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Tips & Tricks For additions, questions or comments, please email us at: training@greenconsulting.net 
Windows Tips & TricksWindows - Opening and Saving Files One of the most popular tips and tricks covered in our training classes is the utilization of the "Open" and "Save" window options. When you choose the "Details" view you can sort by any of the column headings. Clicking on the column heading will sort the information in that column. The "Preview" view is also a very popular option. Please make sure you experiment with the different options available when you save or open files. The "Files of Type" and "Save as Type" pull down windows are very important when you are moving files to and from different computers. 
Windows - Finding Files Find Files in Windows If you are having a problem finding the file you are looking for, you can click on "Start," "Find," "Files or Folders" from your computer's desktop. Remember to use the file sorting options we discussed in the "Opening and Saving Files" information. Sorting by date or file type is frequently a very beneficial way to find information. 
Windows - To create a folder on the Desktop Right click on the Desktop background, from the pop-up menu displayed select New, from the sub-menu displayed select Folder. Enter the name for the folder and press Enter. Windows - To delete an item without sending it to the Recycle Bin Depress the Shift key while deleting an item. Windows - To quickly display today's date Leave the mouse pointer over the clock (displayed within the Window Taskbar) for a few seconds. Windows - To move a file from one disk to another By default when using the Windows Explorer dragging a file from one disk to another copies it. If you wish to move a file hold down the Shift key while dragging. Windows - To select more than one file Hold down the Ctrl and click on the files you wish to select. Windows - To select a block of files Select the first file in the block. Hold down the Shift key and click on the last file in the block. Windows - To simultaneously minimize all open windows Right click on the Windows Taskbar and select Minimize all windows.
Word Tips & TricksWord - Quickly move around in a document To move to the top of a document, press [Ctrl][Home]. To move to the bottom of a document, press [Ctrl][End]. To go to the top of the next page, press [Ctrl][Page Down]. For the top of the preceding page, press [Ctrl][Page Up]. Word - Select a word Double-click on it. If a space immediately follows the word you select, the space gets selected, too. Punctuation is ignored. Word - Select a sentence Hold down [Ctrl] and click anywhere in the sentence. Why would you want to select a sentence? To change something about the sentence's appearance, to count the words or letters in the sentence by opening the Tools menu and choosing Word Count, to run a spelling or grammar check on the sentence, or to copy, move, or delete it. Word - Select a paragraph Triple-click within the paragraph or move the mouse just past the left margin of the paragraph. When the pointer changes to a right-pointing arrow, double-click to select the whole paragraph. Word - Select a table Select a table by holding down [Alt] and double-clicking anywhere in the table. Word - Select all the text between the cursor and... To select all the text between the cursor and the end of the current line, press [Shift][End]. To select the text from the cursor through the end of the current paragraph, press [Ctrl][Shift] and the down arrow. To select the text from the cursor to the end of the document, press [Ctrl][Shift][End]. Word - Select an entire document Press [Ctrl]A. Why would you want to? To change the font or to add or remove formatting. Once you've selected the entire document, apply the formatting to everything, and either leave it applied or apply it again to remove it. For example, suppose some text in your document is underlined and you want nothing underlined. To avoid spending time visiting each underlined section of text and un-underlining it, select the whole document with [Ctrl]A. Press [Ctrl]U to apply underlining to the entire document, then press [Ctrl]U again to remove the underlining. Be careful when you use [Ctrl]A. If you accidentally press [Delete] or type a keystroke and erase everything, don't panic and don't fret. Just press [Ctrl]Z or choose Undo from the Edit menu. Word - Open menus and select commands from the keyboard Press [Alt] plus the letter that's underlined to open a menu such as File, Edit, View, and so on. Once a menu is open, you don't need to press [Alt] to select a command; just press the underlined letter of the command you want to select. Here are some common examples: Quick print preview: [Alt]F,V. Quick save as: [Alt]F,A. Quickly reopen the first document in the most recently used file list: [Alt]F,1.
