Save time and your sanity: Increase your efficiency with Microsoft Word

SAVE TIME AND YOUR SANITY:
Increase your efficiency with
Microsoft Word
Rhonda BraceyACES Conference
2019
#ACES2019
#ACESMSWordTips
#Cybertext

About me
❖ Microsoft Word for Windows user since early 1990s
❖ Since 2008, edited and formatted ~2500 long, complex Word
documents for a large team of authors (mostly environmental
scientists)
❖ Written hundreds of ‘how to’ and troubleshooting blog posts on
Word
❖ Australian
© CyberText Consulting Pty Ltd
2
Notes:
• File paths are from Office 365, and/or Word for Windows and Mac 2016.
• Most screenshots are from Word for Windows.

What I’ll cover
It’s all about efficiency, so:
❖ Show everything
❖ Put your most-used functions close to you
❖ Automate as much as you can
❖ Use the power of find and replace
3

Show everything4
Twitter Takeaways:
❑ You can’t fix what you can’t see
❑ Show all formatting marks, field shading,
bookmarks indicators, table gridlines
❑ Show paragraph styles
❑ Show track changes
❑ Zoom in and out
Source: http://mrg.bz/qpVlqW
#ACES2019
#ACESMSWordTips
#Cybertext

Show all general formatting marks
❖ Home tab > ¶ (pilcrow icon)
❖ Initially strange—try for two weeks
❖ Why show these marks?
▪ Helps you troubleshoot Word formatting issues
▪ Shows how the author formatted the doc
▪ Shows inconsistencies in use of spaces, tabs, etc.
5

What the formatting marks mean
❖ Black square (orange)—paragraph settings apply (e.g. Keep w/ Next, Page Break Before)
❖ Arrow (yellow)—tab; auto (e.g. outline numbering) and manual tabs look the same
❖ Pilcrow (purple)—end of paragraph
❖ Dot (green)—space between words
6
❖ Left-turn arrow
(red)—soft line break
❖ ‘Degree’ (cyan)—
nonbreaking space
(e.g. between value
and unit of measure)
❖ Break (pink)—double
dotted line: section
break; single dotted
line: hard page break

Show special formatting
File ➔ Options
➔ Advanced ➔
Show document
content and
Display
subsections
(Mac: Word ➔
Preferences ➔
View)
7

How bookmark formatting looks
❖ Light gray square brackets surround bookmarked
text
❖ A gray ‘I’ beam indicates a bookmark with no text
8

How field shading looks
❖ When turned on, gray shading is behind:
▪ Automated fields: contents, caption numbering, etc.
▪ Manual fields: header text from a bookmark, cross-
references, etc.
9

Rhonda’s rule:
10
Don’t
touch the
gray
stuff!!
And to avoid
confusion,
don’t use
gray
highlighting

Show table gridlines
❖ Table gridlines are NOT borders
❖ Show boundaries of table cells so you can identify:
▪ where borderless tables are used for layout (e.g.
headers, footers, figures)
▪ possible merged cells
❖ Click inside any table:
▪ Table Tools ➔ Layout tab ➔ View Gridlines
▪ Mac: Layout tab ➔ View Gridlines
11

Show paragraph styles (1)
12
Step Windows Mac
1. Set a width value
(e.g. 1 in, 3 cm)
File ➔ Options ➔
Advanced ➔
Display subsection
➔ Style area pane
width…
Word ➔
Preferences ➔
View ➔ Style area
width
2. Open the Styles
Pane
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+s Home ➔ Styles
Pane
3. Switch to Draft view View tab
(Ctrl+Alt+n)
View tab
4. Look for incorrect styles on the left

❖ Not shown:
▪ Paragraph styles in
tables, text boxes,
frames, headers/
footers
▪ Character styles
❖ Mac only: Can show:
▪ Color-coded/numbered styles: Home tab > Styles Pane > Show
Styles Guides checkbox
▪ Non-styled text: Home tab > Styles Pane > Show direct
formatting guides checkbox
13

14
‘Bullet 2’ should be ‘Body Text’ style

Show track changes
❖ Show track changes (Review tab): Insertions,
deletions, comments
❖ Use Next/Previous to jump to each change
❖ Flip between views: No Markup and All Markup
❖ Turn off formatting track changes unless told
otherwise (and accept all formatting changes)
15

