How to omit page number from the first page of a document

As a convention, the first page (or cover page) does not hold a page number.

Normally in Word, we insert the page number field either in the header or footer section of documents. This saves us from inserting page numbers manually to each page, as content placed in the header/footer section is repeated throughout the document.

Incidentally, this way Word inserts page number to the first page too. Here is this workaround to overcome this.

1. On the Ribbon navigate to the Page Layout tab and within the Page Setup group, click the Page Setup dialog-box launcher icon.

2. In the dialog box, under the Headers and Footers section, click option Different First Page. As a result, the header and footer section disappears from the first page.

Subsequently, you can reset the page numbering in your document so that number starts at the second page. Here is how you can do so.

1. On the Ribbon, under the tab Insert, within the group Header & Footer, click Page Number. The page number drop-down appears.

2. From the drop-down list, click the Format Page Numbers option. Page Number Format dialog box appears.

3. On the dialog box, under the section Page numbering, click the Start At option box and using the spin box set the starting page number to “0”. This way, the second page in your document will have page number 1.

How to build and update Index in Word

Apart from Table of Content, Index is one such feature in Word that provides references to noteworthy topics, objects, etc. in the document for readers’ convenience.

You can build an Index in no time with the following two simple steps:

1. Mark Index entries/sub-entries

2. Create Index

To mark entries

1. Select text from your document (which you want to mark as an index entry) and press Alt + Shift + x (or Word Ribbon >> References >> Index >> Mark Entry). The Mark Index Entry dialog box appears. The selected text is automatically copied to the Main Entry field.

You can add a sub-entry by typing the text in the Subentry field.

You can even add a third-level entry by inserting a colon (:) immediately after the sub-entry and then type the third level text.

2. Once you are done with marking all the entries in your document, on the Ribbon, under the tab References, within the group Index, click Insert Index. The Index dialog box appears.

3. On the dialog box, click OK. Index is created at the cursor position.

Note: If you want the tab header ( ………… ) to appear between each index entry and the corresponding page number, click the check box Right align page number and select a tab header style.

Editing/Updating an Index entry

You can expose each hidden Index fields by clicking the Show/Hide button (or by pressing Alt + Shift + 8). To modify the index entry, simply edit the content within the quotes (after the field XE).

To update Index, select Index and then press F9 from the keyboard.

How to convert a list to a table and vice versa in Word

Converting a list into a table

Word converts a list into a table based on a specific character that logically separates the content in the list. Vertically each logical separation in the list will be a column and each horizontal line will be a row after converting to a table.

So, the trick is to use a separator character logically in the list and let Word know about the separator character while converting.

To explain this point further, let us take the example of the following list. In this, corresponding month is presented with number of days separated by the ampersand (&) symbol. The aim is to create a “4 x 2” (four rows and two column) table.

Procedure

Select the entire list and then on the Ribbon, under the tab Insert, within the group Tables, click the Table icon. A drop-down list appears.

From the drop-down list, click Convert Text to Table option. The Convert Text to Table dialog box appears.

Insert Number of Columns as 2 (as we have inserted only one separator i.e. &).

Note: In this example, if you insert more than 2 columns, Word will create blank columns after the first two columns containing the month and then number of days. If you enter number of column less than 2, Word will create one row each for month and then for number of days i.e. an “8 x 1” table.

Under the label Separate Text At, select check box Other and enter the “&” character as a separator.

Click OK.

You can use a single tab space as a separator or any other character.

Guys, am not sure how to create complex tables using this feature. Let us share if some of you know any other tricks.

Converting a table to text

Click the table handle to select the entire table (to select hover the mouse over the table or click the table to see the table handle). See below image.

Once you select the table, the Table Tools tab gets activated. On the Table Tools tab, under the tab Layout, within the group Data, click Convert to Text. The Convert Table to Text dialog box appears.
In the Convert Table to Text dialog box, select the text separator.
Click OK.

How to insert a Landscape page into a Portrait Word document or convert a part of Portrait document into Landscape

Sometimes, you might need to insert a landscape page (or multiple Landscape pages) into a portrait document (to accommodate a bigger table or a large image), and at the same time continue the page numbering.

We will use Section breaks to achieve this. Apply the first section break at the end of the preceding Portrait page where you want to insert the landscape page (or multiple pages).

