Use the Smithsonian for great photos and 3D models in PowerPoint and Word
The Smithsonian has millions of images and 3D models available online to add something great and different to Microsoft Office including PowerPoint slides and Word documents. The Smithsonian Institution has been a US cultural, scientific and historical resource for the last 170 years. No visit to Washington DC is complete without going to several of their […]
Microsoft fixes their Quick Access Toolbar changes
Microsoft has reversed course on their proposed changes to the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) in Microsoft Office 365 apps. The current defaults remain for new installs with ‘below the ribbon’ available as an option. In other words, common sense has prevailed. Microsoft wanted to move the Quick Access Toolbar from its familiar location ‘top left’ […]
Illegal colors in Word, PowerPoint and Office
Amazingly, a simple color can be trademarked and using one in a Word, PowerPoint or Office document can be illegal. We’ll explain why and a list of some colors you might need to avoid. Companies can trademark a color that’s associated with their product or logo. If you’re designing a document or presentation, especially for […]
Start a Word list from any value, not just 1 or A
You can tell Microsoft Word to start an ordered or numbered list from any number or letter you like. Not just start an ordered list with 1 or A. Lists can also restart numbering after a break. Creating a numbered list There are different ways for creating a numbered list you can simply type 1 […]
Myth Busting about Office document formats
Even after 15 years, there’s still misinformation about the ‘new’ Office document formats .docx .xlsx etc. We’ll explain these myths and how you can easily disprove them yourself. Most of these myths surround the use of ZIP compression to make the document files smaller. Folks have jumped to wrong conclusions after hearing about ZIP. Not […]
Vertical Bar | symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
How to insert the Vertical Bar | into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Vertical Bar | symbol (technically a glyph) has many uses in computing, physics, maths and typography. In some programming languages | has a special meaning, for example in PowerShell | is called […]
How to color the Column dividing line in Word
Microsoft Word’s ‘Line Between’ option for multiple columns can replaced and formatted to a different color or other types of line. Word’s standard ‘line between’ column setting has no formatting. All you can do is choose ‘Line Between’ and no more. There’s no known way to change the look of the vertical line between columns. […]
Four more vertical formatting tricks in Word
In Adding Vertical Lines in Word we looked at the many common choices for lines down the page. Moving beyond that, let’s look at other, more interesting and creative vertical non-line choices to spice up a Microsoft Word document. Sidebars Sidebars are the starting point for many different design element options. You’re not limited to […]
6 ways to add vertical lines in Word
There are at least six ways to add a vertical line in Microsoft Word. Vertical lines can help accentuate a piece of text in Word, but adding them is not as obvious as adding a horizontal line. These are most common options available. With all the features in Word there are other more complicated choices. […]
Set your own Text Box default settings in Office
You’re not stuck with the Microsoft Office automatic settings when inserting a new text box. Change the Text Box defaults to whatever you like for faster text box formatting in Office; Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. There are TWO ways to add a Text Box in Word and Outlook – each with their own ways […]
Word links – three ways to make internal clickable links
As well as links to web sites, Word lets you make ‘internal’ links to other parts of the same document in at least three different ways. Longer documents can benefit from internal links that let you and readers jump within the document. Insert Hyperlink – Place in this document The Insert Hyperlink box has an […]
Make a better PDF from Microsoft Word using the hidden options
Microsoft Word has vital but hidden options for making a better PDF file from your document. PDF’s made from Word can be smaller than usual for faster sending or to get under size limits that apply to email or messaging services. There are choices for including better navigation (like the navigation pane in Word), markup/comments, […]
Inside the controversial Gender Specific checks in Word
A close and in-depth look at what Microsoft Word does and doesn’t flag with the sometimes controversial Gender Specific Language setting in the ‘Grammar & Refinements’ section. Microsoft doesn’t reveal much (or anything) about the Inclusiveness options in Word so we’ve decided to look closely at what they do. We need your help, see below. […]
Has Microsoft Word gone ‘woke’ and politically correct?
Lots of press stories about how Microsoft Word has gone ‘woke’ enforcing ‘politically correct’ words and phrases. Let’s look at what all the fuss is about, why you’ve not seen it in Word, how these ‘inclusive’ grammar checks are old news and easily ignored in several ways. In early 2020 there were news stories and […]
See Word Styles alongside document paragraphs
Each paragraph style can be seen alongside the text in Microsoft Word but it’s very much an afterthought that could be much improved. The Style Area Pane appears only in Draft and Outline view on the left-side. Turn on Style Area Pane Dig into Word for the Style Area Pane. File | Options | Advanced […]
Zero Thirds (Baseball) ↉ emoji in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
How to insert the Zero Thirds (Baseball) ↉ fraction or symbol into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. Zero Thirds ↉ symbol (officially called ‘Vulgar Fraction Zero Thirds’) is a rarely used Baseball scoring symbol. The best explanation we could find was a Japanese Wikipedia page, here’s […]
