It’s probably not possible to go your entire life and never use Microsoft Word. It just isn’t. In fact, there’s a very real possibility that you enter the world of Word on a semi-regular basis. And there’s nothing to be ashamed of about that. Word is a bright light in a very dark world. It puts the pen to shame.
But just like Excel, Word comes with a never-ending list of sometimes useful and sometimes random features. And to learn every last one of these features, could very well take a lifetime (hence, the term ‘never-ending’). Nonetheless, knowing how to use a few of these hidden elements or shortcuts can make your life inside Word a whole lot easier. You just have to know where to dig in, and we’d thought you’d appreciate it if we started that hole for you.
Here are a few of our favorite tricks and features you can find inside Word.
Navigation Pane
If you receive a really long document or you’re working on one yourself, it’s valuable to know how to jump from page to page or from section to section (without all that scrolling). To do this, you should make use of the Navigation Pane which can be found under the View tab. Check the Navigation Pane, and you will be able to see all pages and headlines in one glance on the left side of your document. You can even search for specific text, comments, or pictures inside this pane.
Select Text
When you press F8 twice, it will select your current word. Press it again, and it will select the entire sentence. Again, and it will select the given paragraph. And once more, you’ll grab the entire document. This is great for when you need to copy and paste items or adjust the formatting of the text.
Paste Special
Occasionally, you may need to copy and paste something from another document or from a website. When you do this, it can paste onto your current document in a different format (font, size, color). To keep things uniform, use Paste Special. Instead of using Ctrl + V to paste your text, use Ctrl + Alt + V. You can select the option to paste the text only, minus the original formatting.
Lorem Ipsum
Lorem Ipsum can be used as filler text to get a feel for where you want your document to go. To fill your document with this text, type =lorem(NUMBER) and press enter. The number you place within the parentheses will determine how many paragraphs of Lorem Ipsum you get. For example, =lorem(5) will give you five paragraphs of random filler text.
Switch Cases
If you want to switch the case of your text, use Shift + F3. Press it once, and your text will switch to all uppercase. Press it again, and it will move to lowercase. Again, and it will make the first letter of every word uppercase. At some point, we’ve all accidentally hit the Caps Lock or felt too lazy to capitalize the title of a document. This feature is for those times.