A few of my favorite things ... in MS Office.

Since this is my last blog, as the Office Guru, on all things Office, I want to share a few of my favorite, and absolutely indispensable, Office tips. All the tips presented here deal with Word and Excel since those are the two most utilized programs. Read on and, hopefully, you will find tips that will save you a lot of time and frustration.

Added an extra page in Word which refuses to go away? That can seem plain sloppy but when it's a blank page at the end of your resume that claims you are proficient in MS Office then say goodbye to that interview call! So how do you get rid of that superfluous page? Try clicking on the blank page and then use the Delete key. Several times if required. Yes, it's that simple. Unless, of course, you have a table on the preceding page in which case you will need to reduce the size of the table and your unwelcome page will automatically disappear.

Hate the extra spacing between the lines in your Word document? Use the keys Ctrl+A to select the contents of the entire document, then from the Home tab, in the Styles group, simply click on No Spacing. And voilà, you will have a single spaced document in no time. But if you get tired of doing that every time you start a new Word document then change the default spacing. From the Home tab, click on the arrow in the Paragraph group to access the Paragraph dialog box. Then under Spacing change the Line spacing to single, and put a check mark in the box in front of Don't add space between paragraphs of the same style. Then click on the Default button. Now when you open a new Word document the line spacing will reflect your choice.

Can't get rid of a line in your Word document no matter how hard you try? Or the line is stuck to the text so if you delete the line it takes away the text as well? And if you move the text the line goes along with it? No, Word is not making you question your sanity! That line is actually a border which just looks like a line. So just delete the border and you get rid of the line without affecting your text in any way. To get rid of this pesky line border, click anywhere near the line, then from the Page Layout tab, in the Page Background group, click on Page Borders. Then from the Borders tab, simply choose None and see that pesky line border disappear!

Wish you could get rid of all the hyperlinks in your Word document in one go? Copied some text from a webpage and now your document is littered with hyperlinks? An easy way to get rid of all the hyperlinks without changing the format of the text is easy. Use the keys Ctrl+A to select your entire Word document. Then simultaneously press down the keys Ctrl+ Shift+F9. Watch the hyperlinks change to regular text within seconds!

Want to review all the formulas in your Excel document without clicking in each of the cells that contain a formula? Then you can quickly review and correct your formulas. After your Excel document is complete, use the Ctrl and the Tilde key simultaneously. Presto Chango! Now you can view all the formulas in your Excel document without clicking in any of the cells.

Do you need to fit your entire Excel worksheet on one or two pages when you print? Then use the Scale to fit printing option. After you have completed your document, click on the Page Layout tab. From the Scale to Fit group, click on the small arrow on the bottom right to open the Page Setup dialog box. Then from the Page Setup dialog box, under Scaling, choose the Fit to option and choose a specified number of page or pages. Make sure to do a Print Preview to determine how your Excel document will look when printed.

I do hope all the Office Guru blogs have been of some help to all you readers out there as you work on your Word document, your Excel spreadsheet, your PowerPoint presentation or your Publisher file. Be creative and have fun with all of them and, most of all, don't hesitate to try all the different tools available on the Office programs. Remember you can always use the undo button!                                                        

Rina B.