5 Microsoft Word hacks you probably didn’t know

Even as an experienced Microsoft Word user, I always come across different ways to speed up my workflow and get the most out of the program’s tools. Here are some nifty tips you should know.

Sort lists in order

You might think that only Excel can sort your data alphabetically, numerically, or chronologically. However, Microsoft Word offers an equally effective tool for sorting words, numbers and dates.

Sort a list

To sort a simple list of words, numbers, or dates presented in separate paragraphs or bullets instead of in a table, select the data and click the “Sort” icon in the Paragraph group on the Home tab.

In the first drop-down list, choose “Paragraphs” and in the second, tell Word whether you are sorting text, numbers, or dates. Finally, decide whether you want the data to be sorted in ascending or descending order, before clicking “OK”.

Here is the resulting list of names in my example, sorted alphabetically.

Sort an array

To sort a table based on the data in one of its columns, place your cursor in one of the table cells and click the same “Sort” icon on the Home tab.

Next, use the “My list contains” section at the bottom of the dialog box to tell Word whether your columns have headers. You can then select the column you want to sort your table by: this is the column name if there are headers, or the column number if there are none. In my case, I want to sort my table by the “Frequency” column.

Each row is fixed, which means that if you sort your table by the first column, the other columns will also be reordered so that the data remains consistent across your rows.

Now fill in the remaining fields and add other sorting rules if necessary. Finally, click “OK” and enjoy your newly sorted table.

Other kinds

You can also create more dynamic sorts. In this example, I want to rearrange the headings (formatted using Word’s heading styles) alphabetically, but keep the text under each as is. To do this, I’ll select all the text and click the “Sort” icon on the Home tab.

Now I’m going to click on “Options”, check “Other” and click “OK”.

When I define the criteria for this sort, the first drop-down menu now contains “Titles”. Here I could also choose other ways to sort my data, for example by nth word in each paragraph.

After selecting “Titles” and verifying that the other fields contain the correct details, I can click “OK” to see my titles correctly categorized, with the bullets remaining unchanged.

Send your Word document to Kindle

There are many reasons why you might want to send a Word document to Kindle:

• You can choose a more comfortable reading position, useful when reading a long document.

• You can adjust the font size and layout, making the document easier to read.

• A Kindle is more portable and tends to have longer battery life than a laptop.

• Because they use E-Ink technology, Kindles are widely considered better for your eyes.

So, to send your document to Kindle, open the “File” menu. There, click Export > Send Documents to Kindle > Send to Kindle.

Log in to your Amazon account in the dialog box that appears.

Next, select how you want the document to be displayed on your Kindle. Choose “Like a Kindle Book” if the document contains simple formatting. This option means you can adjust font sizes and layouts and add handwritten sticky notes if necessary.

On the other hand, opt for “Like a printed document” if you want to preserve the complex formatting of the document. You can also write directly on the page while viewing the document using this option.

When you click “Send,” the document arrives in your Kindle library within minutes.

In the early 20th century, it was considered standard to add a double space after a period. Although this has gradually disappeared over time, you might encounter a Word document with this outdated formatting. In this case, manually removing the extra spaces can take forever.

You can use Word’s Find and Replace tool to reduce all instances of multiple spaces to a single space, whether they are double spaces or longer strings of spaces. In this example, there are two spaces between some words and three spaces between others.

First, press Ctrl+H to launch the Find and Replace dialog box. In the “Search” field, enter ( ){2,}. Make sure to include a space between the rounded parentheses and that the second pair of brackets are curly braces, usually accessed by pressing Shift+.[ or Shift+]. In the “Replace with” field, type \1.

Next, click “More” (it will change to “Minus” when clicked) and check “Use wildcards”.

Finally, click Replace All > OK and see that all the multiple spaces have been reduced to single spaces.

Add high-quality graphics

Gone are the days of searching for high-quality graphics on the web and worrying about permissions, copyrights, and royalties. Microsoft Word offers a seemingly endless collection of royalty-free images, icons, cutouts, stickers, illustrations, and cartoon characters.

Place your cursor where you want to insert the graphic, then click Insert > Images > Stock Images.

Next, use the tabs at the top of the Insert Images dialog box to switch between different chart types and enter keywords into the search bar to find a suitable image.

Once you find a chart that meets your needs, click it once to select it (note the checked radio button in the corner of the chart), then click “Insert.” You can select and add multiple charts at once.

You can now format graphics if necessary via the Format Picture tab on the ribbon.

Duplicate your Microsoft Word window

If you are working on a large document, it can be convenient to view different pages at the same time. Likewise, you may find it useful to use two views at once, such as Print Layout and Draft View. This is where Word’s New Window tool, accessible via the View tab of the Ribbon, comes in handy.

When you click this icon, an exact copy of your document opens in a new window. Any changes you make in one copy will automatically update in the other, and you can close the original or copy when you’re ready to return to a single window view.

In addition to using these tips to increase your efficiency, be sure to avoid some of the mistakes that many people make when using Microsoft Word.