Category Archives: Document Formatting

design and layout tips

Page numbers appears as { PAGE }

If you open Word and find that the table of contents, page numbers, and other such information has changed to { PAGE } and { TIME } etc, then don’t despair. Here’s what to do:  Choose Options on the Tools menu, then click the View tab.  Uncheck the Field Codes checkbox. 

Why do MS Word docs get larger every time they’re saved?

The Fast Save feature in Word saves both the original version of your document and ALL the changes you’ve made to it. So even though you may have deleted text and graphics—as long as Fast Save is turned on—the file will get larger and larger as it keeps recording every change you’ve made to the […]

How to Stop Word from Opening Every Document Separately?

This feature is hard-wired into Word. So, though you can’t directly stop it, i.e. through the menu options, we have some macros that work around it.  Macro to Update all Fields in a Document The code is as follows:   Sub UpdateAll()    Dim oStory As Range    Dim oField As Field    On Error […]

How To Remove The Web Toolbar?

There are two options here. The first is to turn it off for the document that’s currently open while the second is to completely blast it so it never appears in Word again, unless you restore it for some reason. – To remove it from the current document: Go to Tools, Macros, and select the Visual […]

How To Change The Default Font in MS Word?

There are several ways to do this, but this one is the best.Open the Normal.dot template from within Word. It’s very important that you open it within Word, otherwise the template will simply create a new document rather than opening the actual Normal.dot file itself.  Click Format, Styles and Formatting and choose Body Text. Click […]

How to Remove the Border on Text Boxes in MS Word

When you create a text box in Word, you’ll notice that is automatically creates a thin black border around the box. Many people want to know how to change or remove this border.  To change (or remove) the border, follow these steps: Right-click on the text box and select Format Text Box. Choose the Color […]

Turn off the Recently Used File List

This option displays the most recent files that you’ve used, which can be very convenient as it saves you having to find documents. However, the downside is that it hogs memory and drags down the application. To turn off the Recently used file list, follow these steps: From the Tools menu, click Options, and the […]

Turn Off Update Automatic Links

If you Update Automatic Links On Open, you’re placing pressure on Word as it has to check and update each link everytime it starts. If you have a large document, say more than 10 pages, this can cause real issues with performance. Turning off this option will make documents open faster and reduce the likelihood […]

How To Use ‘Draft Fonts’ to Open MS Word Faster

Turn on the Draft font option to load documents faster. This also improves the screen display of documents which have complex formatting and graphics. This option is available only in Normal view. To turn on the Draft font option, follow these steps:  On the View menu, click Normal.  On the Tools menu, click Options, and […]