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Microsoft® Office Products - Common Questions and Answers

On this page, you will find the answers to the common questions we are asked about Microsoft® Office products. They are arranged by product with the latest first and once they have been on this page for a while, they will be moved to an archive page you can access.

• Microsoft® Excel questions and answers
• Microsoft® Word questions and answers
• Microsoft® PowerPoint questions and answers
• Microsoft® Outlook questions and answers

Some of the tips below are specifically for certain versions of Office software. To find out which version you are using in any Office program, choose Help > About from the menu.

• How do I format text quickly?
  
  People are often unaware of a very quick and easy way to get text formatted. Instead of changing the font, the colour, the spacing etc separately, use the format painter. Select text already formatted in the way you want. Click the format painter icon (it looks like a paintbrush) and then select the text you want formatting. Hey presto! The new text now looks identical to the already formatted text.

Microsoft® Excel

• How do I calculate VAT on an amount?
  
  Let us assume that the amount is in cell A1 (if it isn't, just adjust the cell address in the formulae:
  
  8% VAT: =A1*0.08
  
  15% VAT: =A1*0.15
  
  20% VAT: =A1*0.2
  
  To calculate the VAT inclusive price rather than just the VAT, change the value from 0. to 1. - for example to calculate price inclusive of VAT at 8% use =A1*1.08
  
  To work backwards to calculate the base price from the VAT inclusive price, you need a slightly different formula. Let us assume the VAT inclusive price is in B1:
  
  8% VAT: =B1*1/1.08
  
  15% >VAT: =B1*1/1.15
  
  20% VAT: =B1*1/1.2
• How do I select the first or last cell in a worksheet or list?
  
  Press CTRL+HOME to select the first cell on the worksheet or in an Excel list. Press CTRL+END to select the last cell that contains data or formatting.
• How do I edit the contents of a cell using the keyboard?
  
  Press F2. Edit the contents as you would in Word using arrow keys, DELETE, BACKSPACE etc.
• VIDEO (47 seconds, no sound) - How to Insert a Hyperlink in Excel 2007
  
  Click here to watch the Hyperlink video.
• How do I stop Excel representing my fractions (e.g. 3/4) as dates (e.g. 3-Apr)?
  
  1. Select the cell.
  
  2. Go to the number formatting dialogue box (Format, Cells in 2003 and the Number group on the Home ribbon in 2007).
  
  3. In the Category list, click Fraction.
  
  4. In the Type list, click the fraction format type that you want to use.
  
  5. The number in the active cell of the selection on the worksheet appears in the Sample box so that you can preview the number formatting options that you select.
• How do I print my column and row headings with my data?
  
  1. Click the worksheet
  
  2. Access the Page Layout dialogue box (File, Page Layout in 2003 and Page Setup dialogue box in 2007).
  
  3. On the Sheet tab, under Print, select the Row and column headings check box.
  
  Click here to watch the video it's a 27 second video (no sound) on how this works in Excel 2007.
• How do I protect my spreadsheet from prying eyes?
  
  The simplest way is to create a password for your file. Click here to watch the password video for Excel it's a 47 second video, no sound.

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Microsoft® Word

• How do I remove all formatting from text?
  
  Whilst the text is selected, press Ctrl+Spacebar. The text will then revert to the formatting of the current Paragraph Style.
• How do I remove the drawing canvas (Word 2003 and 2002)?
  
  When you insert a drawing object into a Word document, the drawing canvas is placed around it by default. It is useful if your drawing consists of several shapes. It's turned off by default in Word 2007. To turn it off in 2003 or 2002:
  
  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.
  
  2. Click the General tab. Under General options, uncheck Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting AutoShapes.
• VIDEO (1 minute, no sound) - Mail merging address labels in Word 2007
  
  Click here.
• VIDEO (40 seconds, no sound) - saving your document with a password to protect it. Click here.

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Microsoft® PowerPoint

• How do I see my notes when showing a presentation?
  
  Use Presenter View once you already have a second monitor connected and enabled.
• How can I keep the audience's focus on the presentation content?
  • Stick to consistent slides with no more than 3 text colours and no more than 2 fonts.
  • Use graphics intelligently to add interest, not too much though. Use charts rather than figures to display data.
  • Set up hyperlinks to allow you to jump to different areas of the presentation so you can be flexible according to what your audience needs.
  • Use custom slide shows to select which slides to use for different audiences. Click here to watch a 38 second video, no sound) on custom shows in PowerPoint 2007.
• VIDEO (31 seconds, no sound) - Changing a Presentation Theme in PowerPoint 2007
  
  Click here.
• VIDEO (44 seconds, no sound) - Using SmartArt in PowerPoint 2007
  
  Click Here.

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Microsoft® Outlook

• How do I copy someone in to an email without everyone knowing?
  
  Use the BCC option. This stands for Blind Carbon Copy. Anyone you put in this field will receive a copy of the email but no-one else will see the name. You can send out emails where all the recipients are in the BCC box so none know who else has received the email. Click here to see an image.
• How do I move every message from a particular person into a separate folder?
  
  This can be automised using a rule. Click here to watch a 65 second video, no sound to set a rule for this purpose in Outlook 2007.

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