If composing and working with documents tops your list of daily tasks, you’ll save plenty of time and work more efficiently with these pointers and shortcuts for using Word 2003.
1
Make your tables come alive. Give your tables a professional look. With your cursor placed within the table you want to format, select Table > Table AutoFormat and choose the style you like best.
2
Seamlessly import text from the Web. To import text from the Web without tables or other things that can inadvertently adjust your document’s formatting, highlight the text on the Web page and hit Ctrl-C to copy; paste it on your Word document with Edit > Paste Special and select Unformatted Text.
3
Correct typos with a click. With the “Check spelling as you type” feature enabled (Tools > Options > Spelling & Grammar), you can right-click on the highlighted typo and then select from a list of the suggested, correctly spelled words.
4
Format on the fly with keyboard shortcuts. Select text and hit Ctrl-B to bold, Ctrl-U to underline, Ctrl-I to italicize, Ctrl-[ and Ctrl-] to change font size, or Ctrl-Shift-A to toggle between CAPS and lowercase.
5
Use templates to save time and have fun. Need a fax cover page? Preparing an invoice? Writing an invitation? Word has a template for nearly everything. Go to File > New and on the task pane enter the type of document you need. Click the Go button and select from the list of corresponding results.
6
Seeking input on a document? Route it! Go beyond e-mailing a document, and route it to your colleagues— that way only one person will view and comment at any one time, and you’ll be notified every time it is routed from one person to another. Click File > Send To > Routing Recipient and select and prioritize a routing list.
7
Find just the right word. Click on a word and hit Shift-F7 to automatically look up a synonym, antonym, or alternative choice, using a thesaurus or other available reference tools.
8
Rapidly view the information you need. Zoom in and out of a document by holding the Ctrl key while rotating the wheel button on your mouse. You can zoom in on a specific paragraph, or zoom out to see multiple pages at the same time.
9
Help protect sensitive data. When sharing sensitive data such as employee performance reviews, you can limit viewing, printing, and e-mail forwarding privileges by going to File > Permission > Do Not Distribute, selecting authorized users, and applying permission settings.
10
Research information on the fly. Conduct extensive research with just one click! Highlight the word or phrase you want to research and press the Alt key while clicking the mouse; select a reference from the pull-down menu— a dictionary, an encyclopedia, or even search the Web.