Word Bug: Headings Inside Tables Go Missing
A long-standing bug in Microsoft Word quietly breaks your document navigation when you place Heading styles inside a table. The Table of Contents shows all your headings correctly, but the Navigation Pane silently drops any heading that lives inside a table cell. The same broken behavior ripples into PDF Bookmarks and the Insert Link dialog. […]
2001 A Space Odyssey – in Word and PowerPoint
As long time space and SF nerds, Office Watch can’t resist putting the look of 2001: A Space Odyssey into Word documents and PowerPoint slides. We’ll show you how to make a ‘close match’ using just the fonts and features in Microsoft Office. We’ll also explain the details behind that choice and some alternatives, both […]
Why Windows Character Map is better than Office
Character Map is a Windows feature that’s very useful for Microsoft Office users. It lets you insert symbols and, importantly, find them which is not possible within apps like Word. Windows Character Map has been around for as long as we’d like to remember and it’s mostly done right. If only the equivalent in Office […]
Free color selector in your browser
Google has a color selector among the many features in their home page. It’s free, works in any browser and it’s easy to copy color codes into Office. Search for ‘Color picker’ or https://www.google.com/?q=color+picker then move the two circles to choose the exact color and shade you want. The HEX and RGB color codes are […]
Easy Table of Figures in Word
Microsoft Word can generate a list of all the images, graphs, tables or equations in a document – called a Table of Figures. Just like a table of contents, this list can include page references or links to each figure or picture. A Table of Figures can be useful for creating a proper appendix of […]
Automatic Capitalization fixes in Word
Word has settings to automatically change the case of words that you type, fix common capitalization typing problems add items of your own to have capitalized the way you want them as you type. Word also has options to manually Change Case in Microsoft Word. The settings are in the AutoCorrect dialog at File | […]
Where are Word styles saved – document or template
Styles can be saved in a Word document but are most effective when saved in a template. Changing the style in a template will affect any document that uses the same template. At the bottom of the Modify Style dialog are two choices for where to save the style. Microsoft has reworded the choices to […]
Law & Order title card in PowerPoint and Word
Here’s how to make a lookalike for the Law & Order TV show title card in either PowerPoint or Word. Last week we showed how to make the Law & Order opening screen image and how to use that look in slides or documents. Many readers asked why Office-Watch.com didn’t do the main title card. […]
Law & Order titles and sound in PowerPoint and Office
One way to open a PowerPoint presentation could be to copy the opening of the Law & Order TV shows. Here’s how to get the same look in your PPT slides or Word documents plus the distinctive sound. The same formatting can be used in Word, maybe as a callout to highlight some text. But […]
Free and secure conversion of .doc .xls or .ppt to the newer Office formats
Here’s how to convert an older .doc .xls or .ppt into a safer and smaller .docx .xlsx .pptx even if you don’t have Microsoft Office. Any smart computer user is wary of documents received in the old .doc .xls .ppt formats because they are regularly used to transmit viruses. The new document formats are much […]
Adding Footnotes to Pictures in Word
How to add footnotes just below a photo in Microsoft Word The trick is similar to adding Footnotes to a Word table. Use Endnotes, instead of Footnotes (assuming you don’t use Endnotes elsewhere in the document). Add a Continuous Section Break and change the Endnotes settings to put them at the end of the section. […]
Faster Numbered and Multi-Level Level changes
Moving the selected lines/s to a different numbering level in Microsoft Word is officially done from the Numbering Gallery | Change list level but there’s are quicker keyboard shortcuts. The faster way to do this is shortcuts: Alt + Shift + RIGHT arrow Down / right one level Alt + Shift + LEFT arrow Up […]
Pound £ symbol in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook
Type the Pound Sterling £ currency symbol into Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint or Outlook. Both in Office for Windows and Office for Mac. £ symbol is easy on a UK keyboard but for other keyboards there’s no specific key for Pound. Pound is used for British Pounds Sterling and also other ‘pound’ currencies like the […]
Latest Samsung phones degrade Microsoft Office
Samsung phones have a hidden service which is slowing down Microsoft Office apps including the mobile apps for Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and the Office ‘all in one’ app. Inside some of the new S22 Galaxy smartphones is a Games Optimization Service, or GOS. Cynical techies know to be wary about anything labelled ‘Optimization’ because […]
Check Accessibility problems as you work in Word, Excel and PowerPoint
Now you can see on the status bar if there’s accessibility problems as you work with your Word, Excel or Powerpoint documents. Tucked away on the Accessibility Pane is a option to run the accessibility checker as you work, instead of only on request. Keep accessibility checker running while I work Turning this on doesn’t […]
Ukraine flag & colors in Word, Excel or PowerPoint
Find and add the Ukraine flag or national colors into Office documents, Word, Excel or PowerPoint, then use some Office picture tools to enhance the image. Ukraine Flag Image There are many, many copies of the Ukraine flag available. We’ve opted for the Wikipedia site because it has an SVG scalable version (preferred) and PNG versions for older […]