7 Microsoft Word Productivity Power User Tips

Microsoft Word is a mainstay in offices around the world. But many users have been working with Word throughout their careers, yet only scratching the surface when it comes to using it to its fullest. 

Often, all it takes is just knowing where to look to save tons of time when creating and editing documents. A few minutes saved here and there can really add up and help you get the most of your software solution.  

Word has multiple tips and tricks that can save time and make you more productive. Plus, Microsoft is adding new features all the time with usability in mind. 

63% of surveyed professionals say that MS Word is “crucially important” to their daily work.

Save Time & Get More Done with These MS Word Tips & Tricks

Have you ever spent 20 minutes just trying to fix paragraph spacing in a Word document? Wished you could have Century Gothic instead of Calibri as the default font? 

These tips will help you do all that and much more to power your productivity.

Set Your Default Font

Do you end up having to change the font in your documents all the time because you don’t like the default or it’s not the one your company uses?

Choose your default font and size by opening a Word document and pressing Ctrl + D. This will bring up a default font window

Choose your font, size, and style and then click “Set As Default” and you’ll always have the font you want when you open a new document.

Add a Calculator in Word 

Do you sometimes wish that Word made it as easy to calculate something as Excel? You can add a Calculator to Word which will calculate an equation for you at the click of a button.

First you need to add the feature to your Quick Access Toolbar. Go to File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar.

Edit the drop down at the top and choose “All Commands.” Locate “Calculate” and click Add to add it to your taskbar. It will show up as a small circle at the top, left side, next to things like Save and Undo.

Now, just type an equation, like: 1+2 

Highlight the equation and you’ll see that circle turn white. Click the circle and the answer to your equation will display at the bottom left of your screen, e.g. “The result of the calculation is: 3.”

One-Click Paragraph Fixes

One of the most frustrating things to happen while working on a document is when text on a page won’t behave the way you want it to. There might be bullets and tabs that aren’t lining up or paragraphs that have strange spacing. If you don’t know where to look, it can take forever to figure these out. 

Hidden in a pullout menu is an easy way to find all those paragraph settings. From the Home tab, click the small arrow to the right of the word “Paragraph.” You’ll get a pull-out menu where many of those spacing and tab features are tucked away.

Automatically Capitalize Words in Headings

If you’re working on a document with various headings and subheadings, you’ll most likely be holding down shift, to capitalize each word, slowing down your overall typing speed. 

Take a shortcut by using the case drop down option on the Home tab, Font area, and choosing Capitalize Each Word. You can type as you normally do, and the caps will be taken care of for you. 

Quickly Insert Links

How many steps do you take when you want to hyperlink text in a Word document? Do you right click then choose Link > Insert Link?

You can cut the time it takes to hyperlink in half by using this keyboard command. Just highlight where you want the link and type: Ctrl + K to bring up the link window.

Use the Search Box (The One at Top)

Users often mistake the “Search” Box in the top blue bar for the “Find” in the Edit menu. Find is for finding words within your document, Search is for getting quick help, and it can be a real time saver.

For example, if you want to quickly insert an arrow, instead of navigating to the insert menu and trying to find the arrow, just type “insert arrow” into the Search. 

Think of the Search like a helpful guide, there to take you where you need to go in Word. 

Be a Research Pro with Smart Lookup

Click over to the References panel in Word and you’ll find a magnifying glass icon indicating a feature called Smart Lookup. 

You can save time switching from Word to your browser to research items in your document using this helpful tip. Just highlight the text that you want to know more about (like Stonehenge, for example), and click the Smart Lookup. You’ll see a panel open up in Word to the right of your document with online Bing search results for webpages and pictures. 

Are You Getting the Most Out of Your Office Programs?

Often, businesses are only using a fraction of the power of their productivity tools. Work with the experts at BrainStomp to unleash your software’s full potential.

Contact us today to schedule a technology consultation! Call 260-918-3548 or reach out online.