If you are like most people, you don’t have time to explore the software programs you use on a daily basis.  So, you swallow the “there must be a better way” thought and live with some of the out-of-the-box defaults. Not only do you chew through features that can be annoying but you know that they hinder productivity.

There is help! Consider these 5 simple to use and easy to remember tips and tricks that will save you time and grease the wheels of productivity.

1. File Location – By default Word saves to your “My Documents” folder.  Any document worth saving really should be stored in a folder located on your company’s server so that it can be backed up in case something should happen to your computer.  If you find yourself resetting the save location a lot, you can reset the default with these quick steps.

2. Customizing Normal.dotx – Word bases new documents on the Normal.dotx template.  By default the standard template is fairly generic. To compliment your company’s branding you can customize the template settings by changing the font type and size.  To change the template:
1. Open a new document and click the home tab.
2. Click the arrow in the bottom-right corner of the font pane.
3. Make the necessary font changes
4. Click Set as Default button
5. Select the option to set the default to all documents based on the Normal template
6. Click Ok twice.

3. Line Spacing – Microsoft changed the default line spacing in Work 2007 and 2010 to 1.15, up from 1 in 2003, believing that 1.15 is more legible online.  If you aren’t generating content for the web, you can adjust the styles you use in Word’s template using the following steps:
1. Click the Home tab.
2. Right-click Normal in the Styles Quick gallery and choose Modify.
3. Choose Paragraph from the Format list.
4. In the Spacing section, change the At setting from 1.15 to 1.
5. Click OK.
6. Check the New Documents Based On This Template option.
7. Click Ok.

4. Undo unwanted automatic changes – Word makes a lot of automatic text changes by default, including converting a web address to a hyperlink and replacing straight quotation marks and apostrophes with curly ones.  You can permanently suppress these types of changes but if you just want to remove the formatting changes from time to time, click Ctrl Z or the undo command.  Undo isn’t just for reversing something that you have done; it also will undo the auto changes that Word makes.

5. Automatically create bottom borders – Word has a really nifty shortcut for automatically creating a bottom  border.  Just type three hyphens on a blank line and press enter.  Word will automatically replace the hyphens with a horizontal line.  In addition to creating the standard ¾ point bottom border, you can trigger different border styles.
1. Type three ~ characters to create a wavy line
2. Three underscore ( _ ) characters creates a 1.5 point line
3. Three asterisks (*) creates a dotted line.
4. Three equals signs (=) creates a double line.
5. Three pound signs (#) creates a triple “thin, thick, thin” line.

For more information on how The Launch Pad can help you with your company’s IT needs, Contact Us. For more advice on how to be increase your productivity, read our blog article “The Launch Pad Team Computer Tips” .