Word Annoyances: How to Fix the Most ANNOYING Things about Your Favorite Word Processor

Insert Text at the End of a Document

The Annoyance:

I've got a minor peeve (probably because things work differently in most other programs, including Entourage): if I want to add more text below the last line in a document, I can't just click in the white area beneath the line; instead, I have to click at the end of the last line and hit Return.

The Fix:

You should be able to do this the way you wantat least, if you're double-clicking rather than single-clicking , and you're using Page Layout view or Online Layout view. Choose Word Preferences, click the Edit item, and check the "Enable click and type box. You'll then be able to double-click however far after the end of the document you want, and Word will automatically add the necessary blank paragraphs and spaces to get you there.

That said, if you don't want Word inserting extra paragraphs and tabs to bring the insertion point to the exact space where you clicked, you may prefer to click at the end of the last paragraph and create another paragraph manually.

Turn Off Auto-Capping in Tables

The Annoyance:

Brilliant! Word 2004's AutoCorrect feature doesn't include a "Capitalize first letter of table cells " checkboxso you can't tell Word not to capitalize the first word inside a table cell . At least AutoCorrect in Word X didn't mess with table contents.

The Fix:

It's hard to see how Microsoft could claim that this omission of a user interface control is a feature rather than a faultbut fortunately, there's a fix. Insert a table, type a word starting with a lowercase letter in one of the cells, and press the spacebar to trigger the AutoCorrect action. Click the AutoCorrect Smart Tag, and choose "Stop Auto-capitalizing First Letter of Table Cells" from the menu (see Figure 10-3). A quick warning, though: once you turn off this option, you can never turn it back on.

Recover Missing Graphics

The Annoyance:

All the graphics in my Word document appear as red Xs. I support the Red Cross, but this is ridiculous.

The Fix:

This problem usually means that one of the global templates or add-ins you've loaded is causing a conflict with Word. Choose Tools Templates and Add-Ins, remove the first global template listed in the "Global templates and addins area, restart Word, and see if your graphics reappear. (Removing a template only removes it from the list that Word loads, not from your computer.) If your graphics don't reappear, try the next global template, and keep working through them until you identify the culprit. Reload those that weren't guilty if you still need their functionality.

Avoid Mixing Orientations if You Want to Print Markup Balloons

The Annoyance:

I can't print the markup balloons from Word 2004. Usually it works, but not in this document.

The Fix:

No fix, just a workaround: print all revisions without using balloons. Choose Word Preferences, click the Track Changes item, uncheck the "Use balloons to display changes box, and click the OK button. Then press +P to display the Print dialog box, select Microsoft Word in the Options list, select "Document showing markup" in the Print What drop-down list, and click the Print button.

This problem happens only when the document containing the markup balloons has sections that use different orientations (i.e., portrait and landscape). If you desperately want to be able to print the balloons, you'll need to avoid mixing the orientations.

Save Your Document When You Paste in an OLE Object

The Annoyance:

I pasted an equation from my working document into my thesis. Word 2004 flatlined, and I had to force-quit it. What gives?

The Fix:

Most likely, you closed the working document before you saved your thesis. This shouldn't cause problems, but it sometimes does. Always save the destination document before closing the source document of the OLE object.

Save Graphics in PNG Format, Not PICT

The Annoyance:

I used the "Save As Picture" command in Word 2004 to save a graphic as a PICT. That seemed to work, but when I opened the graphic in Photoshop, it looked weird.

The Fix:

This happens sometimes with the PICT format, whose support in Word 2004 is a little undernourished. Try using the PNG (Portable Network Graphics) format instead, and you should get good results.

Restore Page Setup to Your Preferred Settings

The Annoyance:

I created a landscape document a while ago and somehow set landscape as the default orientation. I've tried choosing File Page Setup, but I dont see a way to change it back.

The Fix:

Choose Format Document; choose the margins, layout, and any other settings that you want as defaults for your documents; click the Default button; and then click the Yes button in the confirmation dialog box (see Figure 10-4).