Microsoft Word, despite being around for over 40 years, still manages to surprise users with its capabilities. Even people who use it every day are often unaware of the existence of functions that could significantly improve their work. That is why we are starting the #Top5 series, in which each month we will discover five extremely useful functions from various Microsoft 365 applications. First up – Microsoft Word and five options that will not only save you valuable time but also make working with documents much more enjoyable. Ready to discover new possibilities in a seemingly well-known application?
Read aloud
The first feature is Read Aloud. It works great when we prefer to listen to the content of a given document rather than read it. In addition, it works well when we are driving to a meeting – we can simultaneously drive a car and listen to a previously prepared note or contract in Word. How to use it?
- Open the Word document you want to listen to.
- Make sure you are logged in with your Microsoft account.
- Click the "Review" tab on the ribbon and select Read Aloud:
- This will start reading the document content by the default narrator and a pane with additional options will appear. You can use them to stop listening or change the narrator's voice to a female one:
Dictate – create a document without writing
The next feature is the opposite of the one mentioned above. Since it is possible to listen to the content (read aloud) of a document, it is also possible to create it... without writing! This is what the Dictate option is for. After selecting it, all you need to do is calmly and clearly dictate what content should appear in the document being created. In this way, you can create a new document basically without touching the keyboard. To use the Dictate feature:
- While in Word, make sure you are in the "Home" tab. There is a Dictate option – click it and "Dictate" again:
- A pane with options for recording appears. Additionally, dictate icon will indicate that it is "on" and the spoken content will initially appear faded in the document:
- After a while, the faded content will take on a normal font color. In addition, clicking the Settings icon on the Dictate pane will display additional configuration options, such as indicating the spoken language or microphone.
Quick parts – write 2x faster
The third feature is another one of those that can really save you time when creating new content in Microsoft Word. We're talking about Quick Parts. Sound familiar? Yes, Quick Parts are also available in Microsoft Outlook and perform the same in Word. They allow you to save ready-made fragments of text. So, if you create contracts that have the same elements quite often, instead of writing them every time - insert them from the Quick Parts gallery. How to use them?
- In Microsoft Word, select a part of a text you want to become a Quick Part, click the "Insert" tab, select the Quick Parts icon in the "Text" group and then "Save selection to Quick Parts Gallery…":
- This will bring up the option to save the Quick Part. Enter a name for it and click "Ok":
- The next time you create a new document, simply place the cursor in the desired place in the document, select Quick Parts on the ribbon and choose the part you saved earlier:
Text from file – faster "copy-paste"
Sometimes it happens that several people work on one document. In such a case, it is worth having it located in a shared company space such as OneDrive or SharePoint, which are available as part of Microsoft 365. However, sometimes the scenario is different - one person is responsible for "assembling" the entire document from individual parts created by other people. The first thing that comes to mind is to open each file, copy the content, paste it into the target file and possibly edit it. There is a faster way to do this, called Object - Text from file. Using it eliminates the need to open each file separately and copy the content. To use it:
- Go to the target file, click on the "Insert" tab and in the "Text" group select Object and Text from file:
- Then, specify another file from which the content is to be copied and pasted into the target document:
And it's ready:
Merge formatting while pasting
You may already have this feature set by default. However, it doesn't have to be that way. It's about merge formatting by default while pasting copied content. It may sound a bit complicated – let me explain it. Until relatively recently, when we copied content, e.g. from another program and pasted it into a Word file using the "Ctrl + V" shortcut, the content did not adapt to the formatting – it contained the original format and appearance. However, you can configure this option so that any pasted content immediately takes on the formatting from the file. To do this:
- While in Microsoft Word, click "File" and "Options".
- In the new window, select "Advanced", go to the "Cut, copy, and paste" section. Previously, the default option in the "Paste from other programs" was "Keep Source Formatting". This caused the pasted content to retain its original formatting. If you still have this setting in Microsoft Word, and you would like any pasted content to be formatted immediately (so that the formatting is merged), set the "Merge Formatting" value here:
Bonus: formulas in Word? It is possible!
Are you persistent and have you made it to the end? Great, so here's an interesting fact - did you know that in Microsoft Word you can also use formulas, which are the "driving engine" of Microsoft Excel? The key is tables, because that's where you can use them. So:
- Create a table, e.g. 3x3:
- Next, place your cursor in the last row to sum the column, go to the "Table Layout" tab, "Data" group and click "Formula". This will open a new window where the default suggested formula is the sum (Sum (Above)) of the values above the cell where you placed your cursor. As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities, and they are visible after expanding the list under the "Paste function" command. Click "Ok" to check if the formula works correctly.
- As you can see, the formula calculated the sum of the values in the cells above it:
If you would like to talk about the presented functions, you have the impression that they do not work properly in your Microsoft Word or you are curious about what else is hidden in the most popular text editor in the world – do not wait, contact us and arrange a free consultation with our specialist, who will provide you with the necessary information. Oh – and do not forget to follow the next blog posts from our #Top5 series.
