Get the best out of Microsoft Word

It is believed that most people make regular use of just 10 per cent of Microsoft Word’s many features. One reason for this is that many of the best features are buried in the endless menus and toolbars. Even if you discover a hidden feature, it’s not always obvious how to use it – but this article will help change that.

We’re going to reveal 10 tools in Word 2003, 2007 and 2010 that can benefit everyone. Some help to create better-looking documents, while others save time and effort when performing repetitive tasks.

Armed with this knowledge, you will then be able to spend less time fighting with the software and more time creating great documents.

1.  Save time with templates
Templates are special document types that store layout and formatting information for frequently used documents, such as letters or envelopes. Word includes a good selection.

To use these in Word 2003 click File, then New and click the link ‘On my computer’ in the right-hand pane. Choose a tab, select a template and click Create New, making sure the Document radio button is selected.

In Word 2007 click the Office button, then New and choose Installed Templates from the list. In Word 2010, click File, then New, then Sample Templates. Choose a template and click the Create button.

Some templates contain instructions, but it is usually a simple matter of replacing the text with your own, then saving the document as normal. To save any document as a template, press F12 and choose Word Template from the File type dropdown menu.

2.  View two parts of a document at once
When working on long documents, it can be a nuisance having to scroll between the different sections. Word has a little-known feature that splits a document into two separate windows, so two parts can be viewed at once.

In Word 2003, click Window followed by Split, and in 2007/2010 click View, then Split. Move the mouse to position the split then left-click. Each section can be scrolled and zoomed independently.

To change the position of the split, click the separator line between the two views and drag it to a new position. To remove the split, either drag the separator all the way to the top or bottom of the window, or repeat the menu actions above and choose Remove Split.

3.  Create letters to multiple recipients
Sending a personalised document to multiple recipients is easy with Word’s Mail Merge wizard. In Word 2003, click Tools, then Letters and Mailings, then choose Mail Merge. In Word 2007/2010, click the Mailings tab and click the Start Mail Merge button. Choose Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard to start the wizard.

In all cases, the wizard pane appears to the right of the document and can be stopped by clicking the small ‘x‘ at the top right of the pane. Word can use an Outlook address book: if you don’t use this, create the list manually in the wizard. Mail merge can also create emails, envelopes and labels, or just create a printed address list (the wizard calls this a directory).

4.  Compare two documents side by side
Word has a clever feature for comparing documents side by side on the screen. In Word 2003, open the documents, click Window and choose Compare Side by Side with (if there are more than two documents open, a box will pop up to ask which one to use).

The two documents will expand to take up half the screen each. Scrolling down in one also scrolls the other (click the leftmost icon in the small Compare Side by Side toolbar to disable this).

In Word 2007/2010, click View followed by View Side by Side. No extra toolbar appears, but you can turn off synchronised scrolling by clicking View and Synchronous Scrolling (this item may get reduced to an icon in 2007).

To turn off side-by-side view, in Word 2003 click Windows then Close Side by Side and in 2007/2010 click View followed by View Side by Side.

5. Translate documents and use other tools
Word’s Research pane gives instant access to dictionaries, thesauruses, translation and even online searches. To open the Research pane, move the mouse pointer over any word (or highlighted phrase), hold the Alt key and left-click the mouse. A pane opens to the right of the document, showing the search results in all the available reference services.

Search terms are typed in the ‘Search for’ box, and the service can be chosen in the dropdown box beneath this. The dictionaries, thesauruses and translations are free, but apart from Bing, the Research sites listed require a subscription to see the full results.

Choose Translation from the list and click the green arrow icon (just below ‘Translate the whole document’) to translate an entire document for free using Microsoft Translator, an online service.

To remove services from the list, click the Research options link at the bottom of the pane and click to remove ticks from those you don’t want.

6. Open Word 2007/2010 documents in Word 2003
One of the biggest changes in Word 2007 was the introduction of the .docx file format, which cannot be opened in older versions of Word. However, Word 2003 users can install the Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack to enable them to open and save documents in the newer formats – download it here.

As well allowing .docx documents to be opened, after installation a new ‘Word 2007 Document’ option appears in the ‘Save as type’ dropdown box when saving documents. Word 2007/2010 users can save files in the old .doc format using the Save As command.

To make this the default format, click File followed by Options (or Office button, then Word Options in Word 2007) and choose Save. Choose ‘Word 97-2003 Document (*.doc)’ from the ‘Save files in this format’ dropdown menu.

7.  Automate tasks with macros
Use macros to record key presses that can be replayed at any point, saving time and effort. We’ll create a simple macro that inserts a 6-row, 7-column table using the Alt and T keyboard shortcut.

In Word 2007/2010, click the View tab then click the down arrow underneath the Macros icon at the right and choose Record Macro. In Word 2003, click Tools then Macros followed by Record New Macro. Type a name in the Macro Name box. Click Keyboard, press Alt and T together, then click Assign followed by Close.

In 2007/2010 click Insert, then Table, then Insert Table and enter 7 for the columns and 6 for the rows, then click OK. Click View, click the arrow under Macros and choose Stop Recording. In Word 2003, click Tables, Insert, Table, then type in the row and column values, then click OK. Now click Tools followed by Macro then Stop recording.

The macro can be run at any time by pressing Alt and T together – a table will appear at the text-cursor position. Macros can record any keystrokes and menu selections, but not mouse movements. To delete or rename macros, in Word 2007/2010 click View then Macros, and in Word 2003 click Tools followed by Macro then Macros.

8.  Discover Building Blocks
Building Blocks is a selection of ready-made objects in Word 2007 and 2010 that can be used in documents. They include page number styles, text boxes, equations, headers and footers (see tip 10) and page layouts.

These can give your documents a professional touch. Click Insert, then Quick Parts, and choose Building Blocks Organizer. The list of items is categorised, and clicking on an item’s name will show a preview in the right-hand pane. A brief description appears below this. To insert an item at the current cursor position click Insert.

Some items such as page numbers will also create headers and/or footers automatically, so they appear on each page. For text boxes, just type your own text over the sample text.

9.  Enhance documents with styles
Creating a good layout takes time, as it can be hard to get all the fonts and colours to match. Word makes it easier with a variety of document themes that consist of text styles, list types, colours and more that can give the document a more professional look.

In Word 2003, click Format then Themes and click a theme for a preview. Remove the tick from the ‘Background image’ box to discard the background image, and tick ‘Vivid colours’ for other colours. Click OK to use the theme. Click Format, Styles and Formatting to see the available text styles – click on one of these to use it.

In Word 2007/2010 click Page Layout, then Themes and choose one of the built-in themes. The theme changes the styles and colours on the Styles section of the Home tab, and also the text, line and border colours available. To reset to the default, choose the Office theme.

10.  Add headers and footers
Headers and footers contain text or graphics that are repeated on every page, such as page numbers.

In Word 2003, click View followed by Header and Footer. Dotted boxes appear at the top and bottom of the page, and a Header and Footer toolbar appears. Click Insert Auto Text to use automatically generated items such as date and author.

To insert automatic page numbers, click on the icon to the right of the Auto Text button. Different page number formats can be chosen by clicking the third icon from the left. Click the Close button to go back to the document.

In Word 2007/2010 click Insert, then Header (or Footer) and choose a style. The Design tab opens automatically. Click on the ‘Type text’ areas in the header or footer to type in your own text. Click the Page Numbers or Date and Time buttons to choose a format and insert these items.

To go back to the document body, click Close Header and Footer, and to re-edit, double-click the header or footer.