r/MicrosoftWord

I’m curious to know the little Word tricks people use that aren’t obvious at first.

What’s yours?

Hi, I am a professor at Ghent University in Belgium and have written a free tutorial (200+ pages) on advanced Microsoft Word.

The tutorial is useful for everybody who is writing larger documents, such as technical reports, MSc or PhD theses, publications, law documents, etc.

All information is updated for Word 365 (version 2026).

 Topics include:

 • Paragraph styles

• Field codes (SEQ, STYLEREF, REF)

• Bookmarks and cross-references

• Equation numbering

• Multi-level lists

• Headers and footers

• Sections

• VBA macros

• Reference management

• Word XML structure

• PDF/A export

 

The document is freely available and feedback is welcome.

Here is the download link:

https://composites.ugent.be/downloads.html

 

Best regards,

Wim VAN PAEPEGEM

 

I'm working on a larger document that will mainly consist of a very long table.

I use several kinds of bullet lists meaning different things.

I'm wondering how I can disconnect two lists with the same symbol from one another.

To specify, in the first row, you can see the second "level" using fat arrows. (If it's relevant: This is, by full intention, not actually formatted as a second level of the list, it's a seperate list manually with a manually adjusted indent.)

If you take a look at the third row, you can see I used the fat arrow again, this time with red text. I would like this arrow to be red, too.

But if I change its color, it automatically changes the colour of the arrows in the first row as well.

I know it is possible to colour them seperately - a few rows above (on a different page, if that matters), I managed to get it work, but unfortunately, I have no idea how.

https://preview.redd.it/3g89ifowm5kh1.png?width=802&format=png&auto=webp&s=d47f75f90e18126c0bf16b2924abee7c48e09758

If you need more info, please tell me what you need.

How do I keep the word "Epigraph" in a Table of Contents, but remove it from the actual page that the quote is on?

I've tried hiding the text and it just removes the word from the TOC. I keep being suggested to just hide the text using white instead of black. But it would show up if someone read an eBook in dark mode.

Is there a way to do this without ripping my hair out?

Images in Word can sometimes be tricky to position exactly where you want them.

Between text wrapping, positioning, resizing, and anchoring, there are quite a few settings to manage.

What’s your best tip for working with images in Word?

I’m especially interested in practical tips that can save time when working with documents containing multiple images.

For a long report, add a bookmark at your Table of Contents. Then add a small “Back to Contents” hyperlink at the end of important sections. Now readers can jump: Contents → Section → Back to Contents without scrolling back through 50 pages.

It takes a few minutes to set up, but makes long Word documents feel much more like a proper digital document than a stack of pages. We are building a Word formatting that does all this with a few words. Please share your views about what features you would like it to have.

Hi there,

I had a client call in advising when they use Microsoft Word, it crashes Word upon trying to use copy.

• I got them to firstly check to see if the app is updated - it was latest.
• Got them to reset cloud settings in the app, same result.
• Got them to delete the app, reinstall and try, same result.
• Got them to do a full reset of all Word settings via settings > Apps > Reset Word, same result.
• Got him to check if Comp portal is syncing, both the app the MDM profile. (Managed device)
• Checked MDM configuration, no limitations on Word copy / paste
• Decided to test on my own iPad Pro, same result. However mine is on 26.3.1 and theirs was 26.6.1 and also an iPad Pro.

Can anyone update their Word app and see if you're getting the same?

My organization has a shared drive with a password-protected document that everyone can read, but only I can edit. It's set up this way intentionally. The issue I'm running into is that if anyone else has a read-only copy of the document open, I can't save changes. I often have to open a new document, copy the existing, save somewhere else, and then re-save that copy once everyone's out of the original document. The file needs to stay in the all-staff folder, but I'm wondering if there's a setting or a different file type that would make the document truly read-only for everyone but me.

I need to be able to put the Rant flair on this too.

What in God's name is wrong with Word that it continually screws up bullet/number lists on COMPLETELY DIFFERENT PAGES than the one I'm currently working on?

I'll be doing something on one page, and a list 3 pages up will have all of its indents removed so everything is base level. Or a bulleted list will change to numbered, continuing the numbers of a previous list even though there's 2 headers and a paragraph between them. And of course, remove all its indents at the same time.

