Topic: Editing

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Tips, Tricks, and Answers

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Adding Hyphens to Phrases It is often necessary to add hyphens (dashes) between the words in a phrase. If you need to perform this editing task often, you might appreciate the macro in this tip. Assign it to a shortcut key, and you can hyphenate phrases very quickly. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Adding Parentheses Need to add parentheses around some word or phrase? Here’s a quick macro that makes this simple edit in one step. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Adding Parentheses in WordBasic Want to add parens around a word or phrase in a single click? Here's a WordBasic macro that can help you. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95

Adding Quotes This tip presents a handy little macro that adds quote marks around any selected text. The macro can be assigned to a shortcut key to make adding matching quote marks even faster. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Adding Quotes to Text A quick little WordBasic macro that allows you to add quotes around selected text. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95

An Automatic Two Spaces After a Period Should you put two spaces after a sentence or just one? Ask different people and you will get different answers. To Word the answer isn’t really important; it can help you enforce either type of spacing you want. This tip explains how. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Arranging Paragraphs Need to move a few paragraphs around in your document? Word provides a couple of handy shortcuts that make it very easy to move them in any direction you want. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Asking for Delete Confirmation When you select some text and then press the Del key, the text should immediately be removed from your document. If you see a message on the status bar asking if you are sure you want to make the deletion, this is an artifact of the WordPerfect support built into Word. This tip explains how to get rid of this prompt so you can get on with deleting. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Automatic Non-breaking Spaces in Dates It drives some people crazy to have a date break across two lines. If you find yourself in this mindset, then you’ll appreciate the ideas presented in this tip for easily making sure that a date stays all on the same line. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Automatically Determining a Due Date When you are doing a mail merge in Word, you may need to calculate a date sometime in the future. Word doesn’t include an option to do this, but there are a couple of workarounds you can try. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Breaking Your Text Word provides four different types of breaks that you can place within your text. These breaks allow you to start new pages or new sections in your document, as you require. This tip explains the differences between each of the breaks supported by Word, along with how to insert them in the document. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Calculating Expressions Want to figure out the result of a math expression? Try this neat trick. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Capitalizing the First Letter after a Colon There are many rules in English grammar (and many exceptions to those rules.) One common rule of grammar is to capitalize the first letter appearing after a colon, provided that what follows the colon could stand on its own as a sentence. Word does not include a way to do this capitalization automatically (too many grammatical exceptions to make a hard-and-fast rule), but you can create your own macro that will take care of the capitalization for you. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Capitals After Colons Making sure Word capitalizes the first letter after a colon. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Changing AutoComplete Words AutoComplete allows you to easily complete words you are typing in your document. If AutoComplete is presenting you with the wrong suggestions, you need the information in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Changing Many Link Locations If you have dynamic links in your document to locations accessible through your network, you probably know the frustration that comes when you open a document and find out that someone changed the names of the servers you previously relied upon. This tip explains a quick way you can update the links in your documents. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Checking for Matching Parentheses There are lots of little “gottchas” that can make the difference between a finished document and a polished document. One such thing is making sure that you have matching parentheses—a closing parenthesis for every opening one. This tip presents a macro that can make quick work of this check and notify you if there is a potential problem. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Checking for Words and Phrases Word includes a simple way to search for individual words or phrases in a document, using the Find and Replace dialog box. If you have a number of words and phrases you want to search for, it is more efficient to use a macro to do the checking for you. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Clearing All Tabs in a Document Did you get a document from a co-worker or friend, and you want to reset all the tab stops in the document? Doing so is easy if you know the proper steps. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Collecting Highlighted Text Selections If you use highlighting extensively in a document, you may want to copy all your highlighted text to a different document. This can be done one highlight at a time, but there are faster ways to perform the copy. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Comparing Documents Top and Bottom Word has a feature that allows you to compare two documents side-by-side. What if you actually want to compare the documents one above the other (top and bottom)? You can make this change in orientation rather easily, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 2003 | 2007