Use the power of zoom
16
Zoom out to see Zoom in to
• Patterns
• Text highlighting
• Widows/orphans
• Table breaks
• Errant headers/footers
• Save your eyesight
• See formatting
marks

Zoom in: 170%
17

Zoom out: 20%
18

Set up your workspace19
Twitter Takeaway:
❑ Put your most-used tools
near your work area
#ACES2019
#ACESMSWordTips
#Cybertext

Workspace: Quick Access Toolbar
❖ Put your most-used commands onto your QAT
❖ Put your QAT below the ribbon for easier access (N/A in Mac)
20

Workspace: Your own ribbon
21
❖ Create a ribbon with your most-used commands and arrange
how you want

Workspace: Share your settings
22
❖ Copy QAT/ribbon settings to another PC:
▪ http://wordribbon.tips.net/T009920_Copying_the_Quic
k_Access_Toolbar.html
❖ Modify/backup your ribbon/QAT:
▪ http://www.addbalance.com/word/QATmodification.htm
▪ http://www.addbalance.com/word/ribbonmodification.htm
❖ N/A for Mac, but for other backup
options, see:
▪ https://creativepro.com/customizing-word-2016/

Automate tasks23
Twitter Takeaways:
❑ Key to efficiency is automating routine tasks
❑ Life’s too short to do something manually if
you can automate it
❑ BUT: Not everything can—or should—be
automated
#ACES2019
#ACESMSWordTips
#Cybertext

Types of automation
24
*Table of contents ( + lists of figures/tables)
Auto caption numbering
*AutoCorrect
Quick Parts and *AutoText
*KB shortcuts (in-built; own; for macros)
Macros (own; others’)

Automatic table of contents etc.
25
Use heading styles, auto captions, and Word functions to
automatically insert TOC, lists of figures/tables
References tab has the insert and update options
TIP: Copyedit headings/captions via TOC etc. (often missed in
main edit) – Ctrl+click page number in TOC to change
Select Update entire table option to update page numbers
AND any text changes in headings/captions
Update TOC etc. as one of final steps

AutoCorrect is your friend
❖ AutoCorrect = consistent EVERY time
❖ File ➔ Options ➔ Proofing ➔ AutoCorrect
Options (Mac: Tools ➔ AutoCorrect)
❖ Set up once in Word to work across ALL Office
programs
❖ NOTE: 256-character limit; language-specific
26

AutoCorrect is your friend
❖ Use codes/abbrevs that you’ll remember (NOT case-
sensitive)
❖ Add a symbol (e.g. period, underscore):
▪ if the code is also a real word or abbreviation (e.g. use .epa
instead of epa for ‘Environmental Protection Agency’)
▪ to place the entry at the beginning of the list
❖ Use for words/phrases AND paragraphs
▪ Alternative: AutoText under Insert > Quick Parts (Mac:
Insert > AutoText)
❖ Option to retain formatting (Word only)
▪ e.g. superscript, subscript, bold, italics
27

AutoCorrect examples
28
• .da = Department of Agriculture
• .hds = Center for Homeland Defense and Security
• .hhs = Department of Health and Human Services
• .usa = United States of America
• .rob = Reverse Osmosis Brine Disposal via Ocean Outfall
Environmental Management and Monitoring Plan
• .ji = Jansz–Io
• .tvi = Thevenard Island
Names
(e.g. depts, orgs,
companies,
products,
projects, places,
docs…)
• Copyright and other legal statements
• Regularly inserted editorial comments (see next slide)
Commonly
used text

AutoCorrect examples: Editorial
comments
❖ .bc = Be consistent. Use the SAME word (and capitalisation) for the SAME thing –
every time.
❖ .bs = Be specific
❖ .spell = Spell out in full here and define in Terms list if this term is used more than
once in the document
❖ .term = Is this the correct word/term for this context?
❖ .sense = This doesn’t make sense as written. Words/punctuation missing or need
to be added? Consider rewording, or splitting sentence.
❖ .cap = Does this need to be capitalised?
❖ .once = This term is only used once in the document, so there’s no need to
abbreviate it.
❖ .flag = I won’t flag this again – if you change it here, search for ALL instances like
this and amend accordingly.
❖ .this = What is ‘this’ in this context? XXX? Something else? Be specific.
❖ .fnr = Do a Find/Replace (Ctrl+H) to check for ALL instances and change them to
the same term.
29

