Microsoft Word Formatting Tips

This issue we gathered several tips for Microsoft Word users!

Control word wrapping: To prevent two words from being separated at the end of a line, use a non-breaking space between the words. Control-Shift-spacebar enters a non-breaking space. To prevent a hyphenated word from being split at the end of a line, use a non-breaking hyphen: Control-Shift-hyphen.

Control page breaks: Have you ever wanted Word to stop breaking text across pages, such as keeping a heading with its paragraph, or keeping a bulleted list together? Select the text then click Format/Paragraph. Use the Line and Page Breaks tab to select Keep Lines Together to keep the selected paragraphs on the same page. The Keep With Next box will keep the selected paragraph(s) on the same page with the next paragraph.

Superscript and subscript: Instead of using the Format/Font dialog box, Word provides hot keys to control superscript (CTRL+Shift+=) and subscript (CTRL+=) formatting of the current word or selected text.

Spice up underlining: Word 2002 and later provides several types of underline formatting. Instead of using the underlining toolbar button, click Format/Font, and use the Underline Style dropdown to select a new underlining pattern, such as dashes or wavy lines.

Special characters: To insert special characters like copyright or trademark symbols into a document, use Windows' Character Map program, accessible via the Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools folder. Select your font, then click on a symbol to magnify it. Click Select to add it to the Characters to Copy field, and click Copy to copy that field's contents to the clipboard to paste into Word.

January 2004

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