Office 2000 Tips & Tricks

To quickly increase or decrease the size of text in Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint®, Microsoft FrontPage®, or Microsoft Publisher, first, select the text you want to resize. Then, to increase the font size, press CTRL+SHIFT+>. To decrease the font size, press CTRL+SHIFT+<.

Get an Office 2000 Tip a Day
From Michel Osborne, Montreal, Quebec

Want more tips and tricks? You can get a tip of the day delivered to you by the Office Assistant.

To get your daily tips:

1. Click the Office Assistant. If the Assistant isn't visible, click Show the Office Assistant on the Help menu.
2. Click Options.
3. On the Options tab, select the Show the Tip of the Day at startup check box.

Quickly Zoom In and Out of Your Office Documents
From Dan Allen, Silver Spring, Maryland

If you have a Microsoft IntelliMouse® pointing device, you can use the wheel button, the third (middle) button, to quickly zoom in and out of an Office document.

Simply hold down the CTRL key as you rotate the wheel button forward or back.

Editor's Note: This tip works in the latest versions of Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint®, Microsoft Publisher, Microsoft PhotoDraw®, and Microsoft Project, as well as many other Microsoft Windows® programs. You can also use it in Internet Explorer to increase or decrease to size of text on the screen.

Add Custom Buttons to Your Access Toolbox
From Mike Corson, Columbus, Ohio

You can save yourself time when creating forms and reports in Microsoft Access if you add some extra buttons to your Toolbox toolbar—such as Align Left and Align Right. Then you don't have to always use the menu.

To add new buttons to the Toolbox toolbar in Access 2000:

1. Open an Access form or report in the Design view.
2. On the View menu, point to Toolbars and then click Toolbox.
3. On the View menu, point to Toolbars, and then click Customize.
4. Click the Commands tab.
5. In the Categories box, click Form/Report Design.
6. In the Commands box, scroll until you find Align Left. Then click the Align Left icon and drag it on the Toolbox toolbar. Repeat to add more commands.

Now you can keep all the tools you need to create forms in one place.

Editor's Note: Although this tip uses Access as an example, you can use this technique to customize the toolbars in all Office 2000 programs (except PhotoDraw).

Send an Office Document Without Opening Outlook
From Shawn Lindstrom, Bethesda, Maryland

Ever need to get that important Word document to your boss in a hurry? Here's how you can do it without even opening Outlook.

1. On the File menu, point to Send To, and then click Mail Recipient (as Attachment).
2. Fill in the Receipts, Subject, and message boxes and click Send.

Or if you have Word 2000:

1. On the Standard toolbar, click E-mail.
2. In the To and Cc boxes, enter the recipient names separated by semicolons.
3. By default, the name of the document appears in the Subject box. If you want, you can type your own subject name.
4. Click Send a Copy.

Using this tip is a lot easier than going into Outlook, creating a new message, and browsing for the attachment on your hard drive.

Editor's Note: This tip also works in Excel and PowerPoint.

Copy and Paste up to 12 Pieces of Information at Once
From Collin Delker, Salina, Kansas

If you're constantly copying text and data between different Office programs, here's a way to save time by copying multiple items at once.

For example, you can copy a chart in Microsoft Excel, switch to Microsoft PowerPoint® and copy a bulleted list, switch to Microsoft Internet Explorer and copy a page of text, and then switch to Microsoft Word and paste the collection of copied items into your document.

Here's how:

1. In any Office 2000 program, on the View menu, point to Toolbars and click Clipboard to display the Office Clipboard.
2. Select an item you want to copy.
3. Copy the item into the Office Clipboard by clicking Copy on the Edit menu or clicking the Copy button on the Clipboard toolbar.
4. Repeat steps two through four until you have copied all the items (up to 12) you want. If the item you want to copy is in another program, switch to that program first.
5. In an Office program, click where you want to paste the items.
6. To paste all the items at once, click Paste All on the Clipboard toolbar. Or to paste the items one at a time, click the icon for the item you want to paste.