Compound Page Numbering Simple page numbering is easy to add to your documents. More complex numbering (such as two numbering schemes in the same document) are a different story. This tip provides some guidance on how you can approach your more complex numbering needs. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Controlling Overtype Mode Overtype Mode is easily controlled with a click of the mouse. Here is a tip on Overtype's function and how to turn it on and off easily. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Creating a Quick Letter Some versions of Word provide a handy wizard that is helpful in creating basic letters quickly and easily. This tip discusses the Letter Wizard and how you can use it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Creating Compound Characters Some characters are actually created by overprinting one character on top of another. You can create these compound characters either by using a special font or by using the EQ field, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Creating Custom Document Properties Word allows you to keep track of any number of custom properties about a document. Here’s how to create those properties and later use them in a document. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Creating New Windows Become more productive by using multiple windows for your documents. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Creating the ‘Mils’ Symbol Different industries use their own terminologies and symbols. In the military, one symbol is referred to as the “mils” symbol. This tip explains what it is and how to create it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Dealing with Run-On Sentences A common task when editing documents is to break up run-on sentences. You can make this task a little easier by using the editing macro described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Default Click and Type Paragraph Style When you use the Click and Type feature, Word uses applies the Normal style to the paragraph created. You can specify a different style of paragraph by using the steps in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Deleting All Text in Linked Text Boxes Text boxes are nothing but graphic objects that can hold text. Deleting the text in text boxes—without deleting the text box itself—can prove a bit tricky, particularly if you have quite a few text boxes in your document. This tip explains how you can delete the text. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Deleting Words Tired of pressing the Delete or Backspace key for every character you want to delete? Here’s a way you can make your editing much faster, with just a simple change to your deleting keypress. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Differences Between Deleting, Clearing, and Cutting When editing a document, it is important to understand that there is a difference between deleting, clearing, and cutting text. This tip explains the differences, and in the process explains how you can accomplish each task in Word. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Displaying Nonprinting Characters There are several different characters that are routinely contained within a document, yet these characters don’t show up on any printout. Things such as spaces, tabs, optional hyphens, and the like are all important parts of your document. A handy feature is to configure Word so it displays these characters on-screen. This tip explains how. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Editing an AutoText Entry Once you’ve created an AutoText entry, you may believe that it is “set in stone” and cannot be changed. Not so! You can redefine it very easily using the steps in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Ensuring Consistent References with AutoText AutoText is a great time saver when it comes to creating documents. One little-known way to use AutoText can actually save you time in the long run if you feel that your AutoText may change at some point. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Entering a "Slashed Zero" in Your Document Need to add the occasional zero with a slash through it? There are a couple of ways you can accomplish this task. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Entering a Page Break from the Keyboard Page breaks allow you to divide your document into, well, pages. A handy shortcut to memorize is Ctrl+Enter, which allows you to add a page break without removing your hands from the keyboard. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Finding the Previous Occurrence Using Word’s Object Browser, it is very easy to move among different instances of what you want to search in your document. This tip explains how this tool can be used effectively to enhance your searching efforts. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Getting Rid of a Bunch of Frames A few tips on how to get rid of many frames at the same time. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Getting Rid of Automatic Page-Break Lines A little trick to get rid of pagination marks when you have background pagination turned off. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Getting Rid of Overtype If jumping into Overtype mode by mistake drives you crazy, here's a way you can disable it. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Getting Rid of the Paste Options Box Paste something in a Word document, and you may notice a dynamic little set of options appear right next to what you pasted. If you find these “paste options” distracting, you can configure Word so that they aren’t displayed. Microsoft Word versions: 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Getting the Proper Type of Ellipses Type three periods in a row, and the AutoCorrect feature in Word kicks in to exchange that sequence for a special ellipses character. If you don’t like the ellipses that Word uses, you can define your own using any number of methods. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Hyperlinks Not Found When creating hyperlinks in a document, it is important to remember the difference between absolute and relative referencing. If you use the latter, you could end up with hyperlinks that are broken if the target of those links becomes unavailable for some reason. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Inserting a Bullet Need to place a bullet in the middle of a sentence? There are a couple of easy ways you can do this, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Inserting a Copyright Mark The copyright symbol is quite common in many types of documents. Here’s several quick ways you can add the symbol to your documents. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Inserting a Non-Breaking Hyphen Non-breaking hyphens can come in helpful for some types of writing. They force the words (or characters) on both sides of the hyphen to stay on the same line. There are two ways to add such hyphens to your document, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Inserting a Non-Breaking Space Don't want Word to split two words up between lines? Here's how to modify Word's default behavior with the quick insert of a special character. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Inserting a Section Mark A section mark is a common symbol to use in legal documents and some technical documents. Inserting a section mark is easy, once you master the techniques described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Inserting a Special Symbol Symbols, in Word, are the individual characters that make up a font. Using the Symbol dialog box you can quickly insert any character you want in a document. