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These tutorials are roughly categorized using the taxonomy of the former Microsoft Word online newsgroups. Some titles are listed more than once. Articles displaying the icon have been updated for Word 2007 and above. For additional articles that have been updated and moved to this site, see My MVP FAQs.

New Users

     “Getting started in Microsoft Word”—tips for the absolute beginner

     “Making the most of headers and footers”—how to insert a header and footer in a document (version for Word 2003 and earlier)

“Making the most of headers and footers”—how to insert a header and footer in a document (version for Word 2007 and above)

“Word’s Save Options”—answers the question “How can I make Word save or back up my document automatically?”

Word’s nonprinting formatting marks—answers the question “What do all those funny marks, like the dots between words in my document and the square bullets in the left margin, mean?

Problems

“Common hyperlink problems”—understanding how hyperlinks work and how to fix them when they go wrong

Finding elusive text—solve problems using the Find and Replace dialog

“How to delete a ‘blank page’ in Word”—getting rid of unwanted pages that print at the end or in the middle of a document

“Troublesome lines”—getting rid of unwanted lines in your document

“Unable to delete text”—I selected a block of text and pressed Backspace (or Delete) and nothing happened!

“Where did my header and footer go?”—dealing with elusive “white space”

     “Where did my Symbol command go?”—how to restore it and how you lost it in the first place

“Word is always making changes I don't expect. How can I get more control over my formatting?”—taming AutoFormat and AutoCorrect

Page Layout

“How to create a thumb index”—make colored page tabs that show readers where a new section begins

“How to have different margins on the first page”

How to print two pages on one sheet of paper, with page numbering” (primarily applicable to older versions)

How to print two pages on one sheet of paper” (primarily applicable to Word 2003 and above)

“How to put a header anywhere on a page”—how to insert text or a graphic so that it repeats on every page but is outside the header area

     “How to set up a letter template”—how to create a letterhead (Word 2003 and earlier), have different margins on the first page, set up letter styles, etc.

“How to set up a letter template”—how to create a letterhead (Word 2007 and above), have different margins on the first page, set up letter styles, etc.

“Improving the bottom line”—tips for achieving more uniform page length

     “Keeping numbers in line”—straightening out unruly paragraph numbering and numbers in tables (Word 2003 and earlier)

“Keeping numbers in line”—straightening out unruly paragraph numbering and numbers in tables (Word 2007 and above)

Blank Lines in Word Forms”‒how to create “fill in the blanks” lines for printed forms (primarily for Word 2007 and above)

“Making the most of headers and footers”—how to insert a header and footer in a document

     “How to set up a document with front matter numbered separately in Word 2003 and earlier”

“How to set up a document with front matter numbered separately in Word 2007 and above”

“Placing text in the margins”—how to insert a heading or brief note in the margin of a document

Long Documents

“How to combine multiple cross-references”—convert “see Figure 5, Figure 6, and Figure 7” to “see Figures 5, 6, and 7”

“How to format cross-references” (for example, how to make hyperlinked cross-references look like hyperlinks)

“How to include just part of a paragraph in a table of contents”—working with “run-in sideheads”

“Making the most of headers and footers”—how to insert a header and footer in a document

“Margins for Bound Documents”—how to create a gutter, use mirror margins, and simulate mirror margins in a landscape section of a portrait document (Word 2007 and above)

“TOC Tips and Tricks”—getting control over the content and formatting of your table of contents

“TOC Arithmetic: Adding to, Multiplying, and Dividing Tables of Contents”

“Creating a manual TOC” (applies to Word 2007 and 2010 only)

“Customizing and Troubleshooting Footnote and Endnote Separators”—modify or delete the lines that separate footnotes and endnotes from the document text

Numbering and Dates

     “Keeping numbers in line”—straightening out unruly paragraph numbering and numbers in tables (Word 2003 and earlier)

“Keeping numbers in line”—straightening out unruly paragraph numbering and numbers in tables (Word 2007 and above)

How to print two pages on one sheet of paper, with page numbering

“Making a date”—how to insert date and time fields in Word

Customization

How to assign a keyboard shortcut” (all versions)

     “How to add a command or macro to a menu” (Word 2003 and earlier)