Editor's Note: You can copy items while using any program that provides copy and cut functionality, but you can paste items only into Microsoft Access, Excel, Microsoft Outlook®, PowerPoint, or Word.

Fine-Tune Your Fonts in Word
From Betty Tiska, Syosset, New York

When you're using a small font in a tight space, sometimes the 8-point font is too large to fit and the 7-point font is too small to read. Luckily, you can choose a font size that's halfway in between those two by:

1. Selecting Font from the Format menu.
2. Then, on the Font tab, typing 7.5 in the Size box and clicking OK.

Presto!

This tip works with any size true type font (think 250.5)—not only in Word but also in Excel.

Show Shortcut Keys in ScreenTips
From Bhavtosh Sharma, New Delhi, India

You can teach yourself keyboard shortcuts for the most commonly used commands in Microsoft Word by turning on shortcut keys in ScreenTips. When you choose to show toolbar ScreenTips, you can specify that Word also display a shortcut key combination for the toolbar button.

To display shortcut keys in ScreenTips:

1. On the Tools menu, click Customize, and then click the Options tab.
2. If it's not already selected, select the Show ScreenTips on toolbars check box.
3. Select the Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips check box.

Editor's Note: When you select the Show shortcut keys in ScreenTips check box, the setting affects all Office programs except Microsoft Excel.

Show All Menu Commands in Office 2000
From Bill Ryan, Urbana, Illinois, and Jonathan Sammy, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

By default, Office 2000 displays only the commands that you use most often on the new, personalized menus. Do you wish you could see all of the commands at once like you could in Office 97? Here's how.

To turn off personalized menus:

1. On the Tools menu, click Customize, and then click the Options tab.
2. To show all the commands on the menus, clear the Menus show recently used commands first check box.

You can do this from any Office 2000 program, and it applies to all of your other Office programs as well.

Repeat Your Most Recent Action
From Dianne M. Richards, Boston, Massachusetts

For repetitive formatting tasks, remember the F4 key. Whenever you press that key, you repeat your most recent action, whether it was adding borders, applying bold formatting to a selected word, or inserting a file or picture.

Format Painter is better for applying complex formatting, but if you just need to repeat a single action, then F4 is the key to use

Editor's Note: This tip works in the following programs: Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint®, Microsoft Visio®, and Microsoft Word.

Word 2000 Tips & Tricks

Use Your Keyboard to Quickly Change the Case of Text
From K.Venkatesh, Tamil Nadu, India

Here's how you can use your keyboard to quickly change the case of text in Microsoft Word:

Select the text you want to change and press SHIFT+F3. Each time you press the F3 key, the text case switches between Title Case, UPPERCASE, and lowercase.

Paste Using the INSERT Key
From Chody Trajano, Springfield, Virginia

Did you know that you can assign the Paste command to the INSERT key on your keyboard? That means you only have to use one key to paste the contents of your Clipboard into your document.

Here is how to set it up:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the Edit tab.
2. Select the Use the INS key for paste check box to enable this feature.
3. Click OK.

Now, each time you press the INSERT key, you will paste the contents of the Clipboard into your document.

Editor's Note: Choosing this option disables the default function of the INSERT key in Microsoft Word that enables you to switch between insert typing mode to overtype mode.

Use Word 2000 to Do Your French (or Spanish) Homework
From Marcial Lapp, Bloomfield, Michigan

I am a student in high school and engaged in French language courses. The fact that Office 2000 can tell me when I have misspelled a word, or even if my French grammar usage is wrong, is extremely time saving and it gets me an A on the papers I write.

Editor's Note: Microsoft Word 2000 automatically detects whether you are typing in English, French, or Spanish, and uses the appropriate spelling or grammar checker for that sentence.

What's This? Find Out What Formatting is Applied to Text in Word
From William Holmes, United Kingdom

To find out what formatting (fonts, style, alignment, etc.) is applied to a paragraph in Word:

1. On the Help menu, click What's This?.
2. When the pointer becomes a question mark, click the text you want to check. Then a message will appear describing the formatting in that section.
3. When you have finished checking your text, press ESC.