Just now I had a list rearrange itself when I pressed the UP ARROW KEY TO MOVE THE CURSOR!!!! How does that even happen? Why would that happen? I want to scream in frustration and rage at how stupid that is.

This is beyond stupid. What could possibly be causing this, and how can I get it to STOP!!!!

I found one suggestion to uncheck "Automatic bulleted/numbered lists" in the Proofing advanced options. I did this days ago and it's still doing this.

I've got a bunch of short bibliographies that are formatted like

>Firstname Lastname, Title (Year)

I want to rearrange them like

>Lastname, Firstname. Title. Year.

Is there a way to automate this?

Is there any way to have both a footer that has my title (in my case, the month/year) on the bottom left and then page number on the bottom right? I need to be able to identify both the month and what page (the order) should any one page get separated.

I would literally make a deal with the devil for help at this point. I have multiple Word documents that I need to merge. Each of them have unique, formatting of course. With a good chunk of them having legal, pleading for depositions. Which I need to combine with a larger overall manual document. But every time I try, either with AI or words insert options, I lose the formatting or the documents don’t merge completely.

Please, last year I had to manually retype every single line of the deposition and I would do just about anything to avoid that this year.

Thank you

Hi guys!

I have been working on this for hours and can't figure it out. I have googled and searched, but can't find exactly what I need. Help please!

I am using Word 365. I have tried putting in Section Breaks and Page Breaks. I just can't get the numbering system I need to work. I have a trust with 7 Articles (sections) and each Article needs to be numbered separately. Like:

1-1, 1-2, 1-3

2-1, 2-2, 2-3

3-1, 3-2, 3-3

Thank you in advance for helping me!

When someone gives you a Word template, do you actually use its styles, or do you just copy the visual formatting? I'm asking because this distinction has become surprisingly important while building StylifyWord.

Hey . . . Is anyone here using the "Dictate" feature in Microsoft 365?

I have resisted using any subscription software. I already have the permanent, standalone Microsoft Office 2024, but guess what: It does not include the Dictate feature. You have got to subscribe in order to have access to Dictate.

So I am thinking about subscribing. I really need the Dictate feature. And, yes, I know about the built-in Windows Voice Typing feature. It does pretty well with accuracy, but I need to be able to give commands for punctuation, and it does not support that reliably.

I do not mind making corrections for words, because things always need some revision anyway, but I need to be able to put the commas and periods in where I want them to be. The same goes for quotation marks. You are supposed to be able to use commands to open a quote and close a quote, but all that I want to say on that subject is that these punctuation commands either do not work at all or they work unreliably.

Yes, I know that you are supposed to be able to turn automatic punctuation on/off with these programs, but I have not had any reliable success. I speak very clearly and at a moderate speed. All of that makes no difference. It seems that the designers of these programs think that everyone is a dummy who cannot punctuate properly. Consequently a pause or stumble may result in a comma or a period.

Please do not suggest any third-party programs. A nurse on Reddit has already recommended a particular program, which I bought, and it works reasonably well for getting the words; but the punctuation (if I use commands) is either erratic or does not work at all. If I say "comma" it may type the word "comma". Bottom line: Really, nothing that I have tried works reliably for letting me control my sentences.

It used to be, according to what I have read, that an older version of the Windows voice-to-text program would have you say "literal comma" when you wanted to insert the word "comma". Otherwise, a comma character would be inserted. That was a nice policy. But that does not work anymore. You probably know already that Microsoft will eventually f—k up anything and everything.

Microsoft will let you try the Microsoft 365 suite for a trial period. So, yes, I know that I can go ahead and investigate this whole issue on my own. And I will almost certainly do that. But it could be a bit of a hassle to activate the trial (you never know what problems you will stumble into).

I want to be able to use the Dictate feature to write fiction. So I need to be able to give a command like "Open quote" to open a piece of dialogue; and something like "Close quote" to end the dialogue.

So if anyone has answers, please respond. And I will probably check out the free trial.

Thanks in advance. Sorry about the length of this.

I don't think there is a way to add before spacing in the same way as paragraph formatting. A work around might be to use a soft return or add paragraph after spacing to the paragraph before. But I don't really like these options because they are too easy to mess up if other users are editing the document.