template. Until you need to find out how styles work, just stick with the default ones.
Discover how something is formatted
Use the Help menu's 'What's this?' command to investigate the formatting of say text on your page:
- Select 'Help/What's this?'
- Click on the text in your document - formatting information is displayed
- If you need to format text in the same way as existing text, remember the 'Format painter' from the toolbar - select some text that's already formatted the way you want, select the 'Format painter' and then click and drag over the text to be formatted ... this though is a dreadful cheat and cuts across the way Word is designed to work - using Styles.
Exporting an image from 'Word'
The following may help:
- Select the image
- From the menus, choose 'Edit/Copy'
- Run 'Powerpoint'
- Paste your image into a new slide, and from the menus choose 'Edit/paste'
Long document skills
These are the sort of things you'll need if you're writing a dissertation, a thesis or a book. You'll need one or more of the following
- 'Word' Master documents
- Do not use one of these to manage a long document, they are not well implemented and you will risk losing your work.
- Styles
- Use 'Styles' to format your document. You'll find you can modify the default template to create your own styles if you need this. See Word's Help on this too* and also Shauna Kelly's Word resource
- Section breaks
- Useful among other things for dividing a document into sections that can be numbered separately. See Word's Help on this*.
- Footnotes/Endnotes in 'Word'
- 'Footnotes' appear on the same page as the text they explain. 'Endnotes' at the end of each chapter. In 'Normal' view 'Word' can offer you a split screen view of text/footnotes. To make either, position the 'Insertion Point' in your text and generate a foot/endnote by using 'Insert' and 'footnote'. To delete a footnote, delete its marker in your text - deleting the text of the footnote leaves the marker unscathed. Word's Help can be useful here too.*, as can this page on footnotes from the University of Reading.
- Table of contents
- Word can automatically generate one of these for you e.g. from your headings. Word's Help? Indeedy*.
- Index
- This involves a two stage process, marking the indexed items in your document - there are various methods for this - and then building the finished index. Word's help's useful for indexes*.
*If Word's help is using a brutally small font, it's actually a heavily disguised Internet Explorer, you can set a better size in IE's 'View' menu ... but first, try holding down your 'Control' key and spinning the wheel on your mouse - this will adjust the font size.
Word's Help's search is a work in progress. If you know what to ask, it improves greatly. For these long document tasks, use the wording above - ie search for 'Table of Contents' or 'Footnotes'.
Word's 'Work' Menu
This is built into Word, but isn't included in the toolbars. Install it as follows:
Install the 'Work' menu
- Right-click in an empty area of the toolbar and select 'Customize'
- Select the 'Commands' tab
- Use the 'Categories' column to select 'Built In Menus'
- The 'Command' column lists menus, scroll down to 'Work'
- Drag and drop the 'Work' item onto a Toolbar.
Using the 'Work' menu
- Adding a document to the work menu
- When you've opened the document, select 'Add to work menu'.
- Removal
- Press the 'Control' key + 'Alt' + '-' then go to the work menu and select the item you'd like to delete.
When working on a document on the menu open it click on the Work menu and click ‘Add to Work Menu’. To remove an entry press Ctrl + Alt + - (hyphen), the cursor changes to a bar, go to the Work menu and click on the item you want to delete.
Using Word to Mark Students' Work
If you're using Office 2003 or later you can use 'Insert/Comment' to place feedback alongside paragraphs in students' work. Should the document be printed out, the comments will print alongside too.
Using Word and 'Track changes'.
You can use the 'Reviewing toolbar' to store comments and amendments to a work in progress. Word will store these along with the document - and prior to version 2003 it was easy to inadvertantly send a document out with hidden information. Word 2003, by default, displays any hidden information - and if you need to discard it, use the 'Reviewing toolbar' to accept some or all proposed changes. Here's a good help page from Microsoft on using Track changes.
Labels: Avery Wizards
The Avery Label Wizard helps you with laying out a page of labels. If you need to print labels, ask the helpdesk to install the Avery printing wizard, downloadable from Avery's web site. The wizard may well provide an easier way either to print pages of identical labels, or a set of labels from an address list.
Troubleshooting: If something goes wrong, check that you've set the right paper size to start with - using file/page setup, and also the printer settings, . Printing 'Letter' size to an A4 printer will probably trigger things to scale slightly, with unhappy results for the labels ...
Recovering a damaged 'Word' document
The following page from the Microsoft MVPS resource has suggestions to deal with corrupt word documents.
Word and forms
It's not too painful to use Word to produce forms that users can fill in onscreen and return to you. Here's an external help page on creating 'Word' forms. However, if you need to run surveys, investigate using 'Snap' survey software as that's designed for the job.