Don't Lose Sight of Your Column Headings in Word
From Al Dyer, Cumming, Georgia

When you create a table in Microsoft Word, you can use column headings to describe what information is in each column. But if you have a table that spans multiple pages, you lose the headings after the first page, so it's hard to tell what each column topic is. Here's how to keep those headings visible:

1. Select the first row or rows of your table.
2. On the Table menu, click Heading Rows Repeat.

Now Word automatically repeats the table headings at the top of subsequent pages.

Editor's Note: Word automatically repeats table headings on pages that result from automatic page breaks—but not if you manually insert a page break. Also, repeated table headings are only visible in Print Layout view or when you print the document.

Save All Your Word Documents at Once
From Nancy Schoh, La Crescent, Minnesota

If you know the "secret" key, you can save or close all of your open documents in one step.

1. Hold down SHIFT and click the File menu. When you hold down SHIFT, two new options appear on the File menu: Close All and Save All.
2. To save all your open documents at once, click Save All. Or, to close all your open documents, click Close All; Word will prompt you to save your changes before closing any documents.

Editor's Note: The Close All command also works in Excel.

Speed Up Your Typing with AutoCorrect
From Lance LaMee, New Smyrna Beach, Florida

If you find yourself typing long words again and again, you should consider setting up typing shortcuts, so you only need to type in part of the word and Word fills in the rest. For example, if I need to type New Smyrna Beach (the town where I live), I just type NSB; then I press the SPACEBAR, Word automatically spells out all the words.

Here's how I set up this shortcut:

1. On the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect. Select the Replace text as you type check box.
2. In the Replace box, type an abbreviation you will remember—for example, NSB.
3. In the With box, type the complete spelling of the word—for example, New Smyrna Beach.
4. Click Add.
5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to add additional terms, then click OK.

You can also use this tip to quickly type people's names, technical terms—anything you want. And once you add a term to your AutoCorrect list, it also works in PowerPoint and Outlook—if you use Word as your default e-mail editor.

Type Out a Table in Word
From Vishal Chitkara, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

You can create tables in Microsoft Word by simply typing out a string of PLUS SIGNS (+) and MINUS SIGNS (-).

Start the row with a PLUS SIGN (+) and then type MINUS SIGN (-) until you have the column width you want. To add a new column type PLUS SIGN (+) again. When you're done type a final PLUS SIGN (+) and press ENTER. Word turns your text into a table. To add more rows to your table, move to the last cell in the table and press TAB.

Editor's Note: If this tip doesn't work for you, then you need to turn on the AutoFormat feature in Word. To do this, on the Tools menu, click AutoCorrect. Then, click the AutoFormat As You Type tab and select the Tables check box.

Select Columns of Text in Word
From Rajendra Khade, Maharashtra, India

To select a vertical block of text in Word, such as a column of numbers, press and hold down ALT, and then drag your mouse over the text.

Then, you can delete it or copy it into another file. So easy!

Editor's Note: If your column of text is inside a Word table, you will not be able to use this trick to select it.

Move Images in Word to the Exact Position You Want
From Fred Feuermann, Vancouver, British Columbia

When you position an image in a Word document, it automatically aligns (or snaps) to an invisible grid, which helps keep everything lined up.

If you ever need exact control over the placement of your image, you can temporarily override the grid by pressing the ALT key as you drag the object into place. You'll notice that the image moves smoothly and not in increments along the grid.

Editor's Note: This tip works as long as the image is not set to be in line with the text. To make sure it works for you:

1. Double-click the image, and select the Layout tab.
2. Under Wrapping style, choose any style except In line with the text.
3. Then, click OK.

Quickly Replicate Text or Graphics in Word
From Tim Graves, Shropshire, United Kingdom

Here's a quick way to make copies of text or graphics in Word:

1. Select the item or text you want to copy.
2. Press and hold down the CTRL key.
3. Then use the mouse to drag the item to the desired position.

