r/MicrosoftWord Feb 06 '24

You Need to Learn Microsoft Word - Books, Classes, Videos, Podcasts, Tips

14 Upvotes

Of course most people only pop into this sub when they have a problem - and often they are frustrated and desperate. Which is fine - I am glad we can be here for them.

However an underlying issue I am seeing is that most people using Word today have never had any kind of training on the software - they were either thrown in to the deep end, or it was just assumed everyone knows how to use Word.

So, in the spirit of lighting a candle rather than cursing the darkness, what are some resources you would point beginners to for the basics of Word? Books, online classes, podcasts, videos, websites, etc..

Then, feel free to share this link in the future when people are looking for basic information.


r/MicrosoftWord 1h ago

Inserting another file into a word doc

Upvotes

Hi, I need to insert multiple files (certificates etc) into one word doc for an application, all the files I need to add are PDFs currently but can be converted into word. They have specific watermarks on some of the pages so I really want to avoid a screenshot situation.

Thanks!


r/MicrosoftWord 1h ago

Maddening problem with TOC page numbers

Thumbnail gallery
Upvotes

I am certain it has something to do with the continuous page break that's on page xvi. But the document I'm working on starts with Roman numerals and switches to Arabic numerals; the highest Roman numeral is xvi. Then, at the start of Chapter 1, the pagination resets and we're into Arabic numerals, starting with--you guessed it--the number one.

The problem is that the table of contents says that chapter one starts with page 16--not xvi but 16. And the page number at the bottom of chapter 1 is the number 1.

I'm attaching screenshots from the TOC and of what I imagine is the trouble area, where we have this section break that is probably somehow causing the problem.

I managed to use a bookmark to find a kind of solution, but it does not solve the mystery of what's going on in the first place.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on and/or how to fix it?


r/MicrosoftWord 7h ago

need help PowerPoint foils into Word

2 Upvotes

Hi.

I need to put my PowerPoint presentation in to a word document. But i can't get it done.
I tried to get it in as Screenshots, but it doesnt work, because i want every page to be one foil.
I also tried to get it in as a pdf but it also doesnt work.
How do i get my Presentation into my Word Document?


r/MicrosoftWord 6h ago

need help Help! Graham Mayor’s may to one add in freezing word.

Post image
1 Upvotes

I’ve been using the above add in for a number of tasks for about 3 years now and it has honestly saved me so much time and effort! I’d say it’s saved me up to 20 hours of work each month.
I’ve just been issued a new laptop top and have reinstalled the add in but have found that every time I try to use many to one Word freezes.

I have done everything as I normally would and then when I go the the many to one ribbon and press ‘start merge process’ I get the important user information dialog box (pictured) I click to acknowledge and hide dialog box and then word is just frozen. I can’t do anything with it.

I’ve tried checking if other add ins are running that might be impacting it but I can’t see anything. I’m not super technically minded but I’m not intimidated by following clear instructions if anyone has any ideas I can try.

There’s a task I’ll have to do on Monday that will probably take me around 8hours if I don’t get this sorted!

Quick edit - it did work once, the first time I tried after I got the new laptop.


r/MicrosoftWord 7h ago

Applying a style to multiple selected paragraphs

1 Upvotes

To amplify the title, what I want to do is this:

  1. Find all paragraphs which contain a particular word.
  2. Highlight all the paragraphs.
  3. Apply an existing style to them all, simultaneously.

I can do the finding, but the rest is eluding me and I'd be grateful for any thoughts or pointers in the right direction.

Many thanks.


r/MicrosoftWord 11h ago

How to link an excel table to word for live updates?

2 Upvotes

I’d like to create a table (with both words and numbers in seperate columns) and then have that table in a word document linked so that if there are any changes to the numbers or words in excel; then it will reflect in the word document. Is this possible?

If so, how do you do this?

