1. Layout tables

Tables are much easier to use than tabs for positioning text and images on a document.

Word 2000, 2002, 2003 - select TABLE | INSERT | TABLE and type in the number of columns and rows you require.

Word 2007 - click TABLE on the INSERT tab of the ribbon and highlight the number of columns and rows you require.

You can remove the borders so it does not look like a table when the document is printed. To remove the borders:-

Word 2000, 2002, 2003 - click anywhere in the table then select TABLE | TABLE PROPERTIES then on the TABLE tab, click BORDERS AND SHADING, select the BORDERS tab and click NONE under Setting.

Word 2007 - click anywhere in the table then select PROPERTIES from the LAYOUT tab on the ribbon. On the TABLE tab, click BORDERS AND SHADING, select the BORDERS tab and click NONE under Setting.

You may see grid lines on the screen but they will not print out.

Resize the columns and rows to fit your layout by dragging the column or row borders.

2. Insert a new row

To insert a new row at the end of a table, click in the last cell of the table and press the TAB key.

3. Go Back shortcut

You can return to the place where you last were in your document by clicking SHIFT + F5. Word remembers your last 3 locations so you can keep pressing it to go back to previous editing points. This can be useful if you have just copied a large amount of text; you can go back to the place where you first copied the text.

4. Document Browser

The Document Browser makes it easy to move around a long document. It can be found at the bottom of the vertical scroll bar - the button with a ball between a double up arrow button and a double down arrow button (see adjacent screen shot).

The default setting is browse by page so when you press the double down arrows you are taken to the next page in your document. The double up arrows take you to the previous page. Press the Document Browser button to change the object you want to browse by. You can browse the document by tables, fields, headings, footnotes, endnotes, graphics, sections and edits.

5. Draft Font

If you are editing a very long document and you are finding it a bit slow, you can change the font temporarily to Draft Font to speed it up.

Word 2000, 2002, 2003 - select TOOLS | OPTIONS | VIEW then click Draft Font in the last section on the dialog. You must be in Normal View for the draft font to take effect.

Word 2007 - click the OFFICE button, click WORD OPTIONS, select ADVANCED, scroll down to Show Document Content and select Use Draft Font in Draft and Outline Views. You must be in either Draft view or Outline view for the draft font to take effect.

6. Find and Replace

Word’s Find and Replace feature is so useful. As well as being able to replace general text and formatting, you can also replace items in your document with anything you place in the clipboard, e.g. a graphic or a block of text.

Copy a graphic to the clipboard by selecting the graphic and clicking CTRL + C.

To paste into Word 2000, 2002, 2003 - select EDIT | REPLACE, type the text you want to replace in the Find box and type ^c in the Replace box. Click Replace All and the text will be replaced with your graphic.

To paste into Word 2007 - select REPLACE on the HOME tab of the ribbon, type the text you want to replace in the Find box and type ^c in the Replace box. Click Replace All and the text will be replaced with your graphic.

7. Go the the halfway point

To go immediately to the halfway point in your document, click F5, select Page in the Go To What box then type 50% in the Enter Page Number box. You can use other percentages to go to other points in the document too.

8. Section breaks

If you frequently have trouble with section breaks, add a dummy section break at the end of the document when you first create a document.

The settings for a section (e.g. headers, footers, page orientation) are stored in the section break therefore your original document settings will be stored in the final dummy section break. When you delete a section break, the new merged section takes on the settings of the section break at the end.

The quickest way to copy settings between sections is to copy the section break. So if the settings of your sections have got confused, you can either delete the section breaks so you are left with your original settings in the dummy section break at the end of the document or you can copy the dummy section break to the end of a section to reset the settings to the original.

When working with section breaks, it is easier to work in Normal view as you can see clearly where the section breaks are.

9. Move text up and down a page

To quickly move a section of text up or down a page, select the text and click SHIFT + ALT + either the UP arrow key or the DOWN arrow key.

10. Remove manual formatting

To remove manually applied formatting from a section of text, select the text and press CTRL + SPACEBAR. The formatting will revert to the formatting set in the paragraph's style.