AutoCorrect: Share your settings
❖ Location of all AutoCorrect (*.ACL) files:
▪ C:Users<username>AppDataRoamingMicrosoftOffice
▪ Mac: ~/Library/Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office
❖ Copy ACL files from one computer and replace
those in the same location on the other computer
30
Note: MSO numbers indicate the language; e.g.:
MSO0127.acl = Math
MSO1033.acl = English (US)
MSO2057.acl = English (UK)
See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-
versions/windows/embedded/ms912047(v=winembedded.10) for a full list of
locale numbers
MSO3081.acl = English (Australia)
MSO4105.acl = English (Canada)
MSO5129.acl = English (NZ)

AutoText
❖ Ideal for long passages of often-used text; e.g.:
▪ Copyright and legal statements
▪ Safety warnings (table with icon?)
▪ Notes (table with icon?)
▪ ‘About’ info for a company
❖ To save selected text/table as autotext: Insert ➔
Quick Parts ➔ AutoText ➔ Save Selection to
AutoText Gallery (Mac: Insert ➔ AutoText…)
❖ To insert it later, Insert ➔ Quick Parts ➔ AutoText,
then click the passage (Tip: assign a shortcut key to it)
(Mac: Insert ➔ AutoText ➔ AutoText)
31

Keyboard shortcuts
32
Use them!
More efficient than hunting the ribbon or
moving the mouse
Ergonomically better to use your fingers and
reduce ‘mouse grip’ stress

Lesser-known keyboard shortcuts
33
To do this Windows Mac
Toggle track changes on/off Ctrl+Shift+e ⇧+⌘+e
Insert a comment Ctrl+Alt+m ⌘+Option+a
Repeat immediate last action F4 ⌘+y
Toggle case Shift+F3 ⇧+Fn+F3
Insert a nonbreaking space Ctrl+Shift+space Option+space
Make selection subscript
Make selection superscript
Ctrl+=
Ctrl+Shift+=
⌘+=
⇧+ ⌘+=
Copy the selection’s style
Paste the selection’s style
Ctrl+Shift+c /
Ctrl+Shift+v
⇧+⌘+c /
⇧+⌘+v

Keyboard shortcuts: List all in-built
34
Windows:
1. Open new document.
2. Go to View tab ➔
Macros.
3. Select Word Commands
from the Macros in list.
4. Select ListCommands.
5. Click Run.
Mac:
1. Open new document.
2. Go to Tools menu ➔ Macros
➔ Macros.
3. Select Word Commands
from the Macros in list.
4. Select List Commands.
5. Click Run.
6. Select Current Menu and
Keyboard Settings.
7. Click OK.

Keyboard shortcuts: Your own
❖ You can add a
keyboard shortcut for
any command that
doesn’t already have
one, including macros
❖ File ➔ Options ➔
Customize Ribbon ➔
Customize
(Mac: Tools ➔
Customize Keyboard)
35

Keyboard shortcuts: Your own
36

Keyboard shortcuts: For macros
37

Macros (summary tips only)
38
Start small: Record a set of repetitive tasks (e.g. table header row formatting)
Find others (R&D): Google; acknowledge source in comment text
Test: ALWAYS test on a BACKUP copy first. ALWAYS!
Store together
• Put in a single file (e.g. macros.dotm) in the STARTUP folder. Why?:
• Available to all docs
• Easy to transfer this file to another computer
• Preserved if normal.dotm gets corrupted and is rebuilt by Word
• Default STARTUP folder location:
• C:Users<username>AppDataRoamingMicrosoftWordSTARTUP
• Mac: <HD>/Users/<username>/Library/Group
Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Startup/Word

Use the power of find/replace39
Twitter Takeaways:
❑ More find and replace (F&R) options than
you probably knew
❑ Spend time learning how to use wildcards
❑ Be careful of ‘Replace all’
#ACES2019
#ACESMSWordTips
#Cybertext

