Word Tips

Back to Hints and Tips Index                                             Back to Main Index

Splitting the screen

If you ever find yourself working on a particularly large document, you may need to be able to view two parts of it simultaneously. If you need to refer to a paragraph on page 2 to help you with what you're typing on page 10. This is a perfect time to split the screen.

The split screen allows you to view the document in two separate windows at the same time.

To split the screen:

  1. From the Window menu select Split.

  2. Your pointer will become a horizontal line.

  3. Position this line where you want your document to split and click once.

  4. Your single window divides into two windows at this point, each with its own scroll bar.

  5. You can now scroll back on the top window to view the earlier portion of the document while viewing your latest edits in the bottom window.

  6. To remove the split,

  7. From the Window menu select Remove Split.

Take a break, and give Word a break

After a long period of solid word processing, close Word properly, back-up your work if appropriate, and then restart Word. This gives you a break, and it also allows Word to tidy up all the invisible temporary files that it has created while you have been working.

To copy formatting from one place in the document to another

  1. Select the text containing the formatting that you wish to copy to other text within the document.

  2. Click on the Format Painter button .

The mouse pointer will change to a paint brush

  1. Drag the paint brush over the text to apply the formatting.

Turning a Submenu into a Floating Toolbar (2000/2002/2003)

As you become more comfortable with using the various toolbars, you may find that you use some toolbar submenus so often that you wish those submenus had a toolbar to call their own.

You can turn selected submenus into floating toolbars.

To turn a submenu into a floating toolbar, we will use as an example the Font Colour submenu on the Formatting toolbar.

  1. Click the down arrow next the Font Colour button, located on the right side of the Formatting toolbar.

  1. If you move the cursor over the small grey bar at the top of the font colour window, you will see that it turns blue.

    When this happens, grab the blue bar and pull the menu out into the open.

If you are using Word 2002 or 2003, you can drag it onto the Task Pane.

Note: This also works in Excel, PowerPoint and FrontPage.

  1. Now, you can select a font colour from this submenu without having to first click on the Formatting toolbar.

    You can follow the same procedure with any submenu that has a grey band at the top of its window.

Back to Hints and Tips Index                                             Back to Main Index