There’s no wonder Microsoft Word is the proprietary eponym when it comes to word processing. Over 500 million customers use Microsoft’s Office, and Microsoft maintains a steady 94 percent of the market share according to research firm Gartner.  However, many of the 500 million users do not take full advantage of the features offered by Microsoft; therefore we decided to share some known and some less commonly known Word features.

BELOW ARE SOME QUICK TIPS REGARDING

FORMATTING WORD DOCUMENTS:

One quick word before we begin:

When we mention a ribbon, we are referring to the below line:

The issue may be that the text you are pasting was formatted differently than the text you are currently working in.

How do you fix that?

If you are using Word 2007 or later: When choosing the paste option, select the paste “Keep Text Only (T)” as seen in the image on the left.

If you are using Word 2003: After you paste the text, right click on the clipboard icon which appears and select “Keep Text Only”.

Ever put three hyphens on a line, press the space bar and all of a sudden you have a solid line with no way to undo it?

What really happened was that you entered a shortcut in Word to make a border!

Here’s how to fix that:

If you are using Word 2007 or later: To remove the border, place the cursor on the line right above the newly formed line and select “No Border” from the paragraph ribbon, as seen in the diagram on the left.

If you are using Word 2003: Select “FORMAT”. Select “BORDERS AND SHADING…”. Select “NONE”. Select “OK”.

Sometimes when typing you want a little more or less space between paragraphs, here’s how to adjust the spacing to your liking: 

If you are using Word 2007 or later: Select the small arrow on the bottom right corner of the “paragraph” gallery. Select the “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style”. Select “Set as default”. Click “OK”.

Sometimes when typing you want a little more or less space between lines, here’s how to adjust the spacing to your liking:

If you are using Word 2007 or later: On the “home” tab, right click on “NORMAL” under the Styles gallery. Select “MODIFY”. Select “FORMAT”. Select “PARAGRAPH…”. Adjust the “AT” setting from 1.15 to 1. Select “OK”.

If you want to make this change the default setting, select “NEW DOCUMENTS BASED ON THIS TEMPLATE”.

If you are using Word 2003: Select “FORMAT”. Select “PARAGRAPH…”. Adjust the spacing “BEFORE and “AFTER” to your desired setting. Select “OK”.

Want to keep two or more words on one line?

Instead of hitting the SPACEBAR, select CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR and Word will keep all the words on the same line!