Tips and tricks for Microsoft Word: Ways to increase your productivity

Millions of people worldwide rely on Microsoft Word for their day-to-day tasks. However, most users are unaware of its full range of features that can help them work smarter and faster. Here are some handy tips that will help you maximize your productivity with Microsoft Word.

Use Grammarly for Windows

Microsoft Word might be great for identifying spelling and grammar mistakes, but it can't guarantee error-free writing. To take your content to the next level, try Grammarly for Windows. Not only does it check for basic errors, but it also reviews the clarity and engagement of your content.

Hide the toolbar

To ensure a distraction-free writing session, you can easily minimize the toolbar located at the top of your screen by pressing Ctrl + F1. To make the toolbar reappear, just press Ctrl + F1 again.

Tell Word what to do

While many of Microsoft Word's features are easily visible, others require a bit more digging before you can find them. Thankfully, newer versions of Word come with the Tell Me. This feature lets you enter search words or phrases in a text box that says “Tell me what you want to do” to perform an action, find features, or get help on how to complete your task.

Track only the changes you make

If you work with other people on a single document, you should be familiar with the Track Changes feature. It allows you to see every change made by others working on the document. Microsoft recently updated this feature, which allows users to only track their own changes.

This is a fantastic option for those occasions when tracking everyone else's modifications isn't necessary, and all you want is to see your own progress. Here’s how to use this feature:

1. Click on the Review tab on your Word document.
2. Click on the Track Changes button and choose the Just Mine option.

Save and reuse images, texts, signatures, and more with Quick Parts

If you find yourself typing or inserting the same thing multiple times in your Word document, then you should try using Quick Parts. This feature allows you to save and reuse images, texts, signatures, tables, and more. It streamlines your document and email workflows by speeding up repetitive tasks.

Here are the steps for using Quick Parts:

Creating a Quick Part

1. Choose the words, images, or other elements you want to save on your Word document.
2. Click Insert > Quick Parts and choose Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery.
3. Change the name of your chosen element, and click OK to save your changes.

Adding a Quick Part to your document

1. Place your cursor in a spot where you want to add a Quick Part.
2. Click Insert > Quick Parts and click on the word, phrase, sentence, or image you want to add to your document.

If you’re looking for other ways to leverage Microsoft Word and other Office apps to boost your productivity, give us a call today.