A copy of the original item is made right where you want it. This is helpful when you're creating a document that will include a lot of repeated text or images.

Find Your Place in Word Documents
From Nicolien Gooch, KwaZulu/Natal, South Africa

If you are working on a long document, it's easy to lose your place. With Microsoft Word documents, you can pick up where you left off in your last editing session because Word keeps track of the last three locations where you typed or edited text. Just press SHIFT+F5 immediately after opening the document, and the cursor will appear at the exact point where you last made a change. To reach the previous two editing locations, press SHIFT+F5 until you reach the location you want.

Add Attractive Horizontal Lines in Word
From Collin Delker, Salina, Kansas

It's easy to add a variety of horizontal divider lines to Word documents. To create a solid, black line for example, type three HYPHENS (-) at the beginning of a new paragraph and then press ENTER. Typing three UNDERSCORES (_) will make a thicker line, and so on. See the table below for a guide to the types of lines you can create:

TO CREATE A LINE LIKE THIS				TYPE THIS AND PRESS ENTER
	--- (Three HYPHENS)
	___ (Three UNDERSCORES)
	=== (Three EQUAL SIGNS)
	### (Three POUND SIGNS)
	*** (Three ASTERISKS)
	~~~ (Three TILDES)

Editor's Note: If you're having trouble making this tip work, try this:

1. Select AutoCorrect from the Tools menu.
2. Click the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
3. Then select the Borders check box under the Apply as you type heading.

Check Spelling in Only a Portion of Your Word Document
From Joseph Spracklen, Aberdeenshire, Scotland

If you see a spelling mistake, you can correct it quickly without checking the entire document. Just right-click the misspelled word, and then select the spelling correction you want from the shortcut menu.

To find the next misspelled word in the document, press ALT+F7.

Increase or Decrease Line Spacing in Word
From Nikolaos Bessis, Pireas, Greece

To quickly change the line spacing of a paragraph in Microsoft Word:

1. Select the text you want to change.
2. Do one of the following:
   • To set line spacing to single-space lines, press CTRL+1.
   • To set line spacing to double-space lines, press CTRL+2.
   • To set line spacing to 1.5-line spacing, press CTRL+5.

Insert Current Date and Time in Word
From R. S. Karthik, Nashville, Tennessee

You can insert the current date or time in a Word document using keyboard shortcuts. Here's how:

1. Position the cursor where you want to insert the date or time.
2. Do one of the following:
   • To insert the date, press ALT+SHIFT+D.
   • To insert the time, press ALT+SHIFT+T.

Insert Accents and Special Characters in Word
From Andrew Stagg, Calgary, Alberta, Canada

If you are tired of the complex steps involved in inserting accents and special characters, here is a fast and easy way.

To insert an accent or special character by typing a character code:

1. Click where you want to insert the accent or character.
2. Make sure the NUM LOCK is on.
3. Hold down the ALT key, and then, using the numeric keypad, type the character code.

Here are some commonly used codes:

TYPE THIS CODE				TO GET THIS CHARACTER
129	ü
130	é
133	à
135	ç
138	è
148	ö
155	¢
160	á
164	ñ
171	½

Keep Words Together with a Nonbreaking Space
From Tina Dorsey, New Cumberland, Pennsylvania

Have you ever been typing a paragraph in Microsoft Word and had a multiword phrase, such as a person's name, get separated onto two lines? You can keep that phrase or name together by inserting a nonbreaking space.

To create a nonbreaking space, select the space after each word in the phrase (except the last word), and press CTRL+SHIFT+SPACEBAR.

Automate Repetitive Typing Tasks—Use AutoText
From Lorne Kates, Thornhill, Ontario, Canada

Tired of typing your address over and over when composing letters in Word? Or perhaps you have a standard disclaimer that you need to consistently add to your documents?

What if you could do either of these tasks with just a few keystrokes? Using an AutoText entry in Word, you can.

To create an AutoText entry for later use:

1. Select the text (or graphic) you want to store as an AutoText entry. (To store paragraph formatting with the entry, include the paragraph mark in the selection.)
2. On the Insert menu, point to AutoText, and then click AutoText. You will see your selected text in the Enter AutoText entries here box.
3. Make sure your entry contains at least four characters. Then click Add.