Word's 'Work menu'
If it's useful to you to return to documents again and again, customise 'Word' (external link) to show its 'Work menu'.
Bugs, anyone?
If Word's driven you wild, see this page on Word Frustrations
Microsoft 'Word' Keystroke Equivalents
You don't need to know all these - just stick to the half dozen useful keystrokes for 'Windows' tasks.
Here's a table of 'Word' keyboard shortcuts - no need to remember them, but if you need something obscure, having one or two of these to hand can be very useful to you.
| Action | Keys Required |
|---|---|
| Add or remove one line space preceding a paragraph | Ctrl+0 (zero) |
| Apply a style | Ctrl+Shift+S |
| Apply an underline | Ctrl+U |
| Apply bold formatting | Ctrl+B |
| Apply hidden text formatting | Ctrl+Shift+H |
| Apply italic formatting | Ctrl+I |
| Apply subscript formatting (automatic spacing) | Ctrl+Equal Sign |
| Apply superscript formatting (automatic spacing) | Ctrl+Shift+Plus Sign |
| Apply the Heading 1 style | Alt+Ctrl+1 |
| Apply the Heading 2 style | Alt+Ctrl+2 |
| Apply the Heading 3 style | Alt+Ctrl+3 |
| Apply the List style | Ctrl+Shift+L |
| Apply the Normal style | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Browse a document | Alt+Ctrl+Home |
| Cancel an action | Esc |
| Cancel the command and close the dialog box | Esc |
| Carry out the Move command (document icon menu, menu bar) in a window | Ctrl+F7 |
| Carry out the Size command (document icon menu, menu bar) in a window | Ctrl+F8 |
| Center align a paragraph | Ctrl+E |
| Change the case of letters | Shift+F3 |
| Change the font | Ctrl+Shift+F |
| Change the font size | Ctrl+Shift+P |
| Change the formatting of characters (Font command, Format menu) | Ctrl+D |
| Change the selection to Symbol font | Ctrl+Shift+Q |
| Choose a toolbar button in the Open or Save As dialog box (File menu) | Alt+ number (1 is the leftmost button, 2 is the next, etc.) |
| Close a document | Ctrl+W |
| Close a drop-down list box | Esc (when a drop-down list box is selected) |
| Close an Office Assistant message | Esc |
| Close the active document window | Ctrl+W |
| Close the visible menu and submenu at the same time | Alt |
| Close the visible menu; or, with a submenu visible, close the submenu only | Esc |
| Close tips | Esc |
| Collapse text under a heading in outline view | Alt+Shift+Minus Sign |
| Copy formats | Ctrl+Shift+C |
| Copy text or graphics | Ctrl+C |
| Create a hanging indent | Ctrl+T |
| Create a new document | Ctrl+N |
| Create AutoText | Alt+F3 |
| Cut selected text to the Clipboard | Ctrl+X |
| Cut to the Spike | Ctrl+F3 |
| Decrease the font size | Ctrl+Shift+< |
| Decrease the font size by 1 point | Ctrl+[ |
| Delete one character to the left | Backspace |
| Delete one character to the right | Delete |
| Delete one word to the left | Ctrl+Backspace |
| Delete one word to the right | Ctrl+Delete |
| Demote a paragraph in outline view | Alt+Shift+Right Arrow |
| Demote to body text in outline view | Ctrl+Shift+N |
| Display nonprinting characters | Ctrl+Shift+* (asterisk) |
| Display the next tip | Alt+N |
| Display the previous tip | Alt+B |
| Double-underline text | Ctrl+Shift+D |
| Edit a mail-merge data document while using the Mail Merge command | Alt+Shift+E |
| Enter text in a text box on a toolbar | Enter (when the text box is selected) |
| Expand or collapse all text or headings in outline view | Alt+Shift+A or the asterisk (*) key on the numeric keypad |
| Expand text under a heading in outline view | Alt+Shift+Plus Sign |
| Extend a selection (or block) | Ctrl+Shift+F8, and then use the arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode |
| Extend a selection One character to the left | Shift+Left Arrow |
| Extend a selection One character to the right | Shift+Right Arrow |
| Extend a selection One line down | Shift+Down Arrow |
| Extend a selection One line up | Shift+Up Arrow |
| Extend a selection One screen down | Shift+Page Down |
| Extend a selection One screen up | Shift+Page Up |
| Extend a selection To a specific location in a document | F8+arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode |
| Extend a selection To a vertical block of text | Ctrl+Shift+F8, and then use the arrow keys; press Esc to cancel selection mode |
| Extend a selection to adjacent cells | Hold down Shift and press an arrow key repeatedly |
| Extend a selection To include the entire document | Ctrl+A |
