Today we are going to show you 24 Word tricks to get the most out of this text editor. Although there are many alternatives, Word is still the tool that millions of people use to create documents on Windows and Mac.
This time, we will not seek to go in depth into the most basic options and features of Word, although some will touch, but we will try to find the lesser-known tricks and shortcuts. With them you will be able to automate several tasks and save time to increase your productivity when using the tool.
- Use the intelligent search
Office 365 is a connected office suite, and Word has some interesting online features such as the ability to search with the terms you have selected in Bing. This way, if you are writing and want to search for advanced information about a term, you will have it very easy.
All you have to do is select a word and phrase and right-click on it. In the context menu, click on the Smart Search option and a window will open on the right side with the results.
- Change the default font
If you want to change Word’s default font, click on the Home section and click on a small icon at the bottom right of the Font box. It’s hard to see, but if you click it the font options will open, and when you select one there will be a *Set as Default button. From now on, the font you have chosen is the one Word will use by default in every new document.
- Use the Focus mode
If you are a person who is easily distracted, you should know that Word implements the so-called Focus mode. With it, the application will go to full screen, letting you see only the page you are typing. You won’t see anything else, and everything around the page will be in black.
To do this you have to click on the Focus button at the bottom of the Word window. It is a small icon with a square and a box inside it that is in the bottom options bar.
- Generate ‘Lorem Ipsums’.
Lorem Ipsum has become the standard filler text for all kinds of documents. For example, when you are creating a template for and you don’t have the exact text yet but want to know how it would look like. You don’t need any generator or to search for the text on the Internet, Word can generate it for you if you type the following and then press Enter on the keyboard.
=lorem()
If you do not type anything else, Word will generate five filler paragraphs of different sizes. If you want, you can specify a number between the parentheses to create exactly that number of paragraphs. For example, =lorem(2) generates two paragraphs.
- Add other filler text
If you prefer to generate more understandable filler text, Word has another function for you, much like the Lorem Ipsum generator. In this case, a more realistic text is generated and it changes from one version to another. In mine, as you can see above, it is a text on Word. To generate it, you must type the following, and then press Enter on the keyboard:
=rand()
If you type it as is, it will create a text of five paragraphs with a variable number of sentences, but you can also type inside the brackets two numbers separated by a comma: the first is the number of paragraphs to be generated; the second, the sentences that each paragraph will have. For example, =rand(2,4) generates two paragraphs, each with four sentences.
- Change the cursor
This trick is halfway between Easter egg, curiosity and utility, and is that if you press the Control, Alt and + keys at the same time, the Word cursor changes to a symbol similar to the Command key on a Mac. The + has to be the one on the numeric keypad if possible.
Although it may seem a somewhat irrelevant detail, some people have trouble finding the mouse cursor when using Word, and this new cursor is much larger and more visible so they do not have those problems.
- Customize your ribbon
Word has by default a ribbon, that top menu where you find everything you can do, which comes prepared for the most commonly used functions. But you can also customize it to adapt it to your specific needs in case there are things you use that are not accessible.
To do this, click on the File category in the top bar, and in the menu you will get to go to Options. Once inside, click on the Customize Ribbon option in the window that opens and decide which ones to add or remove.