Word stores the AutoText entry for later use.

To insert an AutoText entry:

1. In your document, type the first few characters of the AutoText entry.
2. When Word suggests the complete AutoText entry, press ENTER or F3 to accept the entry. (To reject the entry, keep typing.)

Editor's Note: To use AutoText, you must have AutoComplete turned on. To turn on AutoComplete, on the Insert menu, point to AutoText, and then click AutoText. Select the Show AutoComplete tip for AutoText and dates check box.

Take the Synonym Shortcut
From Daniel Jang, Vancouver, British Columbia

Find that word you're looking for fast. You can find a common synonym for a word without using the Thesaurus command. Just right-click the word and point to Synonyms on the shortcut menu. Then, click the synonym you want, and it automatically appears in place of your original word.

Word will sometimes supply antonyms for the selected word, for those times when you only know what you don't mean to say.

Editor's Note: You can access the full thesaurus by clicking Thesaurus on the shortcut menu.

Get More-Precise Measurements in Word
From Vishal Chitkara, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

If you use the horizontal ruler to specify the placement of tabs, margins, and page objects, this tip will help you lay out your pages with more precision. By default, ruler measurements are limited to one-tenth of an inch. For example, if you click on the ruler to set a margin or tab, you can set it at 1.5 inches, but not 1.48 inches.

To set more-precise measurements (to one-hundredths of an inch), hold down the ALT key and, while you click on the ruler or margin, make your adjustments to the tabs.

Edit Text in Print Preview
From Michael Hernandez, Loma Linda, California

Sometimes when you view a Microsoft Word document in Print Preview mode, you notice adjustments or edits you'd like to make to graphics and text. Did you know you can make those changes while you're still in Print Preview mode? Here's how you do it:

1. Click Print Preview on the File menu.
2. Click the text in the area you want to edit. Word zooms in on the area.
3. Click Magnifier on the Print Preview toolbar. When the pointer changes from a magnifying glass to an I-beam, you can begin making your changes to the document.
4. To exit Print Preview and return to the previous view of the document, click Close.

Add Fake Text to a Word Document
From Sheri Pulis, Sacramento, California

Here's a handy function you can use whenever you need to fill a page with fake text—for example, to demonstrate a feature in Word or to work with page layout and design.

In a Word document, type =rand(4,5) and then press ENTER.

The numbers in parentheses correspond to the number of paragraphs (4) and the number of sentences per paragraph (5). You can change the numbers in parentheses to put more or less text on the page. Or if you want one long paragraph, just place one number in the parentheses, which will designate the number of sentences that should appear in the paragraph.

Change Your Default Folder in Word
From Daniel Jang, Vancouver, British Columbia

Have you noticed when you save a document for the first time, Word automatically opens the My Documents folder? If you don't use My Documents to store your work, you'll save time by setting up the folder you do use as your default working folder.

To change the default working folder for Word documents:

1. On the Tools menu, click Options, and then click the File Locations tab.
2. In the File types list, click Documents.
3. Click Modify.
4. To select an existing folder to display as the default working folder, locate and click the folder you want in the folder list. To create a new folder to display as the default working folder, click Create New Folder, and then type a name for the new folder in the Name box.

Excel 2000 Tips & Tricks

1. Select the cells that you would like to copy.
2. Move the cursor to the bottom right corner of the highlighted cells. Your cursor will then turn into a black plus sign.
3. Click and hold down the right mouse button and drag across the cells you want to fill.
4. Release the mouse button, and when the shortcut menu appears, click Fill Series.

By following these steps, you will be able to save a lot of time creating your spreadsheets.

 

Show or Hide the Formulas in an Excel Spreadsheet
From Rifkin Young, San Francisco, CA

When you're working in an Excel worksheet, you can alternate between viewing the values in the cells and displaying the formulas. To toggle between the different views, press CTRL+` (single left quotation mark).

