Microsoft Word troubleshooting and how-to guides
When you type a period and start the next word, Word automatically capitalizes the first letter. This behavior is part of Word’s AutoCorrect feature, which assumes every period ends a sentence. For many users, this automatic capitalization is unwanted when typing abbreviations, acronyms, URLs, or lists where the next word should remain lowercase. This article … Read more
Finding and replacing plain text in Word is simple, but many users do not know that Word can search for patterns using wildcards. Wildcards let you find variable text such as any single character, a range of letters, or repeated words in a single search. This article explains what wildcards are, how to enable them … Read more
When working on a long document, you may need to change every instance of a specific font, color, or style. Manually finding and selecting each piece of formatted text is slow and error prone. Word has a built-in feature called Select All Text with Similar Formatting that automates this task. This article explains how to … Read more
You may need to format, delete, or copy text from multiple separate locations in a Word document at the same time. Word includes a feature called multi-select that lets you highlight non-adjacent blocks of text without merging them into one continuous selection. This article explains how to use the Ctrl key method to select multiple … Read more
Rearranging paragraphs in a Word document by cutting and pasting is slow and error-prone. You lose your place in the text and risk pasting content into the wrong spot. Word includes a built-in keyboard shortcut that lets you move any selected paragraph up or down without touching the mouse. This article explains how to use … Read more
When you copy text from a web page, email, or another document and paste it into Word, the original formatting often comes along. Fonts, colors, sizes, and hyperlinks can clutter your document and force you to waste time cleaning up. Word includes several built-in methods to paste only the plain text, stripping all source formatting. … Read more
AutoCorrect in Word automatically changes typos and common misspellings as you type. It also replaces certain character sequences with symbols or formatted text. When AutoCorrect changes a word you intentionally typed in a specific way, it disrupts your workflow and introduces errors. This article explains how to stop AutoCorrect from changing specific words without turning … Read more
When you paste content into a Word document, the text often brings along its original font, size, color, and spacing. This mismatched formatting forces you to stop and manually reset the style using the Paste Options button or ribbon commands. The cause is Word’s default paste setting, which keeps the source formatting instead of adapting … Read more
Word limits the number of actions you can undo to 100 by default. This cap can be frustrating when you make many changes and need to revert further back than the limit allows. The undo limit is a fixed setting in the Windows Registry or macOS Terminal and cannot be changed through Word’s user interface. … Read more
You are reading a document in Word and come across an unfamiliar word. Instead of switching to a web browser or dictionary app, you can use Smart Lookup to find a definition instantly. Smart Lookup is a built-in research tool that pulls definitions, Wikipedia summaries, and web search results without leaving your document. This article … Read more