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Microsoft Word is the most common word processing program for people and organizations all over the world. Just about every digitally-created document is made with Microsoft Word.

We all may use this software from time to time, but professionals may need it weekly or even daily. And while we all think we may be Microsoft Word experts, so few people truly take advantage of all of its time-saving features. Here are some powerful tips to become Microsoft Word Experts

Use Sections to Improve Presentation

Often, a document is split into various parts, and each part may have its own formatting requirements. Sections are a great tool for increasing readability by breaking up a page properly. However, they also have another useful function – they make formatting simpler.

By splitting a page into sections, we gain formatting options for each. This makes it easier to create a diverse and eye-catching document while also saving a user time. Microsoft training centered around Word will usually demonstrate the versatility of this function.

Use Styles for Consistent Documents

Consistency is something businesses strive for in many ways. From uniform headers across all emails to normalized formatting for weekly reports, styles can be used to create consistency in an organization. Many different styles are available, each offering something a bit different from the others. We can find styles for any type of professional document ranging from charts to memos.

To use styles just open the styles pane. In most variations of Word (Mac or PC) this is located on the home toolbar.

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Create a Style for Any Need

You can even create custom styles. Organizations like to brand all of their documents, keeping consistency across all styles and formats. Create your own styles and select your own colors, fonts and formats. Once in the styles pane or window, select “New Style” to get started.

Choose the Right View

While Microsoft Word’s page interface is easily recognizable, not everyone is aware that users can see a document from the view that is best for the document. Word offers several interfaces including webpage and notes.

When content is being written for a webpage, users can remove page breaks to view it in a web format. This allows users to better see how the content you are creating will look in a web browser window, and how much scrolling a user will have to do to finish consuming it.

When using Word to take notes, speed is of the essence. The notes view lets the user quickly take and format notes that are easier to read again later.

Spike Cut/Paste

When we think of copying and pasting information, we usually picture entire sentences, paragraphs, or pages. The spike cut and paste command allows users to pull content from different points within a document and paste these pieces of content together. Though a bit situational, this is a very useful skill to have when one is editing and revising documents at their place of business.

To use Spike Copy/Paste, select the text and Ctrl + F3 on a PC and command+fn+F3 on Mac. This will cut the selected text and add it to the spike. Then paste with Ctrl+V or command+V and all of the selections will be stitched together.

Search Documents with the Navigation Pane

Searching documents can be a lengthy process, and can slow the creation of documents down. With Word’s navigation pane, you can quickly move between pages, sections or even paragraphs. This simple function can help users save time by ensuring they can always retrieve information, make changes, and find important data with just a few keystrokes.

Using Keyboard Shortcuts for Added Convenience

We can use keyboard shortcuts to save valuable time and to easily correct mistakes. An action can be undone by pressing Ctrl+Z, and can be redone with Ctrl+Y. Other shortcuts like Ctrl+A can allow users to selection all the content in a document. Microsoft training can help users master these commands, allowing them to increase their efficiency when it comes to using Word.

There are countless shortcuts, and no one ever uses them all, but there is surely a handful that will save you time. Here’s a comprehensive list of all of the Microsoft Word shortcuts.

Mastering Word for a Business

Microsoft Word is the type of software which fits well in nearly all professional settings. Getting skilled with this program requires one to put the time in and get quality training. If you want to improve your skills or want to improve the skills of your entire professional team, Microsoft Office and Word training can help maximize the time spent creating Word documents.

For more information about Microsoft training, contact Centriq today! Or check out our upcoming classes here.