Microsoft Office Tips, Tricks, and How-to's to help you use MS Office like a pro!

Carol's Corner Office

Monthly Archives: May 2018

Carol’s Ramblings…

Posted on by Posted in Carol's Ramblings

Such a beautiful time of year!  So glad that Spring has arrived!

I don’t know about you, but as usual, I am very busy!  Planting pansies and chasing the rabbits away from them, cleaning house, having my grandchildren over for play time (they keep  me young), and of course, the ever present knitting.

The other thing that keeps me busy is creating interesting articles for you, my subscribers.  When I run into a problem with Word, my first thought is “oh, this will make a great article”. Hopefully you find the articles helpful and enjoy them as much as I enjoy writing them for you.

Until next time, celebrate Spring and please remember to be kind to those around you and those less fortunate. Do a good deed – it will make you feel better and never waste a hug!

How To Edit Password Protected Documents in Word

Posted on by Posted in Word 2016

I just came across this article and it intrigued me so I gave it a try.

At first I was stymied because the first step said to open the document in Word and I thought well if it is password protected then I cannot open it!  Then I realized the title of the article was a tad deceiving. In actuality it meant documents where the formatting, etc. had been password protected! Now it made lots of sense to me!

So what are the reasons one would want to unlock a password protected document? One would assume that the author or company has the document protected for a sound reason, right?  And our first response should most likely be to let it be. But, we could ask the author/company for the password if we need to access part of the document – that is, if the author is still reachable. Supposing though that the original author is nowhere to be found and the company has long since gone out of business and you really, really need to be able to access some of the protected fields or formatting tools.

Or, this could also be a document that you protected yourself and you just cannot remember the password!  It happens. Trust me, I know! In either case, this will come in very handy for you.

Follow the steps below to learn how to unlock the document:

  1. Open the password protected document in Word.
  2. Click on File | Save As.
  3. From the Save As drop down list, select Word XML Document (*.xml).
  4. Click Save.
  5. Close Word.
  6. Right-click on the saved.XML file – it should be in the same folder as your original document.
  7. From the contextual menu that open, select Open with and then select a text editing program to open your file (i.e., WordPad, NotePad, etc.). Do NOT select Microsoft Word.
  8. Click CTRL + F to open the Find dialog box.
  9. In the Find what field, key in enforcement.

You will find one instance – either w:enforcement=”1″ or w:enforcement=”on”.

enforcement

Enforcement

  1. Replace the “1” with a zero “0” or replace “on” with “off” to disable enforcement. This will unlock your document.
  2. Save the .XML document within your text editor and close the editing software.
  3. Right-click on the saved .XML file and click on Open with and select Microsoft Word.
  4. As soon as you have opened your document, click File | Save As and select Word document (*.docx) from the Save as Type drop-down.
  5. Change the name of your document if you would like to preserve the original password-protected document and make this a new document, or use the same name to replace your original document.
  6. Click Save.

You should now be able to open your document and freely edit it as you wish.

Subscribers: How To Search For Special Characters

Posted on by Posted in Subscribers Word 2016

Word allows you to search not only for text, but also for special characters that do not print. If you are working with documents that use tabular material, you will find yourself searching for tab characters quite often. Follow the steps below to learn how? Click Ctrl+F to display the Navigation task pane at the

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Subscribers: How To Split Table Cells in Word

Posted on by Posted in Subscribers Word 2016

I am sure you already know how to merge cells within a table. If you do not, a quick search at Carol's Corner Office will give you that information. Once cells have been merged, you can later split them apart using many of the same methods you used to merge them in the first place.

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Not a Subscriber? Please Consider becoming one today for ONLY $20/yr. Your subscription supports the site and gives you access to many exclusive resources not available to non-subscribers, as well as substantial discounts on Carol's Microsoft Office books.

  • Exclusive in-depth content ONLY for subscribers. Use Microsoft Office like a Pro!
  • Large color screenshots illustrate the instructions so following along is easy!
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  • Exclusive discounts on Office books and other products!

How Seq and ListNum Fields Are Different

Posted on by Posted in Word 2016

Ever wonder what the difference is between the SEQ and LISTNUM fields. Supposed you have a document that you would like to  divide into numbered sections, and you need something that will update automatically if you add or delete a section, and something that will allow you  to cross-reference.