To insert a section break, on the Ribbon, under the tab Page Layout, within the group Page Setup, click Breaks. From the drop-down list, click Next Page. See below image:

If you are unable to see the Section break, click Ctrl+Shift+8.

Place cursor at the end of the Next page, which you intend to convert into Landscape orientation and insert the Section break.

Place cursor on the same page (between the Section breaks) and then from the Word Ribbon, under the tab Page Layout, within the group Page Setup, click Orientation. From the drop-down menu, select Landscape. The Portrait page converts into a Landscape page.

You can extend the Landscape orientation to any number of pages by placing cursor on the Landscape page and pressing Enter key on the keyboard. See below image:

How to create Table of Figures in Word

You can create a Table of Figures in Word in two different ways:

By using Word’s default Caption feature
By selecting a specific style from the Styles gallery as a caption style

Procedure 1

In the first method, insert default Captions to all the figures in the document.

1. To insert a default caption, from the Ribbon, under the tab Reference, within the group Captions, click Insert Caption.

Select a caption label from the drop-down list Label. You can create customized caption labels (to know more, read this: https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/how-to-add-caption-to-a-figure-in-word-and-insert-a-new-label-for-a-caption-in-word/)

2. Once you are done captioning all the figures in the document then from the Ribbon, under the tab Reference, within the group Captions, click Insert Table of Figures. The Table of Figures dialog box appears.

3. In the dialog box, select the Tab Header and Formats.

4. Click OK. A table of figure is created at the cursor position.

Procedure 2:

In the second method, instead of using Word’s default Caption, apply any of the styles from the Styles gallery as a caption style.

Just remember that the style you choose for captioning, should not be used for anything else in the document.

1. Now for each figure in your document, insert a consistent caption name (let’s say PIC 1: Meeting, PIC 2: …… etc.)

2. Keeping the caption name selected, click the style (Heading 7 is chosen as caption style in this example) from the Styles gallery (you can open the Styles gallery by clicking Alt+O+S)

3. Apply the same style to all other figures in the document.

4. Once you are done with applying captions to all the figures in the document, from Word Ribbon, under the tab Reference, within the group Captions, click Insert Table of Figures. The Table of Figures dialog box appears.

5. In the dialog box, click the Options button from the right bottom corner. The Table of Figures Options dialog box appears.

6. In the dialog box, select check box Styles and select the style (Heading 7 in this example) from the drop-down list. Click OK.

7. Click OK in the Table of Figures dialog box. A table of figures is created at the cursor position.

How to fix Multilevel list in Word

For many, creating and fixing multilevel lists in MS Word is a nightmare. Documents with hundreds of pages and multiple heading levels are particularly difficult to manage in Word. In this article, we’re discussing a few tricks to quickly fix and streamline messy multilevel numbered heading as quickly as possible.

I am assuming, you already know how to create Multilevel list in Word (if not, learn here: https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/how-to-use-multilevel-numbered-headings-in-the-word/).

In your current document, where the list numbering has gone wrong:

1. Select the first heading level and then from the Word Main menu, under the tab Home, within the group Paragraph, click the Multilevel List icon. A drop-down list appears. See below.

2. From the drop-down list, click option Define New Multilevel List. Define New Multilevel List dialog box appears.

3. From the dialog box, click button More (available on the left bottom corner). The dialog box expands with additional fields. At this point, understand that the main reasons for the numbered headings going out of order are due to the missing links between heading levels that you have applied and the corresponding default heading styles of Word. We will restore the links using the Define New Multilevel List dialog box.

4. In the dialog box, you can see the heading levels as 1, 2, 3,….9 on extreme left under the label “Click level to modify”. Assume that these are the heading levels in your document. Click heading “1” and subsequently from the drop-down list Link level to style , select Heading 1 style.

Similarly, restore connections for the rest of the heading levels (heading 2, 3, …etc.) in your document. Click OK. Once you are done with establishing connections between the heading levels in the document to default heading levels, apply the same to all heading 1s, all heading 2s, and so on in the document. Keeping your heading 1 selected in the document, click Alt+O+S. The Styles pane appears on the right.

