Section breaks are the hidden cause behind some of Word’s most frustrating layout problems: random extra pages, headers that change unexpectedly, and pages that refuse to switch from portrait to landscape. Most Word users have never heard of section breaks, let alone seen one, because Word keeps them invisible by default. This guide explains exactly […]
Every Word, Excel, and PowerPoint file you save is actually a ZIP archive packed with small XML files. That means you can crack open any .docx, .xlsx, or .pptx file using nothing more than Windows Explorer or a free compression tool, no special software required. Whether you want to see which fonts are embedded in […]
Microsoft Word knows more slang than you might expect. Words like zillion, jillion, squillion, gazillion, bazillion, and oodles are all recognized as correct spellings in Word’s US English dictionary, so you won’t get the dreaded red squiggly line if you drop one into a document. Word’s thesaurus even offers alternatives for “zillion,” though some of […]
Every year after the Scripps National Spelling Bee, we test the winning and finalist words against Microsoft Word’s spell checker to see how many get the dreaded red squiggly line. In 2026, Word had its worst performance ever, recognizing just 4 out of 21 words correctly for US, UK, and Australian English. A group of […]
Microsoft Word has not gone ‘woke’. Despite press stories claiming Word enforces ‘politically correct’ language, the truth is far less dramatic. The Inclusiveness grammar checks behind the headlines are optional, off by default, and have been part of Word since before 2020. They flag words like mankind, postman and showgirl with a purple squiggly line […]
