It seems like we only use a small portion of Word or any application and thus miss the power that the software provides. If you use Word or the computer all the time, it's always good to learn a few "tricks" to make your job easier and quicker. This post is all about some tricks that you may find useful when using Word for worksheets or for any other documents that you are working on. These tricks also work in most other applications!
Trick 1: Highlighting
There are many other ways to highlight than just rolling the mouse over the words. Try these different ways to highlight:
a. Double-click on a word.
b. Triple-click on a paragraph. This one is tricky. You have to be good at
clicking fast without moving the mouse around.
c. Hold down the Control Key and click on a sentence.
d. Move the mouse all the way to the left side of the screen. The arrow will change
directions and point to the right.
--Click once to highlight an entire line.
--Double-click to highlight the entire paragraph.
Don't want to use a mouse? Hold down the Shift key and press the right or left arrow key to successively highlight one character at a time. You may also press the up and down arrow keys to highlight by lines.
Bonus: What do you think the following keystrokes will do? Hold down the CONTROL-SHIFT keys together and then press the left or right arrow keys? What about the up and down arrow keys?
Trick 2: Moving Around in the Document
My favorite way to move around a document without using a mouse is to hold down the CONTROL key and then press the left or right arrow keys. This moves you through the document word by word. What do you think pressing the up and down arrows will do while holding done the CONTROL key? By the way, this works just about anywhere when you are moving through text, even in Weebly.
Trick 3: The Paint Brush
For short documents, the paint brush is handy in copying the formatting of text or objects. This helps to ensure that your document is formatted consistently with the same font, size, etc. For objects, it's nice to use the Paint Brush to ensure that your fill and border colors all match up, especially when you have gradient formatting.
To use the Paint Brush...
There are many other ways to highlight than just rolling the mouse over the words. Try these different ways to highlight:
a. Double-click on a word.
b. Triple-click on a paragraph. This one is tricky. You have to be good at
clicking fast without moving the mouse around.
c. Hold down the Control Key and click on a sentence.
d. Move the mouse all the way to the left side of the screen. The arrow will change
directions and point to the right.
--Click once to highlight an entire line.
--Double-click to highlight the entire paragraph.
Don't want to use a mouse? Hold down the Shift key and press the right or left arrow key to successively highlight one character at a time. You may also press the up and down arrow keys to highlight by lines.
Bonus: What do you think the following keystrokes will do? Hold down the CONTROL-SHIFT keys together and then press the left or right arrow keys? What about the up and down arrow keys?
Trick 2: Moving Around in the Document
My favorite way to move around a document without using a mouse is to hold down the CONTROL key and then press the left or right arrow keys. This moves you through the document word by word. What do you think pressing the up and down arrows will do while holding done the CONTROL key? By the way, this works just about anywhere when you are moving through text, even in Weebly.
Trick 3: The Paint Brush
For short documents, the paint brush is handy in copying the formatting of text or objects. This helps to ensure that your document is formatted consistently with the same font, size, etc. For objects, it's nice to use the Paint Brush to ensure that your fill and border colors all match up, especially when you have gradient formatting.
To use the Paint Brush...
a. Highlight a word or paragraph. b. Click the Paint Brush. c. Highlight the text that you want to repeat the format. | OR | a. Click on an object. b. Click the Paint Brush. c. Click on the other object. |
Trick 4: Special Characters
As a teacher, it's nice to be able to make a cent sign on the computer, but you won't find it on the keyboard. On the Mac, the cent sign is actually built into the system. Notice that the dollar sign is made by pressing Shift 4. The cent sign can be made by holding down the Option key and pressing the 4. On a Windows computer, it's not quite as easy but it can be done. Here's how to make a cent sign shortcut to mimic the Mac's keystrokes.
As a teacher, it's nice to be able to make a cent sign on the computer, but you won't find it on the keyboard. On the Mac, the cent sign is actually built into the system. Notice that the dollar sign is made by pressing Shift 4. The cent sign can be made by holding down the Option key and pressing the 4. On a Windows computer, it's not quite as easy but it can be done. Here's how to make a cent sign shortcut to mimic the Mac's keystrokes.
1. Within the Insert Tab, select More Symbols... 2. Find the cent sign symbol. (You may need to select Times News Ronan for your font when doing this.) 3. Click the "Shortcut Key..." button. 4. Click inside the "Press new shortcut key.." 5. Press CONTROL-SHIFT-4 (same as CNTRL $) 6. Click the "Assign Key" button. |
Directions for making an "on the fly" the cent sign.
If you don't want to create a shortcut, you can just hold down the ALT key and type 0162 on the number pad. Let go of the keys, and you have cent sign. It even works in Weebly: ¢
Bonus. Another great hidden character on the Mac is the degree sign. Notice the asterisk on the 8 key. Press Option-8 and you will get a bullet, but press the Shift-Option-8 keys, and you will get a degree sign. For windows, set up a shortcut as described above or type it on the fly by holding down the ALT key and pressing 0186 number sequence on the number pad. Example: 350º
Check out this link for a table of shortcuts for special characters: http://www.nouilles.info/keyboard_shortcuts.html
If you don't want to create a shortcut, you can just hold down the ALT key and type 0162 on the number pad. Let go of the keys, and you have cent sign. It even works in Weebly: ¢
Bonus. Another great hidden character on the Mac is the degree sign. Notice the asterisk on the 8 key. Press Option-8 and you will get a bullet, but press the Shift-Option-8 keys, and you will get a degree sign. For windows, set up a shortcut as described above or type it on the fly by holding down the ALT key and pressing 0186 number sequence on the number pad. Example: 350º
Check out this link for a table of shortcuts for special characters: http://www.nouilles.info/keyboard_shortcuts.html
Trick 5: Spelling Mistakes There are certain words that I continuously miss-type. When I get tired of making this mistake, I "fix" this by editing the "characters." BTW, you can define a series of keystrokes to change to anything you like once you hit the space bar. (The iPhone/iPad even has this capability.) Here's how you automatically fix your typing errors: 1. Within the File Tab, select "Options." 2. Select the "Proofing" menu item. 3. Click the "Autocorrect Options..." button. 4. Type your incorrect spelled word in the "Replace" box and the correct spelling in the next box. 5. Click the Add button. |