Editor's Note: If you're having trouble finding the single left quotation mark, it's on the same key as the "~" symbol. On most keyboards, it's the key directly to the left of the "1" key.

Don't Lose Sight of Your Column Headings in Excel
From Al Dyer, Cumming, Georgia

Would you like to see the column headings on your Microsoft Excel spreadsheets no matter how far down you scroll? Here is one way to keep the column headings constantly visible:

1. Select the row just below your column headings.
2. On the Window menu, click Freeze Panes.

The "frozen" column headings don't scroll, but remain visible as you move through the rest of the worksheet.

Edit Cells Quickly in Excel—Without Using Your Mouse
From Stuart V. Begg, Australia

If you like to use your keyboard for everything, editing a lot of data quickly in an Excel spreadsheet can be difficult because you find yourself constantly reaching for the mouse when you want to make changes to a cell. But there's a shortcut you can use so that your hands never have to leave the keyboard—press F2. Here's how:

1. Use the arrow keys to select the cell you want to edit.
2. Then press F2 (or COMMAND-U, if you use a Macintosh computer) to edit the cell contents.
3. When you're finished, just press ENTER (or RETURN on a Macintosh keyboard) to enter your changes. Or press ESC to cancel the changes.

Editor's Note: This tip is especially handy for editing hyperlinks in Excel because, if you use your mouse to click on a cell with a hyperlink, it automatically opens an Internet browser window. Using the keyboard lets you edit hyperlinks with ease.

Create an Excel Chart with the Push of a Button
From Klaus Elfert, Greven, Germany

This is a very old Microsoft Excel trick. To quickly create a chart, using only your keyboard, select the data you want to plot and then press F11. Excel automatically creates the chart for you.

Editor's Note: G. Raghavan of Tamilnadu, India, wrote in with another way to do this trick: After you select your cells, press ALT+F1 and you'll get the same result.

Build Your Own Hover Buttons in FrontPage 2000
From Richard Linsky, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania

Have you ever wondered how to make the buttons on your Web pages change color, move, or light up when users point to them with a mouse? It's easy to do with Microsoft FrontPage® 2000.

First, you'll need to create two versions of the button you want to put on your page. One version that appears when the page first loads and another slightly different version that users see when they point to the button with a mouse. You can create your graphics using Microsoft PhotoDraw® 2000 or any drawing program you use to create graphics for the Web.

Once you've created your graphics, here's how you put them on your page:

1. On the Insert menu, click Component, and then click Hover Button.
2. In the Link to box, enter the URL of the page or file you want to display when the button is clicked.
3. In the Button text box, type the text label for the hover button. Leave this box blank if the graphic you created already contains a text label.
4. Click Custom.
5. In the Button box, enter the URL to the picture you want users to see when they first open the page.
6. In the On hover box, enter the URL to the picture you want users to see when they put a mouse over the button. Then click OK.
7. In the Width and Height boxes, type the width and height of the picture in pixels, and then click OK. The size of the hover button must match the size of the picture you use for the hover effect.

And if you don't have graphics already created, you can select one of the built-in hover effects in FrontPage 2000, such as Glow or Bevel, to quickly add interactivity to any page on your site.

Select an Entire Range of Cells in Excel
From Kees Podt, Voorburg, Netherlands

In Excel, if you want to quickly select the entire range of cells you're working on, press CTRL+SHIFT+ ASTERISK (*).

For example, if you have a list of customers in Excel, this command will select the entire list and the column headings, but not the empty cells around the list—so you get only the cells you need.

This tip is different from the Select All command, which selects every cell in the worksheet—even the ones that you are not using.

Insert Copied Cells Between Existing Cells Safely
From Marcia Ferreira, Miami, Florida

If you want to insert a range of copied cells between other rows or columns—instead of pasting over them—there's an easy way to do it:

