Microsoft Word is a powerful tool, but many users only scratch the surface of its capabilities. Here are five features within Microsoft Word that can save your business time and money:
1. **Create Professional Letterhead:** Forget expensive printing services. Design your company letterhead directly in Word using a variety of fonts and Microsoft’s free clip art. Save it as a template for consistent branding on all official documents. To find clip art, registered Word users can access Microsoft Office’s Design Gallery Live. You can also find free templates for letters, labels, and forms in the Template Gallery.
2. **Master Mail Merge for Personalized Communication:** Need to send the same letter to multiple customers? Word’s Mail Merge tool simplifies the process. Use a list of names and addresses from a Word table, Microsoft Access, or Excel. Create your base letter, leaving space for the address and salutation. Excel is a user-friendly option for creating your contact list, where you can customize salutations for each recipient. Then, in Word, go to Tools > Letters and Mailings > Mail Merge and follow the wizard. Mail Merge also works for envelopes and labels.
3. **Use Watermarks to Protect Drafts:** Prevent confusion by adding watermarks to documents under review. Use words like “Draft,” “Confidential,” or “Sample.” Watermarks are visible without obstructing the text. You can even use a company logo or image. To add a watermark, click Format > Background > Printed Watermark. Customize your watermark and save the document as a template for future use. Ensure the “semitransparent” or “washout” option is selected to maintain readability.
4. **Track Changes for Collaborative Editing:** Easily review changes made to documents by others. For Word 2002/2003, open the newer document, click Tools > Compare and Merge Documents, and select the original document. In Word 97/2000, click Tools > Track Changes > Compare Document. Reviewing previous versions can also be helpful. Click File > Versions and select “Automatically save a version on close.” To view an older version, follow the same path and select the desired version from the list.
5. **Boost Productivity with Keyboard Shortcuts:** Speed up your workflow by using keyboard shortcuts. Beyond the common Ctrl+C (Copy), Ctrl+V (Paste), and Ctrl+Z (Undo), explore these helpful shortcuts:
* Alt+Ctrl+C: Copyright symbol
* Alt+Ctrl+Period: Ellipsis
* Alt+Ctrl+R: Registered trademark symbol
* Alt+Ctrl+T: Trademark symbol
* Ctrl+B: Bold text
* Ctrl+E: Center a paragraph
* Ctrl+End: Skip to the end of the document
* Ctrl+Enter: Insert a page break
* Ctrl+F: Open the Find menu
* Ctrl+G: Go to a specific location
* Ctrl+H: Open the Replace menu
* Ctrl+Home: Skip to the beginning of the document
* Ctrl+I: Italicize text
* Ctrl+N: Create a new document
* Ctrl+S: Save a document
* Ctrl+Shift+F: Change the font
* Ctrl+Shift+P: Change the font size
* Ctrl+U: Underline text
* Ctrl+W: Close a document
* Ctrl+Y: Redo the last action
* Esc: Close an assistant or tip window
* Shift+F3: Change the case of letters
* Tab: Move between cells in a table