How to add a command or macro to the Quick Access Toolbar” (Word 2007 and above)

     “How to add a command or macro to a toolbar” (Word 2003 and earlier)

How to change the default settings for new Word documents”—changing page, font, paragraph, and style formatting in all versions of Word

“How to create a template”—applies to Word 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, or 2016

“Word 2002: How to “put it back the way it was”—customizing Word 2002 to work like Word 2000 (also applies to Word 2003)

“How can I make my document or template show a preview?” Explanation of how to do this—and why you really don’t want to

     “Custom toolbar buttons”—a selection of custom button faces for some useful toolbar buttons (Word 2003 and earlier only)

Graphics

“The graphics in my document have turned into red X's!”

“I inserted some graphics in a document, but now I can’t see them; or there is just an empty box where one should be; or my graphics won’t print”

“How can I create a custom page border?”—ways to supplement Word’s built-in Border Art selections

“How to add crop marks to a Word document”—create marks that show you (or your commercial printer) where to trim your page

“How to wrap text around a full-page graphic”

Fonts and Styles

“Display, Use, and Manage Styles in Word”—how to use the Quick Style Gallery, Styles pane, Apply Styles toolbar, Style dropdown, and Manage Styles dialog to view, apply, modify, create, and manage styles

“How to create a character with a bar over it”—how to create an “x bar” character or put a line over any other character

      “How to create styles for questions and answers”—styles with text “bullets” that will alternate automatically (Word 2003 and earlier)

“How to create styles for questions and answers”—styles with text “bullets” that will alternate automatically (Word 2007 and above)

“Display document styles”—how to tell what style is applied to a given paragraph (applies primarily to Word 2007 and above)

“How to superimpose characters”—combining two or more characters to create a single one

“Useful StyleRef tricks”—ways to use the StyleRef field with character styles

     “Where did my Symbol command go?”—how to restore it and how you lost it in the first place

“How can I insert special characters, such as dingbats and accented letters, in my document?”

Mail Merge

     “Express mail merges in Word 2002”—how to create and run merges quickly without resort to the Mail Merge Wizard (also applies to Word 2003)

Spelling and Grammar

“Mastering Word's spelling checker”—troubleshooting spelling problems

How to “remove” a word from Word's main spelling dictionary by creating an exclusion dictionary

Exploiting AutoCorrect—increase your productivity with custom AutoCorrect entries

Tips and Tricks

“Better than an Easter egg: Using ToolsCalculate”

“Cleaning up text pasted from emails or websites”—how to remove excess paragraph or line breaks

Finding elusive text—solve problems using the Find and Replace dialog

“How to create a character with a bar over it”—how to create an "x bar" character or put a line over any other character

     “How to create styles for questions and answers”—styles with text “bullets” that will alternate automatically (Word 2003 and earlier)

“How to create styles for questions and answers”—styles with text “bullets” that will alternate automatically (Word 2007 and above)

“How to detach an envelope from a document”—how to get rid of the envelope or the letter when you’ve used “Add to Document” to add an envelope to a letter or other document

“How to hide table gridlines”—formatting your résumé for electronic transmission

“Is there life after Reveal Codes?”—formatting cues to help WordPerfect migrants

“Placing text in the margins”—how to insert a heading or brief note in the margin of a document

“Useful StyleRef tricks”—ways to use the StyleRef field with character styles

Just for Writers

Writers of novels or short fiction may be interested in the following (note that the links below are to a different Web site):

The Lonely Pilcrow: Microsoft Word Tips for Writers,” presentation to the Wordsmiths Workshop (sponsored by the Baldwin Writers’ Group), Daphne, Alabama, April 16, 2005, including a template for novel or short-story manuscripts

  • This is the handout workshop participants received.

  • The manuscript template workshop participants were promised is available here.

In October 2018, I presented “Microsoft Word Tips for Writers” to the Pensters Writing Group in Fairhope, Alabama. The text of my rather distracted talk (thanks to setup issues, I had to use a handheld mike while trying to demonstrate using the keyboard) is not available, but I have posted the slide deck and handout.

  • This is the handout attendees received.

  • This is the slide deck (I talked a lot about how to tell what version of Word you have, since it was clear from pre-program response that many members were not sure).