1. Select the cells you want to copy.
2. On the Edit menu, click Copy.
3. Select the area on the worksheet where you want to place the copied cells.
4. Press Ctrl + SHIFT + Plus Sign (+).
5. In the Insert dialog box, click the direction you want to shift the surrounding cells, and press OK.

Now, the copied cells are inserted right where you want them, and none of your existing information is lost.

Build Vertical Titles in Excel
From Marcia Ferreira, Miami, Florida

Have you ever wondered how to create a heading for a table that runs vertically along the side of a table instead of above it?

Here's how I do it:

1. Select the cell that contains your text as well as the surrounding cells that you want your title to span.
2. On the Format menu, click Cells, and then click the Alignment tab.
3. In the degrees text box, enter 90.
4. Select the Merge cells text box and click OK.

Format Excel Cells Fast
From Carol Miller, Trenton, Ontario Canada

If you want quick access to the Format Cells dialog box in Microsoft Excel to change things like type style, alignment, or borders, select the cell you want to format and press CTRL+1.

Have Excel Save Your Files Automatically
From Chetan Parmar, Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey

Have you ever wanted Excel to automatically save your spreadsheets for you so you don't lose your work? Excel 2000 includes a feature that saves workbooks automatically at specified intervals, but it's not installed by default. Here's how you can install and use the Autosave Add-in:

First you need to load the add-in, which will add it to your Tools menu:

1. On the Tools menu, click Add-Ins.
2. In the Add-Ins available list, select the Autosave Add-in check box and then click OK.

(Editor's Note: If the Autosave Add-in is not available, you may need to install it. For more instructions, search for the phrase "Install or remove individual features of Microsoft Office or Excel" in Excel 2000 Help.)

Then, to configure and use the Autosave feature:

1. On the Tools menu, click AutoSave.
2. Select the Automatic save every check box.
3. In the Minutes box, enter how often you want Excel to save your workbooks.
4. Select any other options you want, and press OK.

Quickly Move Between Multiple Excel Workbooks or Worksheets
From N. L. Garg, Faridabad, India

When working with several Excel workbooks or worksheets (the individual pages in workbooks) at once, you can quickly move between them using shortcut keys.

• To move between open workbooks, press CTRL+TAB.
• To move to the next sheet in a workbook, press CTRL+PAGE DOWN.
• To move to the previous sheet in a workbook, press CTRL+PAGE UP.

Do Fast Calculations in Excel
From Travis L. Reno, Lee's Summit, Missouri

Have you ever needed to know the largest value in a series of cells? You can create a formula to do that, but there is a faster way.

To view the largest value in a series of cells:

1. Select the cells in which you are interested, and you will see the sum of the range displayed on the status bar, which is the horizontal area below the worksheet window.
2. If the status bar is not displayed, click Status Bar on the View menu.
3. Right-click the status bar, and then click Max. Now you can see the maximum value displayed on the status bar.

You can use the same technique to find the average of, the sum of, or the minimum value in the selected range. You can also count the cells that contain numbers (by selecting Count Nums) or count the number of filled cells (by selecting Count).

Completely Delete Cells in Excel Using This Shortcut
From Choon Soofen, Singapore

Have you ever wanted a keyboard shortcut that completely deletes a cell from your worksheet, including the formatting and comments? Just select the cells you want to delete, and then press CTRL+MINUS SIGN (–). The surrounding cells will shift to fill the space.

This is different from using the DELETE or BACKSPACE keys, which simply clears the contents of a cell without actually deleting it.

Copy the Contents of an Entire Worksheet in Excel
From Bruno Rubio, Fall River, Massachusetts

Here's a timesaving tip for Excel users who frequently need to copy an entire worksheet (a page within a workbook) of information—such as a list of items for a monthly inventory—from one workbook (Excel file) to another.

To copy an entire sheet to another workbook:

1. Open the workbook into which you want to paste the copied sheet.
2. Switch to the workbook that contains the sheet you want to copy.