First, let’s look at the differences between the two fields. Below is the syntax for the respective fields:

seq-abd-listnum differences

Seq and ListNum Differences

Instantly you can see that the SEQ field allows you to include an optional bookmark name that refers to bookmarked text someplace else in your document. This means that you can use SEQ for cross-references, but you cannot use LISTNUM for cross-references.

Various Help file information in Word states that LISTNUM is better for complex numbered lists. The only situation where I have found this to be true is if you want the field to interact with any automatic numbering in your document. You can, for instance, modify how automatic numbering is used within a document by using special name parameters that refer to the built-in numbering sequences (i.e., “NumberDefault,” “OutlineDefault” and “LegalDefault”).

While the SEQ field will not allow you to interact with automatic numbering, it will provide a wider array of switches than does the LISTNUM field. You can see a full accounting of the available switches for both fields by accessing Word’s Help system. Experienced Word users generally find that the SEQ field is more versatile and powerful, under most circumstances, than the LISTNUM field. For this reason, you will most often find the SEQ field used for any custom numbering solutions.

You can now make an educated selection of which field to use in your documents!

 

How To Delete A Caption Label In Word

Posted on by Posted in Word 2016

The captioning feature in Word will allow you to define custom labels for use in your captions. As time goes by though, you may not need a certain caption label any longer and it is always a good thing to keep a tidy “house.”

Follow the steps below to learn how to delete a caption:

  1. Display the References tab of your Ribbon.
  2. In the Captions group, click the Insert Caption tool to  display the dialog box.

  1. Using the Label drop-down list, select the caption label you would like to delete.
  2. Click Delete Label. Your label is immediately deleted. If the Delete Label button is not available, you did not select a custom caption label in step 3 above.
  3. Click Cancel to close the dialog box.

Remember: These steps are used to delete a caption label, not an actual caption. The Delete Label button (in the Caption dialog box) will only be available for deleting a custom caption label (i.e., one you previously added using the New Label button). You cannot delete the built-in caption labels in Word.

Subscribers: How To Align Your Numbered Lists in Word

Posted on by Posted in Subscribers Word 2016

I am sure you  know how to create a numbered list using the built-in tools provided by Word. If, however, you create a numbered list that contains more than nine items it, you may notice that your numbers are not properly aligned (i.e., your numbers are not lined up with the decimal point). I cannot

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  • Exclusive in-depth content ONLY for subscribers. Use Microsoft Office like a Pro!
  • Large color screenshots illustrate the instructions so following along is easy!
  • Email notification of each new exclusive post for subscribers!
  • Exclusive discounts on Office books and other products!

Subscribers: How To Sort Data In A Word Table

Posted on by Posted in Subscribers Word 2016

Sorting data in a Word Document is not something that most of us do on a daily basis. But, having lists and table data is, to it would follow that there is real potential here that someone day you may just want to sort something. Word relies on paragraphs when it sorts. (I know that

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This content is exclusively for Carol's Corner Office Subscribers.
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Not a Subscriber? Please Consider becoming one today for ONLY $20/yr. Your subscription supports the site and gives you access to many exclusive resources not available to non-subscribers, as well as substantial discounts on Carol's Microsoft Office books.

  • Exclusive in-depth content ONLY for subscribers. Use Microsoft Office like a Pro!
  • Large color screenshots illustrate the instructions so following along is easy!
  • Email notification of each new exclusive post for subscribers!
  • Exclusive discounts on Office books and other products!

Subscribers: How to Decimal Align Figures In A Word Table

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Ever have a need to align numbers in a table based on decimal points? I know a lot of folks think this is not possible and then they drive themselves batty trying to space things so that the decimal points in their numbers line up. The good news is that you CAN align your text

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This content is exclusively for Carol's Corner Office Subscribers.
If you are a Subscriber please Log In below.

Not a Subscriber? Please Consider becoming one today for ONLY $20/yr. Your subscription supports the site and gives you access to many exclusive resources not available to non-subscribers, as well as substantial discounts on Carol's Microsoft Office books.

  • Exclusive in-depth content ONLY for subscribers. Use Microsoft Office like a Pro!
  • Large color screenshots illustrate the instructions so following along is easy!
  • Email notification of each new exclusive post for subscribers!
  • Exclusive discounts on Office books and other products!