Word Up Y'all

In this fast-paced media sound bite, microwave cooking, digital information environment that we are all part of, whether we try to resist it or not, we expect everything right now. With our busy work and personal lives we want shortcuts to everything we do that save time and require less effort. Saving time on written communication is no different. The following shortcuts can be used to make the writing process easier and quicker for anyone who traffics in the written word on a regular basis. *

Copying and Moving Text

If you want to move text from one location to another, using the copy and paste functions, you have a few options.

You can highlight the text you wish to copy, right click and select "Copy," click on the location where you want to place the text, then right click and select "Paste."

You can also highlight the text, press the [Ctrl] and [Insert] keys, then place the cursor where the text should go and press the [Shift] and [Insert] keys.

Another option, is to highlight the text and press the [Ctrl] and [C] keys, then place the cursor where you would like to copy the text and press the [Ctrl] and [V] keys.

If you would like to copy and paste or move all of the text for an entire document instead of just a portion of the document, you can click in the document you wish to copy or move and press the [Ctrl] and

You also have more than one option if you would like to move text from one location to another:

You can highlight the text to be moved and press the [Ctrl] and [X] keys, then press the [Ctrl] and [V] keys. This will remove the text from its current location and move it to the new location.

Alternately, you could highlight the text to be moved, click and hold the left mouse button, and drag and drop the text into the new location.

Searching and Maneuvering Through a Document

If you are looking for specific information in a document and you are having trouble finding it, you can press the [Ctrl] and [F] keys. This will display the "Find and Replace" box. Type the word or phrase for which you are searching in the Find What field and click on the "Find next" button. This will highlight the word or phrase for which you are searching. However, if it is a common word or phrase used repeatedly in the text it will highlight each occurrence of the word or phrase one at a time, and you will have to click the "Find next" button until the search tool has located the particular word or phrase for which you are searching. This is much easier and faster than trying to find the word or phrase by sifting through the entire document.

You also have the following options to maneuver within a line of a document:

You can press the [End] key to move the cursor to the end of a line of text.

You can press the [Home] key to move the cursor to the beginning of a line of text.

Correcting Mistakes

If a word is flagged (with a red squiggly line) as being misspelled, you can place the cursor over the word and right click. This will give you the correct spelling of the word (if it is an actual word). Click on the correct spelling of the word and the word will be corrected in the text of your document.

You may also right click on a word you are not happy with in your document and select "synonyms" from the drop-down menu. This will display a list of alternate words from which you can choose. If you decide on one of the alternate words, you can click on your choice and the word will be replaced with your selection.

In order to undo a mistake you have made while typing your document, you can press the [Ctrl] and [Z] keys to undo the mistake.

You can also click on "Edit" on the Word toolbar and select "Undo Typing" to correct the mistake.

If you wish to see the text that was just undone, you can press the [Ctrl] and [Y] keys and the original text will be redisplayed.

Formatting

If you inadvertently type text in all uppercase or lowercase letters, you can highlight the text and press the [Shift] and [F3] keys to change the case of a word or words.

If the word is all lowercase, pressing the [Shift] and [F3] keys once will capitalize only the first letter of the word.

If you press the [Shift] and [F3] keys twice, it will capitalize the entire word.

If you press the [Shift] and [F3] keys three times, it will return the word to all lowercase letters.

IN ORDER To change the text to all UPPERCASE letters, you can press the [Ctrl], [Shift], and

If you would like to underline text, you can highlight the text to be underlined and press the [Ctrl] and [U] keys.

If you would like to bold text, you can highlight the text to be bolded, and press the [Ctrl] and [B] keys.

If you would like to italicize text, you can highlight the text to be italicized and press the [Ctrl] and [I] keys.

If you would like to bullet selected items, you can press the [Ctrl], [Shift], and [L] keys.

If you would like to change the font, you can highlight the text to be changed and press the [Ctrl] and [D] keys, then select the appropriate font, font style, size, and effects.

If you would like to insert a hyperlink in your document, you can highlight the text to be linked and Press the [Ctrl] and [K] keys. Type the file or Web page name in the corresponding field of the "Insert Hyperlink" box, or select from the list of links and click on the "OK" button.

Opening and Closing

If you need to open a document in Microsoft Word, you can press the [Ctrl] [O] keys and select the file you would like to open.

If you need to close Microsoft Word, you can press the [Ctrl] and [W] keys. This will close Word.

Saving

If you would like to "Save as" (save a current document as another document with a different file name, you can press the [F12] key and navigate to the folder in which you wish to save the document, and rename the document appropriately.

If you want to save a current document to capture any changes, you can press the [Ctrl] and [S] keys.

Fortunately, you have all of these options available to you when writing a document. Learning these Microsoft Word shortcuts can make your writing tasks easier, faster, and less stressful. Knowing that you can easily repair mistakes or correct formatting decisions with the use of available shortcuts can also make a large writing task, less intimidating and overwhelming. Use these shortcuts and you will be a happier, better-adjusted person, whose friends and family won't need to fear any sudden Word-related melodramatic outbursts, and your documents will be finished in no time.

*Source: Microsoft Word Help