Archive for the ‘Microsoft Office Word’ Category

Print Multiple Selections in MS Excel

Tuesday, January 31st, 2012

Sometimes there is a need to print out a medley of selections from different worksheets and have them all on one sheet of stationery.

You can do this by setting up a “Print” worksheet that you use for printing.

Follow the steps below to learn how:

  1. Create a new worksheet to be used for printing purposes.
  2. Select the range on the worksheet that you would like to print.
  3. Click the shortcut key combination Ctrl + C  to copy your selection.
  4. Move to your new Print sheet and select the cell where you would like your copied data to appear.
  5. Click on Edit | Paste Special in version 2003 and in versions 2007 – 2010, click on the Home tab of your Ribbon and click the down-arrow under the Paste tool at the left side of your Ribbon and select Paste Special from the menu displayed.
  6. The Paste Special dialog box will open.
  7. Click on Paste Link. The dialog box will disappear and the linked information will appear in your worksheet.
  8. Repeat the steps above for any other ranges you would like included on your printout.

Then print your worksheet with the information.

The only problem you may encounter using this method is that if the worksheets from which you are copying have different formatting, you may not be able to merge them into a consolidated worksheet to your satisfaction. In that instance, you will need to adjust the formatting in your consolidation worksheet after you paste the different ranges.

Keep your Table on One Page in MS Word

Monday, January 30th, 2012

When you create large, complex documents (i.e., technical manuals, theses, etc.) you will find that you are adding tables to them. It has been my experience that most tables in these documents are not very long and can very easily fit onto one page. Having said that, it can be problematic when there is a page break smack dab in the middle of your table.

Follow the steps below to prevent such behavior:

  1. Select all rows in your table.
  2. Display the Paragraph dialog box by clicking on Format | Paragraph in version 2003 and in versions 2007-2010, click on the Home tab of your Ribbon and click the small icon at the bottom-right of the Paragraph group.
  3. Be certain the Line and Page Breaks tab is selected.
  4. Select the Keep Lines Together check box.
  5. Click on OK.

Having done that, you now need to repeat the steps, with two very minor changes.

  1. First, in step one, select all the rows in your table except the last one.
  2. In step four, make sure the Keep with Next check box is selected.

This will make sure that your table stays together as a unit rather than staying with teh paragraph that follows it.

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!