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Microsoft Office has recently released several new features that make formatting a breeze.
Rather than spending time exploring special clean-up tools and macros, new features are available at the click of a button.
Default ‘Paste Option’ in Word
Microsoft has finally given the people what they want!
Historically, by default, when pasting text into Word from an outside program like a website, the text would be pasted to keep the formatting of the original source rather than inheriting the formatting of the existing text within the Word document.
What this often meant was a pristinely formatted brief with black font and size 12, Times New Roman font now has fuchsia colored size 48, Comic Sans font or funky tables that do not match the rest of the document.
Of course, it could be changed by immediately clicking the Paste Options window and choosing “Merge Formatting”.
However, if this was not changed upon pasting, then the options were either to use Format Painter to update the formatting or to manually adjust the formatting, both of which were less than ideal.
As of this summer, Microsoft has changed the default paste option from outside programs to “Merge Formatting” so that whatever is pasted automatically receives the same formatting as the existing text within the document.
If this does not appear to be the default when you paste from outside sources or if this is not the option you prefer, it can be changed. Within Microsoft Word, click “File,” “Options,” “Advanced” and scroll to the “Cut, Copy and Paste” section.
Here you may set the default option when pasting from outside sources or between Word documents. There is even an option for setting the default word wrapping method for pasted images such as “Inline,” “Tight,” “Square,” “Behind Text” and others.
If you fear the commitment of changing your default, you can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + V when pasting into Word on an as-desired basis. This bypasses the default setting in place and pastes only the text without any formatting.
Regardless of the chosen method, there are now several options to prevent the funky font type, size, colors and other wonky formatting from being introduced into your document.
Excel checkboxes
While many use Excel for calculations, it can also be a great tool for organizational purposes like creating indexes and keeping track of the status of items. Microsoft has recently made it much easier to have checkboxes inserted into cells so that tasks can be tracked and checked off the list.
To insert a checkbox, click in the cell where the checkbox is desired then click the Insert tab, and choose “Checkbox.” This will insert a clickable checkbox into that cell. If you wish to have a checkbox for every row, you can repeat the steps above within each desired cell or you can use the fill-down feature.
To use the fill-down feature either highlight the first cell all the way through the last desired cell and press Ctrl + D on your keyboard or click the handle at the lower right side of the first cell with a checkbox and drag it down to the last desired cell. Either of these methods will copy the check box down to the desired cell.
To take this feature up a notch, you can also add Conditional Formatting to the next cell over which will cross out the text if the check box is marked.
For example, if cell A1 is labeled “Completed?” and cell A2 is marked “Task Description” it is possible to put checkboxes in the A column and have the task description become crossed out when the checkbox is marked in the corresponding cell.
To do this, highlight cell B2 through the end of the desired cells and click “Conditional Formatting” from the home tab. Choose “New Rule” then “Use a Formula to Determine Which Cells to Format” and enter =A2=TRUE.
Click the Format button and on the font tab click “Strikethrough” and press “OK”. Now when the checkbox is marked the corresponding text will be stricken.
Insert pictures in Excel
Sometimes in an index, it is helpful to have a corresponding image such as a picture of an individual, a scanned report or X-Ray.
Often when pictures are entered into Excel they become out of alignment and the picture is just pasted in the sheet but not necessarily with a corresponding row. Microsoft has recently made it much easier to insert a linked image into a specific cell and expand it to be larger when needing to view it.
Click in the desired cell, then select “Insert,” “Pictures” and choose “Place in cell.” From here select the image source and choose the desired image. A thumbnail will now be inserted of that image into the previously selected cell.
Once the image is inserted, an icon will appear in the upper right corner when the cell is clicked on. Clicking the picture icon that appears will expand the image to full size. Click the picture icon again to send it back to the thumbnail size within the cell. If you prefer not to place the image in a cell, then in the first step simply click “Place Over Cells.”
While Microsoft continues to improve web-based features and introduces its AI add-in, Co-Pilot, it is reassuring to see updates made to the traditional desktop functionalities too. Though these may seem like small steps, the results in both efficiency and functionality are significant.•
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Deanna Marquez ([email protected]) is a co-owner of the Indianapolis based legal technology company, Modern Information Solutions, LLC. Areas of service include traditional IT services, software training, and litigation support including trial presentation services.
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