F&R: Basic: Ctrl+f (⌘+f)
40
Opens
Navigation pane
(Mac: View ➔
Navigation Pane)
Basic search,
with some
options
Has contextual
highlighting
Click contextual
results item to
jump to location
Click arrows to
jump to
next/previous
Click tabs/labels
to navigate by
headings or
thumbnails
Click search icon for some options that
used to be on now-defunct Object
Browse button (e.g. tables, images)

Example: Basic Find
41

F&R: Intermediate: Ctrl+h (⇧+⌘+h)
42
Opens F&R
window
Click More to
get other
options
Can match case
Can specify
single words
only
Can search for
specific
formatting, incl.
styles
Can search for
special
characters
Can search for
similar
sounding words
Can search for
all
(grammatical)
forms of a word
Can combine many of these

F&R: Advanced: Wildcards
43
Under More in F&R
window
(Ctrl+h [⇧+⌘+h])
Uses ‘regular
expressions’ to
perform F&R
Very powerful
Test on a COPY of
the doc until
satisfied
Check results with
Find Next before
replacing
Much safer to use
Replace than
Replace All
Wildcards take a while to learn—but worth it!

Find and replace: Wildcards: Examples
44
• Find any numeral, followed by a standard space, followed by a
specified unit of measure (mm). Replace the space with a
nonbreaking space.
* Find what: ([0-9])( )(mm)
* Replace with: 1^s3
Simple
• Find two or more spaces after any specified punctuation. Replace
with a single space.
* Find what: ([.,;–:])( {2,9})
* Replace with: 1
More complex
There’s a single
space here
There’s a single
space here
And a single space
after the 1

Warning!
45
Be careful of
‘Replace All’ –
you can make
unintended
global changes
to text, styles,
formatting

Twitter Takeaways:
❑ Word doesn’t have everything
❑ Use the best tools for your job
Other automation tools46
#ACES2019
#ACESMSWordTips
#Cybertext

Other tools (prices correct March 2019)
47
Tool #1 Function Where US$
PerfectIt Checks
consistency
http://www.intelligentediting.com $70/yr
EditTools Various
tools
http://www.wordsnsync.com $69
Editor’s
Toolkit
Various
tools
http://www.editorium.com/ETKPlu
s2018.htm
$97
Phrase
Express
Expands
text
http://www.phraseexpress.com $50 to
$140
Annotate
Pro
Manages
comments
http://www.11trees.com/live/anno
tate-pro/
free to
$36/yr

Helpful links/resources
48
❖ My blog: https://cybertext.wordpress.com:
▪ Categories: Software > Word
▪ Tag cloud: keyboard shortcuts, macros, find and replace, wildcards, toc
▪ Search: autocorrect, track changes settings, accept formatting, quick
access toolbar productivity, custom tab
❖ Word for Mac 2016 Preferences:
http://www.karlencommunications.com/adobe/WordForMac2016
Preferences.pdf
❖ 99 Word shortcuts for PC and Mac:
https://www.goskills.com/Microsoft-Office/Shortcuts/Word

These slides
A variation of this set of slides is available:
❖ on SlideShare:
http://www.slideshare.net/rbracey/presentations
❖ on the 2019 ACES Conference website (after the
conference)
❖ Acknowledgments:
▪ Many thanks to Lea Sidoti (Washington DC), Wendy Barron
(Vancouver, Canada), and Barb Clews (around the corner
from me in Western Australia) for helping with the Mac info
49

Thank you for attending!
Contact me:
❖ Email: rhonda.bracey@cybertext.com.au
❖ Web: http://www.cybertext.com.au
❖ Blog: http://cybertext.wordpress.com
❖ Twitter: @cybertext
Any questions?50
#ACES2019
#ACESMSWordTips
#Cybertext

Save time and your sanity: Increase your efficiency with Microsoft Word

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Save time and your sanity: Increase your efficiency with Microsoft Word

Similar to Save time and your sanity: Increase your efficiency with Microsoft Word (20)

More from Rhonda Bracey

More from Rhonda Bracey (16)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Save time and your sanity: Increase your efficiency with Microsoft Word