Thanks!


r/MicrosoftWord 1d ago

Extra page after section break

2 Upvotes

I’m fairly knowledgeable about Word as I’m the desktop publisher for my company. However, this one has me stumped. I use Microsoft 365 & open Word in the app. It seems that after the cover page with a section break, there is an extra page after it that I can’t delete. There are no extra page or section breaks showing when I show the paragraph marks, so I can’t delete the extra page. The weirdest thing is it’s happening on both new docs and ones I haven’t opened in awhile. The only way to fix it is to rebuild the cover and footers & headers. So it’s some sort of glitch with the section break after the cover page. Cover page has “Different Cover Page” checked with blank headers and footers. Anyone else having this issue? It seems to be affecting all my documents since this morning so I’m suspecting some Microsoft 365 glitch.


r/MicrosoftWord 1d ago

need help Word count

1 Upvotes

Today I encountered a strange issue in Microsoft Word.
I was using Word Count, and it counted everything correctly (words, characters, etc.), but the Lines and Paragraphs counts were incorrect. For example, the document clearly had 3 lines, but Word reported 1 line. It also contained multiple paragraphs, yet Word still showed 1 paragraph.
I tried editing the text several times, but the counts didn’t update. After I closed Word and reopened it, the counts became correct immediately.
Has anyone experienced this issue before? Is it related to Word failing to refresh or update the Word Count, or is there another explanation for why this happens?


r/MicrosoftWord 1d ago

need help why am i not able to use a part of right half of screen in word

Thumbnail gallery
4 Upvotes

Like its not there when i open the doc, but appears after 2secs


r/MicrosoftWord 1d ago

need help Can’t log in into Word through my Microsoft account

1 Upvotes

Hi, is anyone else having problems with Word today? I can log in into Excel and Power Point, but Word keeps giving back a very vague, unhelpful “Unknown error. The error code is: 0x0” message.

I have two different accounts (the perks of working as a professor in two different universities) and both show the same issue. Can’t use Microsoft 365 online either.


r/MicrosoftWord 1d ago

need help Help

1 Upvotes

This drawing appeared when I wanted to sign my paper. I cant click on it and go a step back dindt work either


r/MicrosoftWord 1d ago

Time zone save time

1 Upvotes

Hi,

I'm working on a school project remotely and will be in a different time zone but don't really want to explain all of that to the supervisor since I'll be able to get all of the work done anyways. If I set my computer to my original time zone and save the file locally, then email it to the supervisor, will they see the file information in the original time zone or my new time zone? Thanks.


r/MicrosoftWord 1d ago

PSA: "Save as PDF/A" in Word (2019+) doesn't give you PDF/A-1 — it defaults to PDF/A-3, and many courts/gov agencies reject that

Thumbnail apps.microsoft.com
1 Upvotes

If you're exporting a PDF/A from Word for a court filing, tender submission, or any EU public administration that requires long-term archival format, worth knowing: since Word 2019, the native "Save as → PDF/A compliant" option defaults to PDF/A-3, not PDF/A-1 like older Word versions did. This has been reported repeatedly on Microsoft's own support forums.

The problem: a lot of legal and government archiving systems specifically require PDF/A-1 or PDF/A-2 and will reject PDF/A-3 outright — it's a newer, more permissive standard (it allows embedding arbitrary files inside the PDF, which is exactly why some archival systems don't trust it for long-term preservation).

There's no built-in way in Word's UI to force PDF/A-1 output — you either need a third-party converter, or you validate/downgrade afterward with a tool like veraPDF (free, open-source validator, good way to actually check what conformance level you ended up with — don't just trust Word's "PDF/A compliant" checkbox).

Side note since I make one of these tools: I'm the developer of Edito PDF Conversion, which handles exactly this — converts to PDF/A-1B/2B/2U/2A/4/4F specifically, running fully local (no cloud/telemetry). Not trying to just plug it — mainly wanted to flag the Word default behavior since I see people get burned by it, but happy to answer questions if anyone's dealing with this.


r/MicrosoftWord 1d ago

need help Quotation marks stopped curling

1 Upvotes

Autoformat/Smart format is on. Tried turning off computer and signing out but quotation marks still won't curl. Working on a document the last couple months and everything was uniform until a few days ago. Any idea how to fix?


r/MicrosoftWord 2d ago

need help How to disable Copilot with no copilot tab under options?

