MS Office

A trick to flip a column upside down in Excel

February 17, 2016 By Ravi Shankar Leave a Comment

Excel users can sort a column using the Sort feature available as part of Sort & Filter menu. But what if you want to flip a column upside down. Let us see this with an example column having some text values as shown below.

We will not be able to apply sort feature directly on this column to flip the data instead we can add a dummy column and use that for sorting the text values.

Step 1: Insert a new column before the existing column.
Step 2: Now use Auto Fill feature to fill the temp with numbers as shown below

Step 3: Now you can use the Sort feature on column1 and make sure to sort by descending order. Also include the column2 in Sort sleection list.

Step 4: Once the columns are sorted, delete the temp column with numbers.

Prevent users from adding new worksheet in Excel

January 25, 2016 By Ravi Shankar 2 Comments

Excel 2016, 2013 and 2010 provides an option to prevent users from adding new worksheet to existing Workbook structure. So if you are the owner of Excel file and you do not want to allow other users to add any new worksheet, rename or move worksheet then you can use Protect Workbook Structure option to change the permission. You can access Protect Workbook Structure from the Info menu.

Click the File menu and then navigate to Info menu and click the drop down arrow under Protect Workbook option. From the list of available option select Protect Workbook Structure. This would display the following Protect Structure and Windows. Mark the check box with label as Structure. If you want to password protect it then enter a password in the Password field. Click Ok button to save and confirm the changes.

Go To specific page number in Word

January 14, 2016 By Ravi Shankar 5 Comments

In Word 2013 and Word 2010 you can go to specific page in the Word document using the Find and Replace dialog.

To display the Find and Replace dialog, Navigate to Home menu and click on the drop down arrow under Find menu.

Another shortcut for launching Find and Replace is by pressing Ctrl + G.

Navigate Go To tab and select Page option for Go to what and specify the page number under the textbox available under Enter page number label.

Also See: Insert and Save watermark in Microsoft Word

Autocorrect in Word – Replace text as you type

December 8, 2015 By Ravi Shankar Leave a Comment

Autocorrect in Microsoft Word 2016, Word 2013, 2010 and 2007 has a feature called replace any text as you type. This tutorial provides an example for replacing text with text and image in Word document.

Replace text as you type in Word 2016, Word 2013, Word 2010 and Word 2007

In Word 2013 and Word 2010 you can access Proofing section by clicking File menu –> Options. To access AutoCorrect option in Word 2007 click on the Word Options and navigate to Proofing section.

And on clicking the AutoCorrect Options the following dialog box would be displayed. Under Replace text as you type, you can add the text which needs to be replaced it is typed in the Word Document.

For example if you want dato be replaced with Digital Answers in word document, then add da to the left hand side and Digital Answers to right hand side then click Add button.

How to use autocorrect for replacing text with picture

Step 1: Navigate to Insert menu, click Pictures under illustrations section

Step 2: Using the Insert Picture dialog, select and add image to the document.

Step 3: Click File menu, select Options from the menu list.

Step 4: In Word Option window, navigate to Proofing section and click AutoCorrect Options.

Step 5: Now enter the name under Replace text and make sure Formatted Text radio option is selected. (If you have not selected any image then this option will not be displayed)

Step 6: Click Add button to add the entry to AutoCorrect list. Then OK button on the AutoCorrect and Word Options to close the windows.

Now whenever you type the replace text, it will be automatically replaced with the image. If you are frequently going to insert company logo or your signature then you try this feature.

Also See: Find Autocorrect entries file in Word 2010

How to include original message in Outlook

December 8, 2015 By Ravi Shankar Leave a Comment

Microsoft Outlook users can include the original message while forwarding or replying to an email. The users can choose any one of the following options for original message

Do not include original message
Attach original message
Include original message text
Include and indent original message text
Prefix each line of the original message

Listed below are the steps to access the message handling option in Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007

Include original message in Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010
Click File menu, select Options from the list.

In the Outlook Options window, click Mail tab then scroll down Replies and and forwards section.

Use the option “When replying to a message” and “When forward a message” to specify the option for original message.

Include original message in Outlook 2007

Tools -> Options -> Email Options -> On replies and forwards section

Using the drop down available under when replying to a message and When forwarding a message, you can choose any of the following values from drop down.

Also See: Close original message on reply or forward in Microsoft Outlook

Disable permanently delete items warning message in Outlook

November 22, 2015 By Ravi Shankar Leave a Comment

Outlook displays a warning message when deleting outlook emails. It displays a dialog box with message “Are you sure that you want permanently delete the selected items” as shown below

This is very useful warning option for the users before deleting the mail items permanently. But If you do not want to see the permanently deleted warning message then turn off or disable this warning message.

Disable warning message in Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010

Click on the File menu –> Options and navigate to Advanced tab.

Scroll down to Other section and clear the checkbox with label as Prompt for confirmation before permanently deleting items. Click OK to save the changes.

Turn off permanently delete warning message in Outlook 2007

This warning message can be disabled in Outlook 2007 by using Tools –> Options.

Go to Tools –> Options and select Other tab.

Click on the Advanced Options button. The following Advanced Options window would be displayed.

Uncheck the “Warn before permanently deleting items” to disable the warning message.

Also See: How to turn off send without attachments warning message in Outlook

Turn off display search as you type in Microsoft Outlook

November 22, 2015 By Ravi Shankar Leave a Comment

Microsoft Outlook provides option to display search results as we type the text in search box. This is a useful feature but if you think the real-time search result is a distraction then you can disable “display search as you type” feature using Search options. Listed below are steps to turn off this feature in Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013, Outlook 2010 and Outlook 2007

Outlook 2016, Outlook 2013 and Outlook 2010

Click File menu, select Options from the list.

In the Options window, click Search Options and navigate to Results section.

Un mark the check box with caption as “When possible, display results as the query is typed”

Outlook 2007

And to disable this feature, click on the drop down arrow available in the search box. This would display the following menus

Navigate to Search Options and click it open the Search Option dialog box.

The search section has an option for enabling or disabling the display search results as I type. By un ticking the checkbox this feature can be disabled.

Also See: 15 tips to use Google search effectively

Repeat action keyboard shortcut in Microsoft Office

November 18, 2015 By Ravi Shankar Leave a Comment

Microsoft Office Applications such as Word and Excel, last action can be repeated using keyboard shortcuts. For example if you have formatted a word with specific style and you want to repeat/apply the same format for other words then you can press F4 or Ctrl + Y or Alt + Enter. This can be used for copying drawings or formatting excel cells thus reducing the steps and saves time.

Change the keyboard shortcut for Repeat Action

Microsoft Office users can change the keyboard shortcut associated for Repeat action using Settings. Let us see these steps in Word 2016 & 2013

Step 1: Click File menu then Options and navigate to Customize Ribbon

Step 2: In the Customize Ribbon screen, click Customize button available next to Keyboard shortcuts.

Step 3: In the Customize Keyboard window, select All Commands under Categories and pick EditRedoOrRepeat under Commands. You should be able to see the keys that are currently associated with Repeat action.

Step 4: Navigate to Press new shortcut key option and enter the keyboard shortcut.

Step 5: Click Assign to confirm and apply your changes.