| Extend a selection To the beginning of a document | Ctrl+Shift+Home |
| Extend a selection To the beginning of a line | Shift+Home |
| Extend a selection To the beginning of a paragraph | Ctrl+Shift+Up Arrow |
| Extend a selection To the beginning of a word | Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow |
| Extend a selection To the end of a line | Shift+End |
| Extend a selection To the end of a paragraph | Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow |
| Extend a selection To the end of a window | Alt+Ctrl+Page Down |
| Extend a selection To the end of a word | Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow |
| Extending a Selection Tip If you know the key combination to move the insertion point, you can select the text by using the same key combination while holding down Shift. For example, Ctrl+Right Arrow moves the insertion point to the next word, and Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow selects the text from the insertion point to the beginning of the next word | |
| Find text, formatting, and special items | Ctrl+F |
| Format letters as all capitals | Ctrl+Shift+A |
| Format letters as small capitals | Ctrl+Shift+K |
| Get Help from the Office Assistant | F1 |
| Go back one page in a web page | Alt+Left Arrow |
| Go back to a page, bookmark, footnote, table, comment, graphic, or other location | Alt+Ctrl+Z |
| Go Down one line | Down Arrow |
| Go forward one page in a web page | Alt+Right Arrow |
| Go One cell to the left (in a table) | Shift+Tab |
| Go One cell to the right (in a table) | Tab |
| Go One character to the left | Left Arrow |
| Go One character to the right | Right Arrow |
| Go One paragraph down | Ctrl+Down Arrow |
| Go One paragraph up | Ctrl+Up Arrow |
| Go One word to the left | Ctrl+Left Arrow |
| Go One word to the right | Ctrl+Right Arrow |
| Go to a page, bookmark, footnote, table, comment, graphic, or other location | Ctrl+G |
| Go to a previous revision | Shift+F5 |
| Go to Down one screen (scrolling) | Page Down |
| Go to First cell in a column in a table | Alt+Page Up |
| Go to First cell in a row in a table | Alt+Home |
| Go to Last cell in a column in a table | Alt+Page Down |
| Go to Last cell in a row in a table | Alt+End |
| Go to Next cell in a row in a table | Tab |
| Go to Next row in a table | Down Arrow |
| Go to Previous cell in a row in a table | Shift+Tab |
| Go to Previous row in a table | Up Arrow |
| Go to the beginning of a comment | Ctrl+Home |
| Go to the beginning of a line | Home |
| Go to the end of a comment | Ctrl+End Keys for performing a mail merge |
| Go to the end of a document | Ctrl+End |
| Go to the end of a line | End |
| Go to the end of the window | Alt+Ctrl+Page Down |
| Go to the next field | F11 |
| Go to the previous field | Shift+F11 |
| Go [jump] to the next browse object (Default = top of the next page) | Ctrl+Page Down |
| Go [jump] to the previous browse object (Default = the top of the previous page) | Ctrl+Page Up |
| Go to the top of the window | Alt+Ctrl+Page Up |
| Go to Up one screen (scrolling) | Page Up |
| Go Up one line | Up Arrow |
| Hide or display character formatting in outline view | The slash (/) key on the numeric keypad |
| Increase the font size | Ctrl+Shift+> |
| Increase the font size by 1 point | Ctrl+] |
| Increase the size of a selection | F8 (press once to select a word, twice to select a sentence, and so forth) |
| Indent a paragraph from the left | Ctrl+M |
| Insert a column break | Ctrl+Shift+Enter |
| Insert a comment | Alt+Ctrl+M |
| Insert a date field | Alt+Shift+D |
| Insert a field | Ctrl+F9 |
| Insert a footnote | Alt+Ctrl+F |
| Insert a hyperlink | Ctrl+K |
| Insert a line break | Shift+Enter |
| Insert a listnum field | Alt+Ctrl+L |
| Insert a new paragraphs in a cell in a table | Enter |
| Insert a nonbreaking hyphen | Ctrl+Shift+Hyphen |
| Insert a nonbreaking space | Ctrl+Shift+Spacebar |
| Insert a page break | Ctrl+Enter |
| Insert a page field | Alt+Shift+P |
| Insert a tab characters in a cell in a table | Ctrl+Tab |
| Insert a time field | Alt+Shift+T |
| Insert an autotext entry | Enter (after typing the first few characters of the AutoText entry name and when the ScreenTip appears) |
| Insert an ellipsis | Alt+Ctrl+period |
| Insert an empty field | Ctrl+F9 |
| Insert an endnote | Alt+Ctrl+E |
| Insert an n-dash: – | Ctrl+- (on numeric key pad) |
| Insert an m-dash: — | Alt+Ctrl+ - (on numeric key pad) |