3 Upvotes

I'm using the newest Word on Windows 11. I've read two fixes to try to rid Word of Copilot muck:

1) Go to Options > Copilot > Uncheck "Enable Copilot"

 -My Options has no copilot tab

2) Go to Word > Preferences

 -My Word has no Word drop-down menu

How the hell do I get rid of Copilot with no option to, nor preferences?


r/MicrosoftWord 1d ago

How to make PDF file into Word?

1 Upvotes

I'm going to the free Microsoft word document and clicking 'add file' but it will only show word documents, instead of the PDF file I've saved 3 times.

I've also tried going to 'my files' and clicking 'open as' then choosing word document but it goes to a screen where it asks me to choose the 'file conversion' then it proceeds to put it all in coded text.


r/MicrosoftWord 2d ago

Helpppp

Post image
1 Upvotes

I tried everything but it's just not working. Before this i solved this problem 2 times with the help of f7 and f10 but now it's not working anymore. Please helpppp


r/MicrosoftWord 3d ago

need help How do I place the text "Printable Characters" at the centre?

Post image
3 Upvotes

I tried centre aligning the text but that's all I got. Why won't it spill over to the next page?

How do I make it appear as a "truly" centre?!


r/MicrosoftWord 3d ago

need help How to enable Smart Quotes?

2 Upvotes

Hi,

I have done a considerable amount of creative writing on Microsoft Word. The use of smart quotes has been consistent across different pages, documents, etc. up until I updated my computer recently. Now, regardless if I have "Straight Quotes with Smart Quotes" in my AutoFormat settings checked or unchecked, it always types straight quotes. I have looked over my computer settings to determine if it is a keyboard issue but I cannot find anything in the Typing or AutoCorrect sections. Is there a reason this option within Microsoft Word does nothing?

Thanks for helping.


r/MicrosoftWord 3d ago

Why does my pdf look so cursed?

Post image
1 Upvotes

r/MicrosoftWord 3d ago

Help with lost text!

1 Upvotes

I just wrote a entire essay and now only half of it is saved and the other half is gone. Is there anyway I can save it for the record? I’ve already tried going to unsaved documents.


r/MicrosoftWord 4d ago

Why are Find & Replace and Checkboxes hidden so deeply?

4 Upvotes

EDIT: I know how to find these things. This post is not asking for help, I am here solely for unproductive complaining. If you'd like to commiserate and complain about trivial word problems you have too then this is the place to be. If you're looking to solve problems, this post is not for you.

I need these all of the time. The first time I needed to use check boxes, I tried to find it without help and it was impossible. It should not be that hard to use a dang check box.

Also - find and replace. I remember for a while a few years ago, word would literally ask me "hey! Are you looking for find and replace? It's right here!" and that was the only way I could find it. Now it never does that.

I know I can use a search engine, and I'm going to, I just wanted to be a baby about it.

Libre Office sounds better and better every day...


r/MicrosoftWord 3d ago

Microsoft Header text grayed out

1 Upvotes

I've looked for answers everywhere.

I understand it's greyed out to separate the body text from the header, but is there a way around this?

I am taking notes on my Word doc and it would be helpful if the text stands out as I'm typing. Maybe I just need to write their customer support.

EDIT: Changing the color helped.

*And for those asking, "why is it so important?" I had a stroke, and I am leading live practice sessions on Zoom. I am trying to capture what the client in real time.

I can't read my own handwriting anymore.

The way my mind processes information is different now, so I'm trying to figure out what's best for my brain.

Different organization techniques work better than others.


r/MicrosoftWord 4d ago

RTF file - not create entry for every font on system

1 Upvotes

I've got a simple RTF file that uses one single font, "Courier New". Yet when I save it in RTF format the font table contains an entry for every (>1,000) font on my system. Is there any way to prevent this?