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Inserting Different Dashes Word allows you to use a variety of dashes in your document. These dashes, all of different widths, are easily inserted using the Ctrl key in conjunction with the numeric keypad. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Inserting Foreign Characters It is not unusual to need to insert foreign characters as part of your typing. Word provides several different ways you can easily insert the characters you need. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Inserting Special Spaces How to place different types of spaces in your document. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Inserting the Edit Time One of the things that Word keeps track of is how long, in minutes, you’ve been editing your current document. This information can be inserted into the document using the EditTime field. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Inserting Today's Date A common task is adding today’s date to your document; it happens all the time in letters, faxes, and reports. The easiest (and most flexible) way is to use the Date and Time dialog box, described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Line Breaks After a Slash Some writers use the slash to combine words and as shorthand to signify “or” or “and.” This, of course, makes for some very long words that may not break from line to line in your document as you desire. This tip discusses ways you can use the slash so that line breaks will occur after it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Meaningless Text Adding filler text is often necessary for testing or other purposes. This tip explains how you can quickly and easily add as much filler text to a document as you want. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Messed-up Typing If you switch into overtype mode without knowing it, you can mess up your document in a hurry. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Moving Breaks Quickly Breaks in a document can be easily moved from one place to another using familiar editing techniques. The trick is to make sure that you are viewing your document in Normal or (in Word 2007) Draft view. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Moving Section Breaks Section breaks can be edited just like any other character in your document. This tip explains how you can use standard editing techniques to move a break to exactly where you need it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Moving Text Using the Mouse One quick way to edit your text is to use the mouse to drag blocks of text around the screen. Word supports this type of editing, but you need to make sure that the program is properly configured. This tip explains how. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Navigating Your Document Using Outline View When you need to get around a long document, a really helpful method is to use the Outline view built into Word. This tip explains how this view can make your navigation tasks easier. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Non-breaking Em Dashes How to control where Word breaks words with dashes. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Overcoming Automatic Word Selection When you select text with the mouse, Word usually selects entire words for you. If you don’t want to do this, you can use the technique described in this tip to select just the text you want. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Paragraph Mark Behavior Differences Believe it or not, different versions of Word handle paragraph marks differently. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Pasting a Hyperlink When you paste information into a document, you can specify that it be inserted as a hyperlink rather than as normal text. Doing so allows you to establish a link between the text and the original source of that text. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Pasting Clean Text One of the most helpful tools in Word is the ability to paste straight text into a document. This is used so much on my machines that I created a small macro that saves me time in using the tool. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Pasting Text with Track Changes Track Changes is a great tool for developing documents. If you want to copy text from one document to another, with tracked changes intact, you’ll need the info in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Picking Up in the Last Document Edited If you work on the same document over and over again, you’ll like the very quick macro in this tip. It loads the last used file and jumps to the location in the document where you last made an edit. Also includes a version of the macro that jumps to the end of the last-used document. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Picking Up Where You Left Off How to continue editing where you last were. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Placeholders for Stamps How can you put a small box on envelopes to signify where the stamp goes? Here's how. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Processing Information Pasted from a PDF File When pasting information copied from a PDF file, you can end up with a paragraph for each line of the original document. It would be much better to process the information to remove the extra paragraph breaks prior to pasting. This tip provides a macro you can use to do just that. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Putting a Bullet In the Middle of a Sentence Bullets provide a nice design touch to many documents. Some people think they are just for bulleted lists, which is not true. You can also place them in the middle of sentences or between words. Learn how with this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Putting Character Codes to Work If you know the character codes for some characters of interest, you can use those codes to do lots of tasks. This tip explains some of the ways you can use those codes. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Quickly Finding Synonyms If you need to find some synonyms for a specific word in your document, here’s how you can do it. (Hint: All you need to do is right-click.) Microsoft Word versions: 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Quickly Moving Text With the Mouse Drag-and-drop editing is a handy feature when you love to use the mouse. There are two ways you can move text using the mouse, both of which are described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Removing a Split Window If you previously split your document window, here's how to go back to a single window. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Removing Breaks Word supports all types of breaks in a document. Once they are in place, it can be confusing figuring out how to get rid of them. As described in tis tip, breaks are nothing but a special character that you can edit just like other characters. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Removing Extra Paragraph Marks Part of working with other people’s documents is cleaning them up so that they are easier to maintain and format. One common task is removing extra paragraph marks in the document. The macro in this tip makes short work of removing all the extra paragraph marks. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Removing Extra Paragraph Marks with WordBasic Use this handy WordBasic macro to quickly remove extra paragraph marks from a document. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95

