Microsoft 365 Word Tips and Tricks

Heather Ackmann, Bill Kulterman, Ramit Arora

• Publisher: Packt Publishing
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781800567504
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Desktop Applications
• Index: Computer Science

Learn how to get the most out of Word with expert help and take your documents to a new levelKey Features• Lean into expert advice from Microsoft Certified trainers with decades of experience• Collaborate effortlessly with other even when you're using different formats and versions of Word• Learn to undo tricky mistakes and troubleshoot difficult scenarios without panicBook DescriptionIf you're proud of yourself for finally learning how to use keyboard shortcuts and the search function, but still skip a beat when asked to generate a table of contents, then this book is for you. Written by two experts who've been teaching the world about Word for decades, Microsoft 365 Word Tips and Tricks is a powerhouse of demystifying advice that will take you from Word user to Word master.This book takes you on a step-by-step journey through Word essentials with plenty of practical examples. With it, you'll explore different versions of Microsoft Word, its full functionality, and understand how these versions impact collaboration with others. Each chapter focuses on a different aspect of working with the legendary text editor, including a whole chapter dedicated to concentrating better with the help of Word. Expert advice will fill your knowledge gaps and teach you how to work more productively and efficiently with text, images, styles, and even macros.By the end of this book, you will be able to make better documents faster and troubleshoot any Word-related problem that comes your way. And because of its clear and cohesive structure, you can easily come back to refresh your knowledge whenever you need it.What you will learn• Track a document's changes as well as comment on and review changes by others, both locally and remotely• Use Word's navigation and view features to improve productivity• Generate more consistently formatted documents with Styles• Perform common tasks through simple formatting techniques, Quick Parts, customizing AutoCorrect/AutoFormat, and memorizing keyboard shortcuts• Troubleshoot the most frustrating formatting problems experienced by Word users• Create more universally accessible documents by adding Alt Text using the accessibility checker and other Word featuresWho this book is forAuthors, copywriters, teachers, professionals, and everyone else who uses Word on a daily basis, but is still a little intimidated by it, will get a lot out of this book. You won't need any prior knowledge of Microsoft Word's advanced functions to get started, but the basics – like open, save, copy, and paste – are a must.

Section 1: Working More Efficiently, Together or Alone with Word

In this section, you will learn how to share and collaborate, track changes, and comment, both locally and remotely, as well as how to use Word's navigation and view features to improve concentration and productivity.

This section comprises the following chapters:

• Chapter 1, There Is No One Word
• Chapter 2, Working with Others Remotely (Sharing and Collaboration)
• Chapter 3, Reviewing Documents Remotely
• Chapter 4, Concentrating Better with Microsoft Word

Chapter 1: There Is No One Word

Whether you've been using Microsoft Word every day for years or only occasionally, I can promise you that you haven't seen all that Word can do. Microsoft gives users a variety of choices in how to experience Microsoft Word from a variety of devices and operating systems. Often, with Word, your experience with the app will change based on which version you are using, the operating system, and the device. This chapter is meant to clarify the differences between the many possible options.

This chapter will cover the following main topics:

• How to check your version
• The different versions of Word
• Word for different devices
• Word on different operating systems
• About this book

Before we start learning how to become more proficient in Microsoft Word, we need to figure out which version of Word we are using. There are several options available, and they are all slightly different from each other.

How to check your version

To check which version of Word you are using, open Microsoft Word.

On a PC

Follow these steps to check your Word version on a PC:

1. From the Word Home screen, click Account in the bottom-left corner of the window.
2. Under the Product Information area, in the About Word section, you'll find the version and build number.

On a Mac

Follow these steps to check your Word version on a Mac:

1. From the Word Home screen, open the Word menu.
2. Click on About Microsoft Word.

There, you will find the version number and other license information.

Why is this useful? You might be looking for a specific feature or tool that you have heard about from a friend or colleague and discover it doesn't seem to be part of your version of Word. Different versions of Word may have different features. It is important to understand that the subscription and online versions of Word receive product updates sooner than the Classic Word 2019 version. If you are missing something, you might need to update your version, or it simply may not have the latest updates available yet. The following screenshot is an example of the Product Information area within Microsoft 365 Word:

Figure 1.1 – Microsoft Word 365 version information

The following screenshot is an example of the Product Information area within Word 2019 perpetual version (that is, "Classic Word"):

Figure 1.2 – Classic Word 2019 version information

To look up the update history for your supported version, the best place to go is Microsoft's documentation on the web:

• Update history (by date):
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-microsoft365-apps-by-date
• Office for Mac:
  https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/officeupdates/update-history-office-for-mac?redirectSourcePath=%252fen-us%252farticle%252fUpdate-history-for-Office-2016-for-Mac-700cab62-0d67-4f23-947b-3686cb1a8eb7

On these Microsoft web pages, you will find the most up-to-date information for changes and releases as they are rolled out. But to help you understand what is on these pages, you need to know a little about the various versions of Word out there.

The different versions of Word

In the next few sections, we'll take a look at the various versions of Word that you may or may not have used, starting with Microsoft 365 Word.

Microsoft 365 Word

Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based service that includes the Microsoft Office suite of apps, which Word is a part of. There are several different subscription packages available, but all of them include some version of Word. There are subscription packages that are geared toward business, education, and home users.

Click-to-Run

The Click-to-Run version of Office installs Word locally on your computer. This allows you to use Word at any time, regardless of whether you are on the internet. The Click-to-Run version is available with all Microsoft 365 subscription packages, except for the Microsoft 365 Business Basic package. The Microsoft 365 Business Basic package only comes with the web and mobile versions of the Office apps.

If paying monthly or annually for a software package that continually updates is not something you want or need, you might want to consider the latest perpetual version of Word.

Word 2019

Word 2019 is the latest classic or perpetual version of the Word app. For those of you who have been using Microsoft Word for many years, this will be the purchase option you are most familiar with. You buy the software once, license it for a computer or device, and then can keep using it so long as that software is supported – in other words, perpetually. You don't need to purchase both a Microsoft 365 subscription for Office apps and the perpetual Office apps; you just need one version to use Office.

Do keep in mind, however, that the perpetual apps do not come with the same features or perks that the Microsoft subscription apps get. For example, the Word 2019 perpetual version will occasionally get securi...

Table of contents

• Microsoft 365 Word Tips and Tricks
• Foreword
• Contributors
• About the authors
• About the reviewers
• Preface
• Section 1: Working More Efficiently, Together or Alone with Word
• Chapter 1: There Is No One Word
• Chapter 2: Working with Others Remotely (Sharing and Collaboration)
• Chapter 3: Reviewing Documents Remotely
• Chapter 4: Concentrating Better with Microsoft Word
• Section 2: Making Sense of Formatting Short and Long Documents
• Chapter 5: Working with Short Documents
• Chapter 6: Lists and Characters
• Chapter 7: Structuring Long Documents for Better Organization
• Chapter 8: Saving Time and Ensuring Consistency with Styles
• Chapter 9: Working Faster with Automation
• Chapter 10: Working with Illustrations, Charts, and Tables
• Chapter 11: Writing for Everyone – Understanding Document Accessibility
• Section 3: Help! Word Is Being Strange! Troubleshooting Common Problems
• Chapter 12: Formatting Problems – Too Much Space
• Chapter 13: Transforming Annoying Automation
• Chapter 14: Fixing Frustrating Numbers and Bullet Lists
• Chapter 15: Stuck Like Glue – Word's Deceptively Simple Paste Options
• Other Books You May Enjoy