| Insert an optional hyphen | Ctrl+Hyphen |
| Insert the copyright symbol | Alt+Ctrl+C |
| Insert the registered trademark symbol | Alt+Ctrl+R |
| Insert the trademark symbol | Alt+Ctrl+T |
| Justify a paragraph on both margins | Ctrl+J |
| Left align a paragraph | Ctrl+L |
| Link to the Web or other sources | |
| Lock a field | Ctrl+F11 |
| Make the menu bar active | F10 |
| Make the menu bar active on a toolbar | F10 |
| Make the Office Assistant balloon active | Alt+F6 |
| Mark a table of authorities entry | Alt+Shift+I |
| Mark a table of contents entry | Alt+Shift+O |
| Mark an index entry | Alt+Shift+X |
| Maximize the document window | Ctrl+F10 |
| Merge a document while using the Mail Merge command | Alt+Shift+N |
| Minimize the document window | Ctrl+F9 |
| Move around the preview page when zoomed in | Arrow keys |
| Go between a master document and its subdocuments | Ctrl+ |
| Move between options in the selected drop-down list box or between some options in a group of options | Arrow keys |
| Go to preview page when zoomed out | Page Up or Page Down |
| Go one character to the left or right in a text box | Left Arrow or Right Arrow |
| Go one word to the left or right in a text box | Ctrl+Left Arrow or Ctrl+Right Arrow |
| Move paragraphs (or rows in a table) containing insertion point down | Alt+Shift+Down Arrow |
| Move paragraphs (or rows in a table) containing insertion point up | Alt+Shift+Up Arrow |
| Move text or graphics | F2 (then move the insertion point and press Enter) |
| Go to the beginning of a document | Ctrl+Home |
| Go to the beginning of the entry in a text box | Home |
| Go to the end of the entry in a text box | End |
| Go to the first preview page when zoomed out | Ctrl+Home |
| Go to the last preview page when zoomed out | Ctrl+End |
| Go to the location of the insertion point when the document was last closed | Shift+F5 |
| Go to the next option or option group in a dialog box | Tab |
| Choose the option by the first letter in the option name in a drop-down list box | Letter key for the first letter in the option name you want (when a drop-down list box is selected) |
| Go to the previous option or option group in a dialog box | Shift+Tab |
| Open a document | Ctrl+O |
| Open a drop-down list box | Alt+Down Arrow (when a drop-down list box is selected) |
| Open the menu on a toolbar | Enter (when a menu on a toolbar is selected) |
| Paste formats | Ctrl+Shift+V |
| Paste the Clipboard contents | Ctrl+V |
| Paste the Spike contents | Ctrl+Shift+F3 |
| Perform the action assigned to a button on a toolbar | Enter (when a button is selected) |
| Perform the action assigned to the default button in the dialog box | Enter |
| Perform the action assigned to the selected button; select or clear the check box in a dialog box | Spacebar |
| Preview a mail merge while using the Mail Merge command | Alt+Shift+K |
| Print a document | Ctrl+P |
| Print the merged document while using the Mail Merge command | Alt+Shift+M |
| Promote a paragraph in outline view | Alt+Shift+Left Arrow |
| Quit Word | Alt+F4 |
| Redo or repeat an action | Ctrl+Y |
| Redo or repeat an action | F4 |
| Reduce a hanging indent | Ctrl+Shift+T |
| Reduce the selection size | Shift+F8 |
| Reduce the size of a selection | Shift+F8 |
| Refresh | F9 |
| Remove a paragraph indent from the left | Ctrl+Shift+M |
| Remove manual character formatting | Ctrl+Spacebar |
| Remove paragraph formatting | Ctrl+Q |
| Repeat find | Alt+Ctrl+Y |
| Replace text, specific formatting, and special items | Ctrl+H |
| Restore the active document window | Ctrl+F5 |
| Review text formatting | Shift+F1 (then click the text whose formatting you want to review) |
| Right align a paragraph | Ctrl+R |
| Run a GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results | Alt+Shift+F9 |
| Save a document | Ctrl+S |
| See more Help topics | Alt+Down Arrow |
| See previous Help topics | Alt+Up Arrow |
| Select a column | Click in the column's top or bottom cell. Hold down Shift and press the Up Arrow or Down Arrow key repeatedly |
| Select a folder in the Open or Save As dialog box (File menu) | Alt+0 to select the folder list; arrow keys to select a folder |
| Select a Help topic from the topics the Office Assistant displays | Alt+number (1 is the first topic, 2 is the second, and so on) |
| Select a Help topic from the topics the Office Assistant shows | Alt+ number (1 is the first topic, 2 is the second, and so on) |
