In Word, you can give documents a background colour. It means that you change the default white to any other colour, or with a fill effect even. To do this, go to the Page Layout ribbon tab and choose Page Color. From there, you pick the options you want.
However, this method will make all of your pages have that colour settings. If you want to make just one single page in a colour in Word, you are out of luck. Luckily, there is an alternative available. This can be useful to for example give the first page in Word a background colour.
The alternative is to add a square shape and make it the background. Then, for that shape, you give the shape a background colour and extend it to the full page.
Dec 25, 2015 Open the MS Word file you want to add an image background to. Go to the ‘Design’ tab and click the ‘Page Color’ drop-down in the ‘Page Background’ set of tools. A pop-up menu will open with colors to set as the background. At the very bottom of this pop-up is an option ‘Fill Effects’. Repeat text entered in Microsoft Word. Create a text form field that lets you enter text once and have it appear automatically elsewhere in the document, such as the date shown in the file's header. Simply type the three characters and press Enter, and Word will convert the three characters into its corresponding line. This magic is made possible by the AutoCorrect feature.
Inserting a shape in Word goes like this:
- Go to Insert
- Choose Shapes
- Choose a square to insert. Extend it to the full page and give it its colour properties as you wish.
How many times have you opened Microsoft Word only to be met with the ominous start screen? Showing numerous templates, the start screen is undoubtedly helpful. However, it can get bothersome at times when you just want to get started quickly. Especially, if you're someone who uses Word only for writing purposes and happy with the standard blank template.
So, it got me thinking about the ways to skip the start screen and land directly on a blank document, thereby saving some precious time. And it seems it doesn't need much work since Microsoft includes an option to get Word to open a blank document directly by skipping the start screen.
Let's see how to get this done.
Psst ... this post also contains plenty of cool Word tricks to improve your productivity. So read till the end.
Disable Start Screen in Word
Step 1: Launch Word and click on the Blank Document option (trust me, this is the last time you'll be doing it). Now, click on File and select Options from the menu on the left side.
Step 2: Under the General category, scroll down to reach the Start up options. Now, uncheck the first and third option as shown in the image below, and that's it!
From now on, whenever you launch Word, you will be greeted by a new blank document instantly instead of a start screen.
Disable Start Screen in Excel and PowerPoint
Thankfully, Microsoft has kept similar settings for Excel and PowerPoint as well. All you have to do is open a blank sheet (or slide), go to the Options and disable the Start up options.
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Read MoreAdditional Word 2016 Tips & Tricks
1. Crop Images to a Specific Shape
Yep, you read that right. With Word 2016, cropping an image in Word isn't limited to a square or a rectangular form, you can try out different shapes. This feature is most helpful when you want to reshape photos for a funky presentation.
All you have to do is select the picture and click on Crop. Choose Aspect ratio as 1:1, though it's not a mandatory step. Once done, select the Crop to shape option and pick a shape from the library. Drag the handle as your image demands and that's about it.
2. Change Default Save Locations
Another cool trick is to change the default location to save the documents. As you may already know, files are saved in the My Documents folder of your PC by default.
If you like to keep your documents organized, I'd recommend setting a custom folder's path as the Save location.
To change the default save location in Word, head over to Options and select the Save option. Enter the new path under 'Default local file location' and hit OK.
Next time you save a file locally, click on the Browse icon and your selected location will show up instantly. Also, you can pin the location by clicking on the Pin location icon on the right pane.
3. Calculations in Word
Did you know that Word has a handy calculator feature which lets you calculate simple equations? However, this command is disabled by default and is placed deep inside the settings.
Once enabled, all you have to do is select the equations and the results will be displayed on the status bar. To enable it, click on File >Options > Quick Access Toolbar and select All Commands from the drop-down list under Choose commands.
From the list, select Calculate and click on Add.
Hitting the OK button will add the Calculate command to the toolbar. To test it, just write a simple equation, select it (without selecting the = sign) and hit the Calculate icon near the Quick Access toolbar.
The results will be displayed on the status bar. Nifty, right?
4. Change the Default Font
Don't like the default font and its size in Word? You can change it. To make this adjustment, go to the Home tab and click on the Arrow icon at the bottom-right corner to expand the Font section. Alternatively, you can use the Ctrl+D keyboard shortcut.
Select the new font and size from the Font window. Now, click on the Set as default button and select 'All documents based on the Normal template' option from the pop-up window.
Once you do that, every document you open will have the new font.
Note: This change will only affect all the documents you create using the Normal template.Also on Guiding Tech
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Read MoreGet The Most Out of Word
So this is how you can skip the default Start Screen of MS Word and head straight to a blank document. Also, with the font and size of your choice, all you need to do is launch Word to get started right away. No need to waste a couple of seconds over the start screen.
The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.Read NextHow to Get Transparent Start Menu in Windows 10Also See#productivity #Office #word
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