Excel Tips & TricksExcel - Worksheet navigation tips You may know that you can quickly move your cell selector to the last or first cell in a filled column by pressing [Ctrl] and the appropriate directional arrow. This also works for moving to the last or first cell in a filled row ([Ctrl] and the left or right arrow key). However, a lesser-known feature of Excel is the ability to do this with just your mouse. All you need to do is double-click on the border of the cell selector. Excel will move the selector to the last filled cell in the direction corresponding to the edge you clicked on. Excel - Automate list formatting with AutoFill When you're creating lists of data in an Excel spreadsheet, like most users you probably enter all your list data before worrying about formatting the list cells for readability. In earlier versions of Excel, this was a two-step process: first you'd enter your list data, then you'd select the data range and format it to your specifications. In addition, if you had to add data cells to the list in the future, you'd have to format those new data cells as well. However, Excel 2000's improved AutoFill feature supports extended formats and formulas, which makes creating lists quick and easy by automating the formatting and formula-entry process based on adjacent cells.
When Excel notices a format or formula occurring in a minimum of three of the five list cells preceding the current cell, it automatically applies the format or formula of those cells to the current cell. If you need to add data cells to the list in the future, Excel continues to apply the list's format and formula patterns, saving you the step of formatting each new cell. To turn this feature on and off, select Tools/Options from the menu bar, click on the Edit tab, and select or clear the Extend List Formats And Formulas check box.
Excel - Use the fill handle to clear ranges You probably use Excel's fill handle to copy data or formulas. However, you can also use it to clear a range. To do this, first select the range you want to clear. Then, drag the fill handle (the small black box in the lower-right corner of the range) up or to the left to clear the desired portion of your range. Excel - Using the Format Painter with multiple ranges The Format Painter is a great tool to use when you want to quickly apply the formatting of a particular range to another cell or range in your workbook. Normally, you select the range containing the formatting you want to copy and click the Format Painter icon (the icon that looks like a paintbrush). Then, your mouse pointer turns into a paint brush pointer and you select the range you want to apply the formatting to. Unfortunately, after selecting your destination range, the mouse pointer becomes a regular pointer as soon as you release the mouse button. If you want to apply the same formatting to a non-contiguous range, you need to repeat the steps. Fortunately, there's a shortcut for this. When you first select the Format Painter, double-click the icon. Your mouse pointer will continue to act as a Format Painter tool until you again click the Format Painter icon. Excel - Quickly change formula cell references If you ever need to change part of a formula so that the cell references are absolute instead of relative, you've probably edited it and manually typed in the required dollar signs. However, there's a much easier way. Simply edit the formula and place your insertion point on the cell reference. Then, press the [F4] key to cycle through the various cell reference formats you can use: $A$1 A$1 $A1 A1 Excel - Change the width of multiple columns If you want all the columns in your worksheet to be the same width, first click the Select All button, which is the rectangle in the upper-left corner of your worksheet at the intersection of the row and column headings. Then, move the mouse pointer to the line that separates any column headings. When the mouse pointer changes to a resizing tool, click and drag to resize all the columns on your sheet. If you want to resize just a group of columns, select their column headings and then use the resizing tool. These techniques work for changing row heights as well. Excel - Printing gridlines When you think of a spreadsheet, the visual elements that are most likely to come to mind are columns, rows, cells, and gridlines. Columns, rows, and cells are the spatial elements in which you store and organize information, and gridlines are the boundaries that separate these elements from one another, making the information easy to read. Oddly enough, Excel is configured by default to not print gridlines automatically. To print the gridlines in Excel, select File/Page Setup from the menu bar. In the Page Setup dialog box, click the Sheet tab. Now, in the Print area, click the Gridlines check box to select it. Now, when you print your worksheet, the gridlines will appear. Excel - An easy way to insert and delete rows and columns In Excel, the easiest way to insert or delete entire rows or columns (rather than partial rows or columns) is to use keyboard shortcuts: [ctrl]+ and [ctrl]-. Specifically, you drag across the row numbers or column letters in the worksheet frame to select the rows or columns you want to insert or delete. Then, press [ctrl]+ (use the plus sign on the numeric keypad) to insert entire rows or columns at that spot. You press [ctrl]- to delete the entire selected rows or columns. You'll find this approach much more convenient than pulling down a menu and choosing options from a dialog box. Excel - Enter More Than One Line in a Cell Excel provides two ways for you to display multiple lines of data in a cell. Type a line break Press ALT+ENTER to start a new line while you're typing or editing data.
