Tips And Ideas For Microsoft Home Office

Introduction

Microsoft Home Office edition is almost identical to the same productivity suite used by businesses, teachers and other organizations. However, household users don't necessarily have the exact same professional needs as companies in using the various applications in Microsoft Home Office, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Parents might create a newsletter for the neighborhood housing association meeting or their child's parent teacher association, or PTA, meeting at school. Families might want to create an itinerary for wedding or vacation. Kids might want to make a unique slide presentation that shows photos and descriptions of various family events.

Step 1

Use the AutoCorrect feature in Microsoft Home Office edition to type out names and other words and phrases while you are using Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Press the ALT, T and A keys on the keyboard to open the AutoCorrect dialog box. Enter a short abbreviated phrase that can expand into a longer phrase that you frequently type out in an application. For example, if you write a weekly newsletter and use the same phrases over and over again, you can shave a few seconds off the time it takes to input that information. Instead of typing, "This weeks meeting will be about..." you can set up the AutoCorrect dialog box to show the expand that sentence from the following abbreviation: "TWMWBA." Microsoft Home Office edition stores this abbreviation in the background of the program and it will AutoCorrect or expand a word using any application, such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint.

Step 2

Set up the AutoText dialog box in Microsoft Home Office edition so that you can insert entire paragraphs, image and other objects in Word. This feature is in addition to using the AutoCorrect feature which may only store and have the ability to expand a few words at a time. By using AutoText you are about to recreate major portions of the same document, including any special formatting, style and other settings that make up the text and objects. Start creating AutoText in Microsoft Home Office edition by selecting or highlight your favorite or most often used paragraph or group of paragraphs. Type a phrase or other type of identifying name for the selected paragraph. Select Add. Select OK. Word inserts the stored text into the document for you. Click the Help menu in your version of Microsoft Home Office to find complete detailed instructions on how to use this feature.

Step 3

Open the Options dialog box in Microsoft Home Office edition to change settings and troubleshoot features and functions that aren't quite working properly. Older versions of Microsoft Home Office edition display a Tools menu and from that list you can click on Options. You see see the the following tabs in the dialog box in this order: View, General, Edit, Print, Save, Spelling & Grammar, Track Changes, User Information, Compatibility, Security, and File Locations. Later versions of Microsoft Home Office don't display a Tools menu.

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Tips

Instead you have to click on the circular Microsoft Home Office logo in the top left corner of the application that you currently have open on the computer screen, such as Word, Excel or PowerPoint. Click on the Word Options, Excel Options, or a similar button at the bottom of the drop down menu to open the dialog box.

Step 7

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