Repeating Actions Pressing F4 or Ctrl+Y allows you to repeat the last action you took in Word. If you want to repeat an action more than a single time, you’ll need a macro to do the task. This tip presents a simple one that you can use to repeat an action any number of times. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Repeating Your Typing Want to repeat your last little bit of typing, or perhaps the last command you invoked? It’s easy to do with the F4 shortcut key, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Selective Undo Ever wonder why you can’t undo just a single edit you made a few minutes earlier? The short answer is that it could make your document unstable or unusable, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Sharing Headings with Others The headings in your document are very important. The constitute the outline of what your document conveys. If you want to share those headings with others (without sharing the document itself), you’ll love the information in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Single-Character Fractions When typing in Word, some fractions are converted into a professional-looking character, while others are not. This tip explains why that occurs and provides some ideas on how all your fractions can look their best. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Slowing Down Mouse Selection We’ve all experienced the problem: You start selecting a large block of text using the mouse, and before you know it the screen is zipping by at incredible speeds. This tip discusses techniques you can use to get text selection under better control. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Spacing After Sentences Word can check to see if you have a consistent number of spaces at the end of your sentences. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Specific Capitalization How to get around Word's AutoCorrect feature for having uncapitalized words at the start of a sentence. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Splitting the Window How to view two different portions of your document. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Strip Trailing Spaces A common nuisance in documents is unnecessary trailing spaces at the end of paragraphs. This tip provides a macro that makes quick work of those spaces, removing them from the document completely. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Stripping Trailing Spaces with WordBasic A quick way to remove trailing spaces from a paragraph. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95

