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You are here: Books --> Effective onscreen editing --> Errata/additions in the 4th (2019) edition
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All corrections and additions to the book will appear on this page. If you find an error or problem that isn't included in this list, please report the problem to me so I can fix it. Comments and suggestions for improvement (including new material) are also welcome!
This page contains the following topics:
Chapter 2: Writing and editing are human endeavours
Chapter 3: Personalizing your software
Chapter 4: Moving around and selecting things
Chapter 5: Using revision tracking
Chapter 6: Inserting text, deleting text, and commenting
Chapter 7: Using the search tools
Chapter 8: Developing style sheets
Chapter 9: Spelling and grammar checkers
Chapter 10: Automating your edits
Chapter 11: Special situations
Chapter 12: Alternatives to revision tracking
Chapter 14: Developing safeguards
Appendix II: Protecting yourself
Appendix III: Troubleshooting Word
Appendix IV: Keyboard shortcuts
Need to run Office in your browser, smartphone, or tablet? You can do this for free using Office Online. If you need access to Word on your smartphone or tablet, try Microsoft's Free Office Online Apps. They won't be as feature-complete as your desktop version, but should be enough to get you by. You'll need to establish a Microsoft account if you don't already have one.
What if one key on your keyboard breaks? When my current keyboard is getting old, I buy a new one—but I keep the old one as a backup in case the new one breaks. But what can you do if you're in the middle of a job, one of the keys on your keyboard stops working, and you have no backup? You may not have time to run to the nearest computer store for a replacement. But you can use the tools provided by your operating system to enter the problem character using your mouse. In Windows, try the "onscreen keyboard". On the Mac, try "Show input menu in menu bar" and use the character viewer. If it's going to take a while to replace the physical keyboard, you'll probably find it more efficient to create an AutoCorrect entry (see chapter 10 for details). For example, if you can't type the letter "e", use a placeholder character such as "]ii" everywhere that you need to type the letter, then use search and replace to change that placeholder to the missing letter. (Of course, you'll need to copy/paste the letter into the "replace with" field, since you can't type it from the keyboard.) Alternatively, select an existing example of the letter in a Word file, and with that letter selected, create an AutoCorrect shortcut such as ]ii that, when typed, will transform into the letter. This second solution isn't as convenient, since you'll have to remove the extra space that Word inserts, but you can use search and replace to remove those extra spaces.
Word versions on the Mac: To learn what version of Word you're using, open the Word menu and select "About Microsoft Word". Word 2016 will have a version number that begins with 16.16; Word 2019 his a version number that begins with 16.19. Infer what you will about the fact that the prefix (16.) doesn't differ between the versions.
Text is inadvertently formatted as "hidden" text: Word offers so many keystrokes that it's inevitable you'll hit the wrong keystroke every now and then. One particularly problematic keystroke (both Mac and Windows Word) is Control+Shift+H, which applies the "hidden text" format. With that format applied, the text will be invisible unless you set Word to display hidden text in the View/Display preferences; in that case, the text will be visible, and formatted with a dotted underline. (See Chapter 3 for details of how to set this view preference.) For safety, I always set Word to display hidden text. For additional safety, you can delete this keyboard shortcut. (See the section in Chapter 3 on customizing keyboard shortcuts for details.)
Safely escaping dialog boxes: The keystroke to close dialog boxes is Alt+F4 Windows and Command+W or Command+[period key] on the Mac. If you accidentally press the keystroke twice, you may close the document window—worse, if you're using Word for Windows, you may close Word itself. Fortunately, there's a safer alternative in both systems: press the ESC key. (You can also use the mouse to click the "close dialog box" button.)
Endless screen redraws in Word 2019: If Word gets stuck in a loop of continuously trying to redraw (redisplay) the text in the document window, you won't be able to work because it's not likely to stop these redraws on its own. Save your document, quit, then restart Word. All should be well.
Word 2019 gets confused about the screen display when you move to another screen: Sometimes Word gets confused about what it should be displaying and displays part of the screen where you started and part of the screen where you ended up. Fortunately, changing to a different view (e.g., from Web view to Draft view) usually solves the problem. If not, try closing and restarting Word.
Problems with embedded equations: Word is generally pretty good about handling equations inserted using the equation editor, but I've found that when there are too many equations, or an overly complex equation, Word may crash. If it does, try saving the file in the older .doc format; when you do that, the equations are treated as graphics and less likely to cause problems. Resave the manuscript in .docx when you're done. Another option is to completely recreate the equation, but this requires some knowledge of how the equation editor works.
Tables bug in Word 2019 (Mac version): I recently encountered a problem in which table columns would move back to their original positions immediately after I resized the table. Selecting the table from the keyboard or using the mouse didn't solve the problem, even when I turned off all the settings that controlled cell and column widths. Only one thing worked: I opened the Table menu, chose Select, then chose Table. I then right-clicked on the selected table and chose Table Properties from the popup menu. In the Column and Cell tabs of the dialog box, I cleared the checkboxes that defined "fixed widths" for columns and cells. I then selected the Table tab, clicked the Options button, and cleared the checkbox for "Automatically resize to fit contents".
