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Don’t “eyeball” documents or webpages for words you’re looking for.  Save yourself time and do a keyword search.

Find Keywords in a Microsoft Office Document (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)

  1. Home Ribbon > Find & Select (right side of Home tab) > Find.  OR  CTRL + F is the keyboard way to start a Find.
  2. Type the word you’re searching for.
  3. Click on [Find All] for a list of each instance of the word or phrase in your list.
  4. Press [Esc] or click [Close] to clear the dialog box.

Searching a document will check all pages of the document.

 On a website, use the keyboard:   CTRL + F 

Even on a banking website, you can use CTRL +F to search for a check number.

Do you like learning the shortcuts?  Our Microsoft Word Shortcuts “Cheat Sheet” is now available. Click here to learn more.

When going to a website you have the address for, do you just type it in the Google or Yahoo search box?   You are creating more steps and possible confusion for yourself if you are not using the address bar when you have the address.

Address Bar versus Google Search

 

 

The address bar is at the top of the window. When you have the address of the website you’re going to, say for example www.Macys.com, go right to it by typing the address in the address bar. (Finish by pressing [Enter].)

You can use a Google or Yahoo search box to get there as well, but it is a SEARCH box that will show you search results first. You will have to locate the link you want in a cluttered screen full of search results.

A Google or Yahoo search box is best used for searching topics – when you don’t know where you need to go to find the information.  For example, say you want to find out about the Academy Awards.  You don’t have a specific address to go to – just a topic you want to search and explore.

In this Google search of Academy Awards 2012, Google finds 27,800,000 “hits” …

Top of a Google Search result indicates the number of results

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The blue underlined text is a link to that site.

The green text is the address of the site. It can help you decide if it’s one you want to view.

Want to check several of the results without losing the search page?  Right-click on the link > Open in New Window. The Search results remain open in the previous window.

Want to find an address or a property?  Simply type an address and city in the search box.

Let us know some of your favorite search tips.

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Do you get tired of re-typing the same paragraphs or specially formatted text in your documents on a regular basis?  Or maybe you have tried to solve that issue by opening previous documents to copy and paste text to your new document.  No need to do that when you can “memorize” text passages with Word 2007/2010 Quick Parts. 

Quick Parts allows you to create reusable formatted text, even tables, which you can insert instantly without recreating every time you need it. 

A good example is the closing paragraph and signature in a letter. If your letter closing and signature is always the same, don’t re-type it or copy-and-paste it each time. Create and use it as a Quick Part!

Here is how you create your custom Quick Part.  In this example I will do a closing paragraph and signature area.  You only have to do this once, unless it changes.

  1. Create the text in a Word document as you want it to appear in your documents. (Or you can open one that already exists). In the following example of a letter closing I have even used a picture logo.Microsoft Word Quick Parts Example
  2. 2. Select the full passage you want included. In my example above, I will select from “We look forward… down to (and including) my website address.

3.  Insert > Quick Parts > Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery.

4.  Word will suggest a name for the Quick Part, but you can edit the name.

5.  Word will save it in the General category of Quick Parts. However, you can create a new category of Quick Parts by clicking on Create New Category from the drop-down. Category examples:  LetterClose, or Disclaimers

To use your Quick Part in future documents: 

  1. Click at the spot where you want to insert the text.
  2. Insert Ribbon > Quick Parts > select your Quick Part from the list.

You should now see your entire closing and signature line! Every time you need to use the text – that’s all you have to do.  Saves a lot of typing! 

Another component of Quick Parts is the Building Blocks Organizer (I’ll call it the BBO).  The BBO includes a list of built-in “document parts” you can use for instantly professional looking documents.  Examples of document parts include cover pages, headers/footers, tables, text boxes, and more.  A great way to check out how you might use the BBO is to explore it, try some out.  Insert > Quick Parts > Building Blocks Organizer…

There are so many cool features to help make your work fast and easy in Microsoft Word. Stay tuned for more time-saver tips!

Like knowing the shortcuts?  Our Microsoft Word Shortcuts “Cheat Sheet” is now available. Click here  for more information.

Getting good training is the single most important thing you can do increase your computer productivity.  That’s where we can help!  Sign up for our email list on our home page and give us a call today.

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