Talking to Yourself Using Hidden Text Got a few notes you want to add to a document? You can do it with comments, but another way may be better: Add notes that won’t print out, right in the regular text. This tip explains how that is done and even provides a macro that makes it easier. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Talking to Yourself Using WordBasic Hidden Text Using Word's hidden text attribute, you can easily add notes for just your use. This tip includes a WordBasic macro to make the task a snap. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95

Transposing Letters Looking for a way to easily switch the position of two adjacent characters? Word doesn’t include such an editing command, but you can easily add one using a macro. This tip provides two macros for this very purpose. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Transposing Two Characters If you have two characters in the wrong order, you might be interested in a shortcut you can use to switch their order. There is no such tool built into Word, but with a handy (and simple) macro, you can create your own shortcut. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Transposing Two Paragraphs There is no command in Word to transpose (switch the position of) two paragraphs. Such a command would be a real boon for some editing tasks, and it can be easily implemented by using the macro in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Transposing Two Paragraphs with WordBasic A WordBasic macro that transposes two adjacent paragraphs. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95

Transposing Two Words Want to swap the position of two adjacent words? This tip provides a quick macro you can use to handle the switch for you. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Transposing Words Presents a WordBasic macro that allows you to transpose (switch) two adjacent words. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95

Turning Off Word's Second Guessing with Quote Marks When you type quote marks in a document, Word normally changes them to Smart Quotes. They look better on a printout, but Word can sometimes mess up and make changes to the quotes that it shouldn’t. Here’s some things you can try when you get tired of Word making mistakes. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Understanding Click and Type The Click and Type feature of Word allows you to use the mouse to click somewhere on a blank page, and then begin typing. Understanding how the feature works can mean better results when using it. Microsoft Word versions: 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Understanding Hard and Soft Returns Do you know the difference? There is a big difference to Word. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Understanding Hyphens and Dashes Word provides you with three types of hyphens and two types of dashes that you can use in your documents. Understanding the differences between them all can help you make better decisions about which you should use (and when). Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Understanding Nonprinting Characters Even characters that print nothing still take space in your document. Characters such as tabs, spaces, breaks, and the like all are accounted for and tracked by Word. It is a good idea to display these special characters on the screen so that you can track them, too. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Understanding Smart Cut and Paste Editing is generally made easier by a feature that Word calls smart cut and paste. If you prefer, you can turn the feature off by making a change on the Edit tab of the Options dialog box. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Understanding the Big Three Autos in Word Three of the tools provided in Word are AutoText, AutoCorrect, and AutoComplete. It is easy to confuse what these tools do, unless you know the information in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Understanding the Clipboard You can use the Windows Clipboard to move information around in Word. To make the most of the Clipboard, it is helpful to understand how it works. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Understanding Views Word allows you to view your document in any of four different methods. This tip describes the four methods completely so you can decide which viewing mode is best for you. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Using ASCII and ANSI Characters Word natively supports several types of character sets. The most common characters sets are known as ASCII and ANSI characters. This tip explains what these are and how to use them in Word. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Using Consistent References Some text references need to be consistent in many places throughout a document. Learn different ways you can ensure that your references are consistent. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Using Document Properties to Ensure Consistent References You can define custom properties for your document. These properties, if used properly, can help you ensure consistency in how you reference different items in the document. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Using Extend Mode One of the lesser-used features in Word is extend mode, which is controlled with the F8 key. This tip explains how this selection mode can be very powerful and can actually make working with Word easier. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Using Manual Line Breaks with Justified Paragraphs If you use justified paragraphs, you know that if you press Shift+Enter, it can lead to some odd spacing between words and characters in the paragraph. You can avoid this problem by using one little character: the lowly tab. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Using Optional Hyphens You can give Word the option of using a hyphen or not. Here's how. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Using Overtype Mode Word has two typing modes: insert mode and overtype mode. You can tell when overtype mode is active because every character you type replaces an existing character. This tip explains this editing mode and how to control it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Using the Copy or Move Text Keys One of the lesser-known editing tools in Word are the shortcuts to copy or move text. Using these shortcuts, Word actually prompts you to indicate where you want the selected text copied or moved. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Using the Spike to Edit Everyone uses the Clipboard to make edits, but few people know of another powerful way to edit—using the spike. Once you understand how to use the spike, the way you do your editing may change forever. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Viewing More of the Left Margin Area If you are using Word in Normal View, you may want to see the area just to the left of the margin displayed by Word. You can use the Shift key in conjunction with the scroll bar to control exactly how much of he margin area is visible. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Viewing Your Entire Document Width Learn how you can see the entire width of your document at once. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Viewing Your Spaces If you are having trouble formatting a document and getting it to look just right, you’ll find it helpful if you configure Word to display spaces. This change replaces spaces with a small dot that helps you identify how many spaces you are using. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Wrapping Spaces Add more than one space after the end of a sentence, and you may find that the extra spaces wrap to the start of new lines. Here’s how to get Word to treat those extra spaces as you expect. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

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