| Select an entire table | Alt+5 on the numeric keypad (with NUM LOCK off) |
| Select an option from a drop-down list box or from a drop-down menu on a button on a toolbar | Arrow keys to move through options in the list or menu; Enter to select the option you want (when a drop-down list box is selected) |
| Select from the insertion point to the beginning of the entry in a text box | Shift+Home |
| Select from the insertion point to the end of the entry in a text box | Shift+End |
| Select or unselect one character to the left in a text box | Shift+Left Arrow |
| Select or unselect one character to the right in a text box | Shift+Right Arrow |
| Select or unselect one word to the left in a text box | Ctrl+Shift+Left Arrow |
| Select or unselect one word to the right in a text box | Ctrl+Shift+Right Arrow |
| Select text and graphics . | Select text by holding down Shift and pressing the key that moves the insertion point |
| Select the first or last command on the menu or submenu | Home or End |
| Select the menu to the left or right; or, with a submenu visible, switch between the main menu and the submenu | Left Arrow or Right Arrow |
| Select the nearest character | F8, and then press Left Arrow or Right Arrow |
| Select the next cell's contents | Tab |
| Select the next or previous button or menu on the toolbar | Tab or Shift+Tab (when a toolbar is active) |
| Select the next or previous command on the menu or submenu | Down Arrow or Up Arrow (with the menu or submenu displayed) |
| Select the next or previous toolbar | Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Shift+Tab |
| Select the option or select or clear the check box by the letter underlined in the option name | Alt+ letter key |
| Select the preceding cell's contents | Shift+Tab |
| Set line spacing Double-space lines | Ctrl+2 |
| Set line spacing for Single-space lines | Ctrl+1 |
| Set line spacing Set 1.5-line spacing | Ctrl+5 |
| Show all headings up to Heading n in outline view | Alt+Shift+n |
| Show all headings with the Heading 1 style in outline view | Alt+Shift+1 |
| Show or hide the Office Assistant in a wizard | Tab to select the Office Assistant button; Spacebar to show the Assistant or turn off Help with the wizard |
| Show the first line of body text or all body text in outline view | Alt+Shift+L |
| Show the program icon menu (on the program title bar) | Alt+Spacebar |
| Show the shortcut menu | Shift+F10 |
| Show the Windows Start menu in a window | Ctrl+Esc |
| Split a document | Alt+Ctrl+S |
| Start AutoFormat | Alt+Ctrl+K |
| Switch between a field code and its result | Shift+F9 |
| Switch between all field codes and their results | Alt+F9 |
| Switch to normal view | Alt+Ctrl+N |
| Switch to outline view | Alt+Ctrl+O |
| Switch to page layout view | Alt+Ctrl+P |
| Switch to Print Preview | Alt+Ctrl+I |
| Switch to the next document window | Ctrl+F6 |
| Switch to the next program in a window | Alt+Tab |
| Switch to the next tab in a dialog box | Ctrl+Tab or Ctrl+Page Down |
| Switch to the previous document window | Ctrl+Shift+F6 |
| Switch to the previous program in a window | Alt+Shift+Tab |
| Switch to the previous tab in a dialog box | Ctrl+Shift+Tab or Ctrl+Page Up |
| Tip You can select any menu command on the menu bar or on a visible toolbar with the keyboard. Press Alt to select the menu bar. (To then select a toolbar, press Ctrl+Tab; repeat until the toolbar you want is selected.) Press the letter that is underlined in the menu name that contains the command you want. In the menu that appears, press the letter underlined in the command name that you want. | |
| Turn extend mode off | Esc |
| Turn extend mode on | F8 |
| Turn revision marks on or off | Ctrl+Shift+E |
| Underline words but not spaces | Ctrl+Shift+W |
| Undo an action | Ctrl+Z |
| Undo the last action | Ctrl+Z |
| Unlink a field | Ctrl+Shift+F9 |
| Unlock a field | Ctrl+Shift+F11 |
| Update linked information in a Word source document | Ctrl+Shift+F7 |
| Update selected fields | F9 |
| Update the files visible in the Open or Save As dialog box (File menu) | F5 |
Need more?
If you can supply a useful tip for this page, tell me and I'll add it. If you've come here for something and haven't found it, tell me too and I'll find something to help. Remember if you're looking for training on things like 'Mailmerge', then the ECDL courseware can help with this
Mark Annand. Site updated July 30th 2010