Microsoft Word: Home Sweet Home

Here are two of my top things you can do on Word using the Home tab.  I am writing this for those who already have basic knowledge of Word.

Format Painter

If you’ve never used format painter, you will be so happy to finally know what that big paintbrush icon can do. 

This is useful when you have two different fonts, font sizes, colors, or styles in one document.  Instead of going through and fixing each, you can use Format Painter to copy that style and use it on other text.

1. Highlight the type of text you want to copy. 
2. Click on the Format Painter icon (a paintbrush) on the Home tab.
3. Click the text you want to change.
4. Note: if you have multiple places you want to change, double click on the icon.  Then you can change formats as many times as you like.  When you are done, click the icon once to end the Format Painter session.

 Change Case

Ever so busy typing, you didn’t notice you had the Caps Lock on?  Don’t retype everything!  Instead:

1. Highlight the text. 
2. On the Home tab, find the icon that has a cap and lowercase A.  Click on it and choose from the drop-down menu sentence case (although one of the other choices may be more useful, such as capitalize each word).   [Or can do SHIFT+F3 and it will do the opposite of what the text is in.]
3. This button also works if you now want the whole word in caps.

Beyond Word--Getting the Most Out of Microsoft Word

Back when I was in high school, I was given a position as a computer room aide at a middle school.  I didn’t own a computer nor could be considered a computer geek.  But I learned as I went how to use Claris Works and a basic spreadsheet program.  I was willing to “play around” to figure stuff out—one of the most useful ways to advance your computer skills.

A couple years later, I temped at a large company.  They hired me just to figure out Power Point, which no one in that department had used before.  Again, I was given time to try things out. 

Now I’m an author.  I write using Word.  Whenever I wish there was a way to make things simpler, I do research (now I actually have the option of looking things up on the Internet!) until I find that there is an easier method.

And that is what I want to share with you.  I recently switched from Word 97 to Word 2013 and still miss my dropdown menus, but I’m learning that, too.  Since I need to get more comfortable with Word 2013, that’s what this is written for.  I believe it’s similar to Word within the last ten years though.

So, my latest addition to my blog are fun tips, tricks, and ways to use Word more efficiently.  Enjoy!