1. Locate the heading level 1 in the Styles pane.Place mouse cursor over it. The heading level gets selected.

2. Click the down arrow button on the extreme right. A drop-down list appears. See below image.

3. From the drop-down list, click option Update Heading 1 to Match Selection. As a result, all the Heading 1s in your document will be linked to default heading 1. Do the same for the rest of the levels (heading 2, heading 3, etc.) in your document.

How to edit the custom dictionary in Word 2007 for misspelled words

If you have added a misspelled word accidentally to Word’s dictionary and still wondering how to delete the erroneous entry, then please read on:

The Procedure

(In this procedure, we are going to edit the Word’s CUSTOM.DIC dictionary)

Click the Office button ; a drop-down list appears.
From the bottom of the drop-down list, click the Word Options button. The Word Options dialog box appears.
Click the item Proofing from the left hand side pane.
Now under the section When Correcting Spelling in Microsoft Office program, click the Custom Dictionaries button. The Custom Dictionaries dialog box appears.
From the Dictionary List, select the CUSTOM.DIC dictionary.
Click the Edit Word List button available on the right hand side of the dialog box. The CUSTOM.DIC dialog box appears.
Using this dialog box, you can search a misspelled word and delete the same; and then enter the correctly spelled word.

How to change default font, font size, margins, etc. in Microsoft Word 2007

If you are wondering how to change the default settings of a Word document (page layout, font size, font type, margins, paragraph spacing, page border, etc.) then read on.

Every time you open a new Word document, a copy of the default Word template is displayed (as document 1, document 2, etc.)

The name of the default template is Normal.dotm (the .dotm is an extension for macro enabled word template document). The Normal.dotm file exists in the Templates folder.

To locate the Template folder, do the following:

Click the Office Button and click Open (or “Ctrl+O”). The Open dialog box appears.
From the Look in folders (available on the left hand side of the dialog box), click the Trusted Templates folder.
Locate the file Normal.dotm and double-click to open.
The edits you save in this document will be reflected next time you open a new Word document.

To change default font, font size, font type, font color, etc. in the Normal.dotm

While your Normal.dotm document is open, from the Word Ribbon, click the Home tab. Under the group Styles, click the dialog box launcher icon available on the right bottom corner. The Styles gallery dialog box appears.
From the Styles gallery, select the style element Normal. Click the down arrow button on the right hand side.
From the drop-down menu, click Modify. Modify Style dialog box appears. Under the section Formatting, change font, font size, font type, font color, text alignment, line space, paragraph spacing, paragraph indenting, etc.
To make advance changes, click the Format button available at the left bottom corner of the Modify Style dialog box.

To make changes in the page margins

While your Normal.dotm document is open, click the Page Layout tab. Now, within the group Page Setup, click the dialog-box launcher icon available on the right bottom corner. The Page Setup dialog box appears.
Click the tab Margins in the dialog box.
Under the section Margins, edit the left, right, top and bottom margins.

How to format a Table of Content in Word

A Table of Content can be formatted easily to make it more presentable. Font, font size, line space, etc. in a Table of Content can be controlled from the Styles gallery.

Procedure

Open your Word document.
On the Word Ribbon, click the Home tab.
Within the group Styles, click the dialog box launcher icon on the right bottom corner. The Styles dialog box is displayed.
If your document has a Table of Content generated automatically, you can find the style controls TOC1, TOC2, etc. in the Styles dialog box for the corresponding heading levels 1, 2, etc. in the Table of Content (i.e. TOC1 represents first level heading, TOC2 second level heading, and so on.
To change the format of the first level heading in the Table of content, hover the mouse cursor over the style control TOC1. TOC1 is highlighted with a surrounding square box and a down-arrow button on the right.
Click the down arrow button. A drop-down list appears.
Click the Modify from drop-down list. The Modify Style dialog box appears. Here, you can edit font, font size, character type, color, etc.
If you want to edit even the paragraphs, border, tab related properties then click the Format button available at the bottom left corner and select a format type from the drop-down to edit.

You can also visit the following article to learn more about updating and formatting table of contents:

https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2013/03/28/updating-and-formatting-table-of-contents/

To create a table of content automatically, visit the following article in my blog:

https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2013/03/26/how-to-create-a-table-of-contents-automatically-in-word/

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