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Archives for Office 2007

Removing AutoFormatted Lines in Microsoft Word

Posted by  on Wednesday, October 3rd 2012     

Screenshot of two documents in Microsoft Word

Earlier this week, a friend posted on Facebook about the ease of inserting a line in a Microsoft Word and the difficulty of removing it.  It seems to be a headache for many people, and I am unsure why Microsoft ships Word with the default autoformatting options to make that line.  However, once it is inserted, it is easy to remove with a couple of clicks.  If you never want that line to appear again, you can set Microsoft Word to not create the lines anymore.

Remove Existing Line From A Word Document

Microsoft Word creates those lines as borders.  To remove the line:

  1. Place the cursor in the line immediately above the line.
  2. On the Home tab, click on the Border formatting menu.
  3. Click on No Border.  See the screenshot below for the click path.

Screenshot showing the Formatting Borders options in Microsoft Word

 

Alternatively, if you notice the line immediately after Word inserts it, you can click on the Smart Tag to see further options.  These include undoing the border line, and stopping automatic border line creation.  See the screenshot below for the Smart Tag button and its menu options.

Screenshot showing the Smart Tag in Microsoft Word

Set Word To Never Create Those Lines Again

In Word 2010 and 2007

  1. In Word 2010, click on the File menu, and choose Options.  In Word 2007, click the Office button, and choose Word Options.
  2. In the left column, click on Proofing.  Then click the Autocorrect Options button.
  3. Click on the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
  4. In the Apply as you type section, uncheck the box next to Border lines.  See the screenshot below.
  5. Click OK, and OK again, until you return to your document.

In Word 2003

  1. Go to the Tools menu, and choose AutoCorrect Options.
  2. Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
  3. Uncheck the box next to Border lines.
  4. Click OK until you return to your document.

Screenshot showing the clicks in Microsoft Word's AutoFormat menu

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Related Posts

category: Office 2007, Office 2010, Word

Out of Office Message Tips

Posted by  on Friday, July 13th 2012     

This week Ben came across a great article about best practices for using the Out of Office messages. I recommend it for any of you who use Out of Office messages or who are considering it.

8 Tips for Using Outlook’s Out of Office Assistant

When Ben sent me this article, I was shocked to realize that we didn’t have a post on the blog about how to set up the Out of Office Assistant in Outlook, so here goes:

 

Set Up Out of Office in Outlook 2010

You can choose to schedule when your message will begin and end sending, and whether you send only to people inside your organization or whether you send to people inside your org and out.

  1. Go to the File tab.
  2. Click on the Automatic Replies button.
  3. In the window that opens, select Send Automatic Replies.
  4. If you’d like to schedule your out of office message to start and stop automatically, check the Only send during this time range box. Set the start date and end date below.
  5. Select the Inside My Organization tab. In the box below, type and format the message you’d like people on the same exchange server to receive.
  6. Click the Outside my Organization tab. To send an Out of Office message to people outside your organization, check the Auto-reply to people outside my organization box. Type and format the message below. If you don’t want to send an Out of Office message to outside people, leave the box unchecked.
  7. When you’ve finished writing messages, click OK.

 

Set Up Out of Office in Outlook 2007

You can choose to schedule when your message will begin and end sending, and whether you send only to people inside your organization or whether you send to people inside your org and out.

  1. Go to the Tools menu and select Out of Office Assistant.
  2. Select Send out of office replies.
  3. If you’d like to schedule your out of office message to start and stop automatically, check the Only send during this time range box. Set the start date and end date below.
  4. Select the Inside My Organization tab. In the box below, type and format the message you’d like people on the same Exchange Server to receive.
  5. Click the Outside my Organization tab. To send an Out of Office message to people outside your organization, check the Auto-reply to people outside my organization box. Type and format the message below. If you don’t want to send an Out of Office message to outside people, leave the box unchecked.
  6. When you’ve finished writing messages, click OK.

 

Set Up Out of Office in Outlook Web Access

You can choose to schedule when your message will begin and end sending, and whether you send only to people inside your organization or whether you send to people inside your org and out.

  1. Log-in to Outlook Web Access.
  2. In the top right corner, click the Options button.
  3. In the left column, click Out of Office Assistant.
  4. Select Send out of office replies.
  5. If you’d like to schedule your out of office message to start and stop automatically, check the Only send during this time range box. Set the start date and end date below.
  6. In the box labeled Send an auto-reply once to each sender inside my organization with the following message, type and format the message you’d like people on the same Exchange Server to receive.
  7. To send an Out of Office message to people outside your organization, check the Auto-reply to people outside my organization box. Type and format the message in the box below.
  8. When you’ve finished writing messages, click OK.

