Put Microsoft Word to Work for YOU!

If you use Microsoft Word in your daily work, you're almost certainly wasting an hour of your time per week, maybe more.
Most users spend more than an hour per week on repetitive tasks that could be accomplished instantly with one of the time-saving tools built into the world's most widely used word processing program. Consider these five clever ideas for putting Word to work for you.

Let Word Type Names for You
Are you still typing your name, your boss's name, or your organization's name manually? If so, you're throwing away ten to 15 minutes per week. Get that time back in three easy steps:

1. Type your organization name and select it with your mouse.
2. On the Tools menu, choose AutoCorrect.
3. Type a two- or three-letter abbreviation for your organization name and click Add, then click OK.

From now on, simply type the abbreviation into your document and press the spacebar. Word will type your organization name for you. Note that you must have the Replace text as you type option selected on the Tools/AutoCorrect dialog box for this feature to work correctly.

Let Word Type Your Favorite Paragraphs
Do you copy favorite paragraphs out of old documents and paste them into new ones? That's better than retyping the paragraphs manually, but you're still throwing away ten to 15 minutes per week compared to someone who lets Word do this automatically. Here's how to free up that time:

1. With your mouse, select a favorite paragraph (or group of paragraphs). (Or hold down Shift+Ctrl and use the arrow keys to select each paragraph.)
2. On the Insert menu, choose AutoText and then choose AutoText…. (This sounds strange, but give it a try.)
3. Type a name (at least four characters) for the selected paragraph and click Add, then click OK.

From now on, simply type the name of the paragraph (or the first four characters of the name) and press Tab. Word will paste in the paragraph for you. Note that you can also use the Alt/F3 shortcut key to insert/retrieve AutoText.

Let Word Type Information About Your Documents
In each document, do you include certain information about that document, such as its file name or the date it was last saved or printed? Don't waste time looking up this information or entering it manually. Word will look it up and enter it for you:

1. Type one of the following key words: filename, filesize, createdate, savedate, printdate, numwords, numchars, revnum, edittime, author, or lastsavedby.
2. Select the entire word and press Ctrl+F9
3. Point at the word with your mouse (or position the cursor in the field)
4. Click the right mouse button (not the left one) and choose Update Field. (Or press F9 to update the field.)

As your document changes, you'll need to update the field again by repeating Steps 3 and 4 as needed (or press Ctrl/A to select all of the document and hit F9 to update all fields). Word will reflect the changes automatically. You will also want to make sure the Update Fields option is checked on the Tools/Option/Print dialog to ensure printouts have the most current information in the field.

Let Word Alphabetize Lists for You
Do you occasionally need to alphabetize a list of names? You could waste an entire hour on that single task, but Word can sort the list instantly:

1. Type a list of names, pressing the Enter key after each name. Your list should look something like:
        Mary Koepke
        Bill Coan
        Paul Jones
2. Select the entire list.
3. On the Table menu, choose Sort.
4. Click Options, then click Other, then press the spacebar and click OK.
5. Choose "Sort by Word 2", then click OK.

Now your list looks like this:
     Bill Coan
     Paul Jones
     Mary Koepke

Repeat Steps 1–5, but choose "Sort by Word 1" and your list will look like this:
     Bill Coan
     Mary Koepke
     Paul Jones

Change the Way Word Works
Are you one of those users who detests something about the way Word works? Chances are, you may be able to change its behavior as follows:

1. On the Tools menu, choose Options.
2. Choose the type of option you want to modify.
   Choices include View, General, Edit, Print, Save, Spelling & Grammar, Track Changes, User Information, Compatibility, and File Locations.
3. Right click over each option and choose What's This? to learn more about what each option controls.
4. If the option sounds helpful, place a checkmark next to it. If not, remove the checkmark if present.
5. On the Tools menu, choose AutoCorrect or AutoCorrect Options (depending on which version of Word you use), then repeat Steps 2 - 4 to customize these settings, too.