Table of Contents
So, you have gotten your essay done by yourself or from one of the top online essay writing services (if you plan on using such, remember to first look at online essay writing services reviews). Now you have it on a Microsoft Word file and need to work on it to make the final changes that can include formatting, inserting specific files, etc. But that can come up to be quite time-consuming.
Thus, we got you covered with a list of time-saving tips and tricks for Microsoft Office that you will not be able to imagine you have lived without.
Creating a Table of Contents
Table of contents is generally required when you are submitting a larger file for review and assessment. This can serve to your benefit as well for quickly finding what you need to find.
First, to be able later to do a table of contents automatically, this will depend on how you format the chapter names, as well as the names of the sections and subsections. You should do so by using heading styles. Of course, it is not always necessary to create subsections or even sections, that depends on what you need.
Then, when you are creating a chapter name, use Heading 1 of the Styles that can be found in the Home tab. If you have sections, create their headings with Heading 2 and so on, and so forth.
Now place the cursor at the page where you want the Table of Contents to be. Select References. There will be a Table of Contents button. Now select the Table of Contents (TOC) style.
Saving As a PDF
Sometimes you will need to save docx in pdf format. That may be required when you need the file in such a way that no one else can made editions. This also preserves the manner of pages and the format in that you have saved the document.
- Open the selected document of which you want to save a pdf.
- Then go to the MENU BAR, select File > Save As.
- Now a drop-down will appear. From then you can select PDF (*.pdf).
- After the selection, click on Save.
Horizontal Lines
If you wish to add a horizontal line, you can just type three hyphens (looks like this - - -, without the spaces between them), then click Enter.
To remove the line, put your cursor immediately above it. Go on the Home tab and select the arrow that you will see next to the button Borders and Shading. Now all you need to do is click on the No Border.
Hear the Document Being Read
Hearing a written piece being read can help you catching mistakes, uncoherent sentences or seeing where you can make edits for the text to be more readable. Word has a text-to-speech option that can do exactly that.
Before that, though, you will need to do one minor change and that is making the Speak icon accessible on Quick Access.
- To do so, click the down arrow that can be seen on the Quick Access Toolbar.
- There will be a list of options of which you can select More Commands.
- Then select All Commands > Speak > Add > OK.
- Now, when you want Word to read something to you, highlight the text and click the Speak icon.
- When you want it to stop, simply click the Speak icon once more.
Hyperlinks
Inserting hyperlinks can be a valuable tool. Those links can be to websites or different sections of the document.
First, highlight the text that should become a hyperlink. Press CTRL + K. Select whether you want to link to Existing File of Web Page, Place in This Document, Create New Document, or E-mail Address.
Now, for links, enter the URL of the website.
AutoCorrect
That is an important tool in the toolbox of everyone who is using Word. It can be made to insert frequently used sentences or text with a keystroke combo. That can work even for long series of text just by typing a few letters.
- To do so, go to File > Option.
- Now it is time to choose Proofing that is on the left side bar.
- Click on AutoCorrect Options.
- Now the next step requires a bit of editing. You need to enter a short key stroke combination that you want to use easily and type the sentence or text that you wish the combination to be automatically replaced with.
- When you are done, click Add, then OK.
When you have done this, when you enter the short keystroke combination, you can press Space Bar and the combination will be replaced automatically with the text you need.
Convert Tabbed Text to Table
When you create columns and rows with the Tab button, you can convert them into tables. To do so, highlight the text, then go to the menu bar, then Insert tab > Table > Convert Text to Table.
You will see a dialog box. There you can define the criteria for the text that will be converted into a table. When you are done, click on OK.
Short Keys
Now, for a final, we will brief you on some of the Shortcut Keys you can use to save time.
- CTRL + A – to select the whole content of the page.
- CTRL + B – to bold.
- CTRL + C – to copy the selected text.
- CTRL + I – for italic.
- CTRL + K – to insert a link.
- CTRL + P – to open the window for printing.
- CTRL + U – to underline the highlighted text.
- CTRL + V – to paste.
- CTRL + X – to cut the selection.
- CTRL + Y – redoes the last action.
- CTRL + Z – undoes the last action.
- CTRL + SHIFT + L – creates a bullet point.
- CTRL + SHIFT + F12 – prints the document.
- F12 – to Save as.
- SHIFT + F12 – Save.
- SHIFT + ALT + D – inserts the current day.
- SHIFT + ALT + T – inserts the current time.