Outlook Tips & TricksOutlook - Use Word to write your email There are two ways to write email in Outlook 2000. One is to use the inbuilt email editor, the other is to use Microsoft Word. This is a contentious option. Some people prefer the smaller specialized editor while others want all the features that Microsoft Word can offer: in-line spell checking, auto correct, and better table formatting, to name a few. The choice is yours, however, it is worth giving the Microsoft Word option a try. To switch to using Word as your email writer, choose Tools | Options | Mail Format, and check "Use Microsoft Word to edit e-mail messages." You can choose the alternative mail editor on a 'one off' basis from the Actions, New Mail Message Using menu.
Outlook - Auto Archive Outlook 2000 is automatically setup to move older messages and information to a separate archive file. This sounds like a good idea, except in reality you may want to find some old message or appointment. While you can find these things in the archive, it's slow and tedious. In theory archives improves the performance of Outlook, but the benefits are slight for most people. So consider switching AutoArchive off from Tools | Options | Other | AutoArchive, and uncheck the box "AutoArchive every xx days."
Outlook - Reading Without Opening Outlook 2000 has a fully integrated preview pane to let you read a message without opening it. Many users rarely open a message fully once they discover the speed and power of the preview pane. For a longer message it may take a few seconds for the preview to appear, but once it does pressing the spacebar will scroll down the text. Outlook - Attaching a Signature You wouldn't send a letter without signing it, would you? Why should email be any different? If you haven't already, create your own unique signature. Most signatures contain your pertinent contact information--name, company, phone number, Web site, etc., but you can include whatever you want. Outlook will automatically attach it to every outgoing message you send.
Outlook - E-mail Attachments Warning There's been a lot of fuss about e-mail borne viruses recently and rightly so. As the most popular e-mail program around, Outlook is the main target for attacks. There's a simple way to protect yourself against virus infection. Be very careful about opening any e-mail attachments. It doesn't matter who sent it to you, always scan it for viruses before proceeding. You should save all attachments to your hard drive and scan them with an updated anti-virus program before opening them. Some anti-virus programs have automatic checking of newly saved files, so the act of saving the attachment will automatically trigger a virus scan.
Outlook - Stationery If you send out HTML formatted e-mail messages you can make them look a whole lot nicer by using a wider range of pictures and backgrounds than the few provided with Outlook 2000. These combinations of backgrounds is called, email stationery. Outlook - Some warnings about using e-mail stationery:
PowerPoint Tips & TricksPowerPoint - Utilizing Blank Slides If you are doing a lecture style presentation, make sure you know which slide is the last slide. A good trick to use is to have a blank slide at the end so you know when to stop. Remember not to use a blank slide if you are going to loop your slide slow. PowerPoint - Slide Masters Once you learn how to use Slide Masters, you will use them a lot. A Slide Master is a way to make a formatting change to all slides at once. This is definitely the fastest way to make overall formatting changes to add consistency to your presentation. To go to the Slide Master, click "View," "Master," "Slide Master." PowerPoint - Combining Slides From Different Presentations Why reinvent the wheel? If you have a collection of PowerPoint presentations, you may already have just the slide you need hidden away in one of them. Instead of re-creating it from scratch, why not reuse one you've already created? It couldn't be simpler to do. If you know which presentation contains the slide you want to reuse, open it in PowerPoint, open the presentation you want to use it in, and put both presentations in Slide Sorter view. In the presentation you want to copy slides FROM, click to select the slide you want to copy (or hold down Ctrl while you select multiple slides), then choose Edit, Copy or press Ctrl-C. Switch to the presentation you want to copy the slides INTO and choose Edit, Paste or press Ctrl-V to insert the slides into your new presentation. PowerPoint applies the template of the current presentation to any slides you paste into it, so you don't have to reformat them to get a consistent look.
