10 Hidden Microsoft Word Features

That Will Make Your Life Easier

By Saikat Basu
Read the original article here: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/10-hidden-microsoft-word-featureswill-make-life-easier/
Everyone knows Clippy. But are you friends with Pilcrow?
Stop there if you know what I am talking about. You know more about Microsoft Word than I do.
Okay. Let me test you a bit more by asking about widow lines. If you still got that, then do stop. If
you didnt, then welcome to this side of the line where we think we are proficient on Microsoft Word
but honestly arent.
You are fine as long as you fire up a document and just type. But billions of Redmond dollars went
into making this the office Swiss knife it is today. Many of those greenbacks helped create the hidden
productive features that we rarely use. Here are ten MS Word 2013 features that make your work
easier.

Be Distraction Free
Writers want peace. The visual clutter of MS Word gave rise to a legion of distraction free editors and
undisturbed peace. But if you love Word, you can use a quick shortcut to hide the visual clutter of the
Ribbon. Press Ctrl + F1 to toggle the Ribbon from view.

Tweak it by clicking on Ribbon Display Option and selecting Auto-hide Ribbon.

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Distraction free reading is a more specialized feature in Word 2013 (though, it was there in Word
2010, too). Designed for touch-enabled tablets, the Read Mode works well on an everyday laptop as
well. Access it just as quickly with an ALT + W-F (Press W & F simultaneously).

Optionally, use the default buttons:

(On the Ribbon menu) View > Read Mode.

(On the Status Bar) The Read Mode button on the right.

Double-tap with your finger or double-click with your mouse to zoom in and make graphics like
tables, charts and images fill the screen.

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Reorganize With The Outline View

Outlining your main ideas and completing that first draft quickly is the surefire tip for writing
productivity. If used well, the Outline View can increase your productivity with large documents by
50%.
Go to View > Views on the Ribbon. Outline View helps you finetune the organization of complex
documents by reordering text blocks and nine levels of headings. Outline View brings up a special
toolbar with controls for promoting or demoting selected text. Use the controls to hide or display
selected text.

Want to get to a specific point in a long document? Switch to Outline View and jump to a
specific heading level.

Want to draft quickly? Plan out the main sections on Outline View and them switch to the
other layouts to write the body.

Want to reorganize a report by moving huge blocks of text? Drag and drop a heading to move
not only that heading, but all the sub-levels under it and the body text. Use the upwarddownward arrows to work them.

Want to quickly format headings? Use Headlines 1, 2, and 3 instead of changing size and
using uppercase.

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Use Word As A Quick Brainstorming Tool

Double-click anywhere and begin typing. You dont need to bother with positioning a cursor if you
dont want to. This is the closest MS Word comes to freestyle writing. Click and Type has existed
since Word 2002. The feature works only in the Print Layout view or in Web Layout view.

Though this is very useful for inserting text and graphics, you can also use it for impromptu
brainstorming as a freeform mindmapping tool.

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Convert Tables To Graphs In 3-Steps

Take your pick a neatly formatted table with lots of data OR a nicely done chart visualizing that data
for you?
Being visual creatures, it is often a no-brainer to opt for the latter. MS Word makes it easy to convert
tabular information into a chart. When you dont have too much of tabular data, create a chart in Word
instead of over-killing with Excel. Select the table with the data and follow three steps

1. Click on the Insert tab on the Ribbon.

2. Click the Object tool within the Text group and open the Object dialog box.
3. From the list of Object Types, choose Microsoft Graph Chart. Click OK.
Word displays the tabular data as a neat graph. You can format your graph as any other element in
the document.

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Write Equations In Word

And you think that only Excel formulas are amazing. The Equation Editor has always been part of
Microsoft Word. In Word 2013, it is simply known as Equation (available from Insert Symbols).
Choose Insert > Equation > Insert New Equation.

Use the Equation Toolbar to design your own advanced equations for mathematics, physics, or
chemistry . Word gives you many well-known equations to insert with just a click.
A short Lynda.com tutorial introduces the feature.

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Hold 24 Items In The Clipboard

Unlike the Windows clipboard, Words own version can hold 24 items. In the Home tab, click the little
dropdown arrow next to Clipboard to reveal the panel on the left. For the shortcut, press Ctrl+C
twice to open the Clipboard Panel. This holding capacity enables you to cut and copy multiple
elements and move them anywhere within the document.

Translate On The Go
MS Office uses Microsoft Translator to handle all translations. In Word 2013, use the Translate feature
from the Review tab. The Research tab appears on the right and you can choose from many
languages. Translate a word or a sentence. Or, translate the entire document and display it in your
web browser.

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Be Visually Pleasing With Kerning

Kerning adjusts the space between two individual letters for a better visual look. When designing a
document, each typeface requires its own specific kerning. Kerning becomes important when you are
designing with large fonts on Word, e.g. an ebook cover.
Word has kerning switched off by default, and normally you dont need to bother with it. But lets say
you need to submit a five-page homework. Save effort by increasing the width between the letters
instead of writing fluff!
Click the little pop-out arrow on Font (on the Home tab). Alternatively: click Ctrl+D. Select the
checkbox for Kerning for fonts. Experiment by entering a small point size in the box. Remember
some typefaces and font sizes dont look good with kerning.

If you really want to get better with kerning and fonts, try out the Kern Type game we mentioned in a
previous article on Font Games.

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Inspect Your Document

These days its all about sharing. Its all about security, too. The Document Inspector is the central
console in MS Word that helps you check your document for any information you want to keep
private. Whenever you create or even edit a document, some user information gets added to the file
automatically. The Document Inspector helps you erase this kind of information before sharing a
document.
To access the Document Inspector:
Go to File > Info > Prepare for Sharing > Check for Issues > Inspect Document.

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Inspect hidden content by selecting the checkboxes. After the inspection, any categories with
sensitive data gets an exclamation mark. A Remove All button for each category removes the data
and finalizes the document.

Office Support takes you step by step on how to use the Document Inspector.

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Take The Benefits Of Hidden Text

Oh yes. This feature is truly hidden. Hidden Text is a non-printing character attribute that has its
usefulness. Hiding text can be useful in many situations:

Create a simple quiz by hiding the answers.

Control the layout for some specific printing job by inserting hidden text.

Print two versions of a document. In one, hide portions of text. You dont need to create two
copies or delete any part of the document.

Temporarily hide confidential information that you dont want others to see.

Hide or Unhide Text

4. Select the text you want to hide or the hidden text.

5. Click Home > Font Dialog box > Font > Select or clear the Hidden check box.
6. Print Hidden Text: Go to the File tab > Options > Display > Select the Hidden text check box >
Select the Print hidden text check box > Click OK.
Non-printing characters are formatting marks which enables the user to troubleshoot and finetune
the layout of a document.
For instance words need to be single spaced; your paragraphs have to be spaced with correct line
breaks; all tabs should be lined up; table cells have to be formatted neatly; pagination has to flow etc.
Pilcrows, tab-markers, spaces, line breaks, page breaks, object anchors, and hidden text are just
some of the non-printing elements that are handy for controlling the layout of a Word document.
Display the non-printing characters by clicking the Pilcrow button on the Home tab. Alternatively,
press Ctrl + *.

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Do Note: In Word 2013, you can also expand or collapse parts of a document to selectively display
information.

Reveal Your Productivity Secrets

Did you know about the annual Microsoft Office Championship? The participants are the champions
at using the suite and you can bet they have found faster or more efficient ways to use tools like
Word for their day to day jobs. Probably, theres a champion inside you.
Champions have their favorite tips. Share the features you use every day hidden or not.

Read more stories like this at MakeUseOf.com

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