 

category: Office 2007, Office 2010, Outlook
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Sorting Horizontally in Excel

Posted by  on Wednesday, May 30th 2012     

Screenshot of sales data in Excel

Have you ever needed to sort your Excel column headings?  In the data set above, I have sales figures for four products, each listed in no particular order.  What if I wanted to see those columns sorted alphabetically, from Apples to Zooms.  To do that:

1. Select the column headings you wish to sort and the complete data below them.  Do not select any columns on the left or right that you do not want to be sorted.  In the screenshot below, columns A and F are not selected, as I want to keep in place the Month and Total columns.

Screenshot of Excel data, with columns B, C, D, and E selected

 

2. On the Home tab, click on the Sort & Filter button.  From the menu, choose Custom Sort… 

Excel's Sort & Filter button with the Custom Sort option chosen

3. In the Sort window, click on the Options… button.

4. In the Sort Options window, click the option next to Sort left to right.  Then click OK.

Screenshot of Excel's Sort window

 

5. Back in the Sort window, click on the drop-down box next to Sort by, and select the appropriate row that contains your headings.  In this example, Row 1 is selected because that is where the column headings are located.

Screenshot of Excel's Sort option with Row 1 selected in the Sort by drop-down box

 

6. Make sure that the Order option is correct.  The default given is A to Z.  However, if you want your headings sorted in reverse order, choose Z to A from the drop-down menu.

7. Press OK.

Now, the headings have been sorted alphabetically, and the data underneath has moved with the column headings.  Both the Month and Total columns remain unmoved.

Screenshot of data in Excel, with column headers sorted alphebetically

 

Related Posts

1. Sort by Last Name When the Cell Contains the Full Name

2. Sort it Out in Excel

category: Excel, Office 2007, Office 2010
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Open Programs Faster By Creating Your Own Windows Shortcuts

Posted by  on Thursday, April 5th 2012     

Screenshot of Windows shortcut properties

Which Windows programs do you use day in and day out?  Most of us use the same three to five programs every single day.  If you are in the same situation, you can save time by creating keyboard shortcuts to open them.  I use shortcuts to quickly open Outlook and Firefox.  It saves me a couple of minutes every day, and those minutes add up to several hours of saved time over the course of a year.  Plus, pressing a few keys to make Excel open instantly makes me look awesome in front of co-workers.  And isn’t that really the point of technology?

To create your own shortcuts in Windows:

  1. Browse to the application in your Start menu, also known as the Windows button for Windows 7.  You might have to browse to the All Programs menu and find the application there, rather than finding the application in the ‘frequently used’ initial section of the Start menu.
  2. Right-click on the application name, and choose Properties.
  3. On the Shortcut tab, type a letter in the Shortcut Key field.  I find it easiest to use the letter that starts the application name.  For example, I use “E” for Excel.
  4. The new shortcut to open that application will now be Ctrl + Alt + the letter you chose in Step 3.  In my Excel example, I use Ctrl + Alt + E.

Occasionally, I find an application that does not let me add a keyboard shortcut.  In those cases, once you right-click in Step 2, choose either Pin to Taskbar or Pin to Start Menu to create a shortcut on either the Taskbar across the bottom of Windows, or the Start Menu, respectively.

If you pin a shortcut to the Taskbar, you can use a built-in keyboard shortcut to open that application instantly.  The shortcut is the Windows key and a number, where the number you press is the application’s position in the Taskbar.  The Windows key is the key with the Windows logo on it, usually found on the bottom row of your keyboard.  For example, in the screenshot below, I would press the Windows key, and then 2 to open Internet Explorer.

Screenshot of the Windows 7 taskbar

A word of caution: when choosing a letter in Step 3, do not create a shortcut already using the Ctrl and Alt keys.  For example, Ctrl + Alt + Delete brings up different Windows options.  Similarly, Ctrl + Alt + Arrow keys can change the orientation of your monitors.

Now go out there and show off your super speedy Excel-opening skills!

category: Excel, General, Keyboard Shortcuts, Office 2007, Office 2010, Outlook, PowerPoint, Windows, Word

The McCombs Trainers are on YouTube

Posted by  on Friday, March 30th 2012     

Love the Microsoft Office tips you find on the MOST? Then check us out on YouTube, where we’ve posted all of our video tutorials.

http://www.youtube.com/mccombstrainers

And if you like learning through video tutorial, there are thousands more technology tutorials on YouTube. One of our favorites is Excel is Fun.

category: Email, Excel, General, McCombs Tech Resources, Office 2007, Office 2010, Outlook, Self Support, Useful Web Sites
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