3. Right-click the Sheet tab of the sheet you want to copy, and then click Move or Copy on the shortcut menu.
4. From the To book drop-down menu, select the workbook that will receive the sheet. (To copy the selected sheet to a new workbook, click New book on the drop-down menu.)
5. Select the Create a copy check box. (If you don't select this check box, the sheet will be moved instead of copied.)
6. Click OK.

Do Creative Calculations with Paste Special
From Barry Gibbs, Leeds, England

I find this trick fantastically useful. If you have a block of numeric data in an Excel worksheet and you wish to change each entry to a negative value, use Paste Special with a twist.

Here's how:

1. In an empty cell, type -1.
2. Select the cell, and click Copy on the Edit menu.
3. Now select the cells containing the values you want to change.
4. On the Edit menu, click Paste Special.
5. Under Paste, click Values and under Operation, click Multiply.
6. Click OK.

All the numbers change from positive to negative, or vice versa. This method is also useful for reducing numbers by a factor of 1,000, 1,000,000, and so on.

Quickly View All Worksheet Formulas in Excel
From Jason Harper, Ann Arbor, Michigan, and Sara R. Seals, Cleveland, Ohio

With a quick keystroke, you can display all the formulas in your worksheet, including the serial values Excel uses to store dates.

To alternate between displaying cell values and displaying cell formulas, press CTRL+` (single left quotation mark, which usually can be found above the TAB key).

Add a Calculator to the Excel Toolbar
From Mark Cross, The Villages, Florida

Did you know that you could add a calculator to your Microsoft Excel toolbar? Here's how:

1. On the View menu, click Toolbars, and then click Customize.
2. Click the Commands tab.
3. In the Categories list, click Tools, and in the Commands list, click Custom (the one with the gray calculator graphic).
4. Drag the selected command from the Commands list to a toolbar. (Lift your finger from the mouse when you see a plus sign next to your pointer.)
5. Click Close.

Now click the button you just added to run the calculator.

Paste Information from Excel as a Picture
From Philip Flint, United Kingdom

Do you want to place an image of an Excel file into a Word document, image editing program, or other program? It's easy to do.

1. On the Excel worksheet or chart sheet, select the cells or click the chart or object you want to copy.
2. Hold down SHIFT and click Copy Picture on the Edit menu.
3. For best picture quality, make sure As shown on screen and Picture are selected, and then click OK.
4. Click the worksheet or other document where you want to paste the picture.
5. Click Paste on the Edit menu.

To make adjustments to the image after you've pasted it, use the Picture toolbar. (To open it, point to Toolbars on the View menu and click Picture.)

Editor's Note: Cell gridlines appear in the picture if they are displayed. To omit gridlines, in Excel click Options on the Tools menu, click the View tab, and then clear the Gridlines check box.

Protect Cells Using Data Validation
From Arun Patel, Avenel, New Jersey

Here's a creative way to protect cells in an Excel worksheet so that other users can't make changes to them:

1. Select the cells you want to protect. (It's a good idea to make a note of the cells you protect in case you need to remove that protection later.)
2. On the Data menu, click Validation, and then click the Settings tab.
3. Set the following restrictions: In the Allow box, click Text Length; in the Data box, click between; in the Minimum box, type 10000; and in the Maximum box, type 50000.
4. Click the Error Alert tab.
5. Make sure the Show error alert after invalid data is entered check box is selected. In the Style box, click Stop.
6. If you want a title to appear in the title bar of the message or in the Office Assistant balloon if the Office Assistant is displayed, type the text in the Title box. If you leave the Title box blank, the title defaults to Microsoft Excel.
7. If you want to display your own text for the message, type the text in the Error message box, up to 225 characters. Press ENTER to start a new line in the message. If you don't enter any text in the Error message box, the message displays the following: "The value you entered is not valid. A user has restricted values that can be entered into this cell."

Excel displays the message only when a user types data in the cell.

To remove data validation settings, select the protected cells, click Validation on the Data menu, and then click Clear All.