Archive for the ‘Microsoft Office’ Category

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Super Fast Find Next in MS Word

Thursday, January 26th, 2012

MS Word has a very nice search feature that allows us to make replacements on the fly.

We all know the key combination shortcut to use Search and Replace — Ctrl F. It allows us to search for just about anything in our documents. There is the issue of screen real estate when using this great function however.

The Navigation Pane opens on your screen and takes up valuable real estate and not only that, it can be distracting to some folks (me).  When you click on Next that pane is still there.

Now the good news is that you CAN have your search and not have the pane (no pun intended).

Follow the steps below to learn how:

  1. Use your Navigation Pane as you normally would, specifying what you would like to search for and look for the first occurrence.
  2. When Word displays the first occurence, click your Esc key or click on cancel. Word will obey and close the Navigation Pane.
  3. To find the next occurrence, simply click Shift + F4.

It works exactly the same as clicking Next Search Result and it is just as fast without that distracting Navigation Pane!

Always looking for ways to help you work smarter, faster and more comfortably!

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Posted in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Word, Word 2010 | No Comments »

Control the Display of your Formula Bar in MS Excel

Friday, January 13th, 2012

For those of you who do not know, your Formula Bar in MS Excel is located at the top of your screen, bust underneath your Ribbon or the Formatting toolbar, depending upon which version of Excel you have a license for.

The Toolbar is comprised of two parts:

  • On the left-hand side is the Name Box;
  • On the right-hand side is the contents of your currently selected cell.

Now sometimes you may need more real estate to view one of your worksheets and sometimes you just don’t need to see the information provided in your Formula Bar and the good news is that you can turn it off if you do not need it!

Follow the steps below to learn how:

Versions 2007 – 2010:

  1. Click the Office button | Excel Options to display the Options dialog box.
  2. Click Advanced on the left-hand side.
  3. Scroll down until you see the Display options.
  4. Click on the Show Formula Bar check box.  If it is currently selected, then your Formula Bar is displayed. If you deselect it then your Formual Bar will not be displayed.
  5. Click on OK.

Earlier Versions:

  1. Click on Tools | Options to display the Options dialog box.
  2. Be certain the View tab has been selected.
  3. Click on the Formula Bar check box. If it is selected then your Formula Bar is selected. If you deselect it, your Formul Bar will not display.
  4. Click OK.

Note:   You can also view your Formula Bar option from the View tab of your Ribbon or from the View menu. This operates as a toggle: Click on it one time and the Formula Bar disappears – click on it again and it will reappear.

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Posted in Excel 2000, Excel 2002, Excel 2003, Excel 2007, Excel 2010, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Excel | No Comments »

Quickly Display the Tabs Dialog Box in MS Word

Thursday, January 12th, 2012

As anyone who subscribes to my newsletter or blog knows, I am the queen of saving time and keystrokes.  Why on earth would one want to do something the long way??

So in that regard, here is a handy little shortcut you can use to display your Tabs dialog box:

Simply double-click on your Ruler just below the markings that appear there.   Be certain that you double-click ONLY at the bottom of your Ruler.  If you click at the top the Page Setup dialog will appear instead of the Tabs dialog.

Please note that when you double-click on your Ruler, you may also find that you have accidentally created a tab stop. Don’t fret though. You can quickly and easily remove that inadvertent tab stop by dragging if off your Ruler. Of course, you can also do it in the Tabs Dialog box by clicking Clear All.

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Posted in Microsoft Office, Microsoft Office Word, MS Word 2000, MS Word 2002, MS Word 97, Word 2003, Word 2007, Word 2010 | 1 Comment »

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