PowerPoint - Create a Presentation With More Than One Template If you want to use more than one template in a presentation, it looks like you're in luck. To do this, open a presentation using a template and save the first slide in this presentation as a JPEG Interchange Format. Now, open a new presentation with a different template and insert the JPEG file you saved as a picture. You can resize this JPEG to cover your slide and act as an actual template. Any new slides you add to this presentation will use the template you selected when you opened the presentation. PowerPoint - Selecting objects If you're having trouble selecting a shape that's directly behind another shape, try one of these techniques. First, you can use the [Tab] key to cycle through the objects until the bounding box appears on the object you're having trouble selecting. Then, just hold down [Shift] and click on the top image to select it. Now that both objects are selected, you can easily group them. As an alternative, choose Edit/Select All, and then select the objects you don't want to group by holding down the [Shift] key and clicking on the objects you want to deselect. PowerPoint - Change the color of your textures Textures make great backgrounds for PowerPoint slides. Unfortunately, there aren't many standard PowerPoint textures to choose from. This can pose a problem, especially if you're looking for a specific color. If you want to change the color of a background texture, use the Rectangle tool to draw a rectangle that fills the entire slide. Next, choose No Line from the Line Color dropdown list. Then, click on the Fill Color dropdown list and select More Fill Colors. Choose a color from the Standard or Custom Color palette. As soon as you find the right color for your background fill, select the Semitransparent check box located in the bottom-left corner. When you've finished, click OK. The semitransparent rectangle changes the color of your original texture background. You can change any texture fill using the same procedure, just as long as you make a copy of the shape containing that texture and place it on top with a semitransparent color. PowerPoint - Double-click on an object for more options Need to quickly change the properties of a drawn line, AutoShape, or text box? Open the appropriate Format dialog box by double- clicking on the object. Now you can adjust options such as color, size, position, and other properties -- all in one dialog box. PowerPoint - Draw and erase during slide shows You can use the shortcut command [Ctrl]P ([c]P on the Mac) to access the Pen tool during a slide show. Click your mouse and drag to use the Pen tool to draw during your slide show. To erase everything you've drawn, press the E key. PowerPoint - Drag and drop slides In PowerPoint, you can drag and drop slides from one presentation to another. To do this, choose File/Open to open two different presentation windows. Now, choose Window/Arrange All and PowerPoint automatically tiles the presentations so that both are visible. Next, change both of the windows to Slide Sorter view. This makes the transferring process much easier. To transfer slides, simply click and hold on the slide you'd like to move and drag that slide into the other presentation. PowerPoint - Easily Changing from Caps to Lower Case (or Vice Versa): If you have text that is in the wrong case, select the text, and then click Shift+F3 until it changes to the case style that you like. Clicking Shift+F3 toggles the text case between ALL CAPS, lower case, and Initial Capital styles. You'll be surprised how often you use this once you get the hang of it! PowerPoint - My pictures turned to Big Red X's - what happened? You are not alone; this is a serious problem that many people are running into. It is due to a file size bug; when PowerPoint doesn't have enough memory to deal with the size of your file, the graphics get forever replaced with big red X images. If you can insert the pictures directly from PowerPoint (using Insert/Picture) as opposed to using copy/paste, the file size sometimes turns out to be much smaller (some applications create links and other exciting remnants when doing a paste operation). When saving and reopening these files, people find fewer problems. As for opening files which already have red crosses, Microsoft suggests closing the file WITHOUT saving (as saving would also save the red crosses), close all other programs to free up as much memory as possible, restart your computer, and finally reopen your file. We have tested this workaround and it seems to work; problem is that almost everybody closes the file and saves it. In this case, you must manually reinsert the picture from its original source. |
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