Finding missing files (Mac version): If a file goes missing, there are several places you can look for it. First, look in the Trash and the folder you've defined to hold automatic backup (autorecovery) files. (See Chapter 3 for details.) The Trash may also have a folder called "Recovered items" that holds unsaved documents that you're working on. Second, if you've enabled Time Machine to do ongoing backups, try opening Time Machine and looking for the file there. This also works for any other automated backup software that you've installed. Third, if you're working with a cloud service such as DropBox for manual or automatic document storage, look for their own proprietary Trash folder. This is distinct from the Trash on your computer, and holds files that you've deleted from the cloud storage service. Fourth and last, open the Applications folder, then open the Utilities folder and run the Terminal program. Type "open $TMPDIR" (without the quotes) to open a Finder window that should contains several directories for temporary files. Open the com.microsoft.word folder, then open the TemporaryItems folder and look inside.
Don't move files between Word and other programs if you can avoid doing so: In previous editions of this book, I've cautioned that repeatedly moving files between Word and other programs increases the risk of document corruption. Recently, ZDNet reported an example of this problem for files moved between Word and GoogleDocs. I don't know whether that problem also affects exchanges of files between Word and other programs (e.g., Libre Office, Open Office, WordPerfect), but the cautionary note in the ZDNet article echoes what I've said previously: pick one program for everyone involved in a project, and don't convert files between formats until you're completely finished. Even then, don't convert the format if you don't have to.
Useful Mac keyboard shortcuts: Beneath the surface of any program, including your computer's operating system, lie a great many hidden keyboard shortcuts that are wortwhile learning. Here are two useful lists: shortcuts based on the function (FN) key, and 80 shortcuts that use the Opion key.
Glossary: Word processors are complex, so it's necessary to use a certain amount of technical language. Fortunately, there's a Glossary that provides the key definitions.
Collaborative editing on the Mac: If you're using a Mac to collaborate, TidBits recommends the SubEthaEdit software for collaborative editing.
Sharing files with the Firefox Web browser: Mozilla, the developers of Firefox, have added a new "Firefox Send" feature that lets you transfer encrypted files of up to 1 GB in size. There is no cost for this service, and files of up to 2.5 GB in size can be transferred if you sign up for an account.
Word 365 offers collaborative editing: With a Word 365 license and a OneDrive account, editors and authors can work simultaneously on the same document.
Never work on the original file: One good reason for never working on the original copy of a file? If you're not using revision tracking, you may be unable to retrieve the original version. Thus, always create a copy of that original with "-original" appended to the name, or create a working version with "-edited" or "-revised" appended to the name. If anything happens to the working copy, you can still recover the original and start over. For a more complicated type of problem that may happen if you're relying on automated backup software to protect the original version, see "How You Can Lose a File Despite Three Layers of Backup (and How To Avoid It)".
Mastering the business of freelancing: If you need some help organizing your work life, have a look at Erin Brenner's book, The Chicago Guide for Freelance Editors. Erin's been in the business for years, and knows her stuff.
Word 2013's "all caps" tab names in the ribbon: If you don't like the fully capitalized tab names in the ribbon, How-to Geek describes "How to change the capitalization of Office 2013's ribbon bar". It's not a major issue, but we editors are bothered by such things.
Creating keyboard shortcuts: Gizmodo provides advice on how to "Create your own keyboard shortcuts to do anything on Windows and MacOS".
Creating systemwide shortcuts: On the Mac, the Keyboard preferences panel lets you add useful shortcuts to your computer that will work in all programs. First, the Text tab of this preference panel lets you define abbreviations and short phrases that the system will replace with longer phrases, much like Word's AutoCorrect. Second, the Shortcuts tab of the preference panel lets you add and delete various shortcuts. The Services group is particularly useful because it lets you edit the "context" menu that appears when you right-click or control-click in the Finder.
Customizing the screen display: Tidbits offers an excellent article on customizing the screen display for optimal reading. Though written for iPads, much of the advice can be followed on a desktop computer too, with a little digging to find the right settings.
Faking the old toolbars in Word 2016 for the Mac: Microsoft eliminated the classic toolbars and replaced them with the Ribbon. Although you can add various functions to the Quick Access Toobar of the Ribbon, there's not a lot of room and the results can become quite cluttered. A better approach would be to customize the ribbon by eliminating and replacing any icons you don't need or rarely use.
Entering accented characters: Alan Wyatt's WordTips offers additional ways to enter accented characters. Correction: to type ç on the Mac, the correct keyboard shortcut is Option+c, not Option+e.
Customizing keyboard shortcuts without taking your hands from the keyboard: In Windows, hold down Control+Alt and then press the "+" key on the numeric keyboard to display the Customize Keyboard dialog box. On the Mac, hold down Control+Option and then press the "–" key on the numeric keypad. If you prefer to create your own shortcut, follow the instructions in this chapter: select the category "All Commands", then scroll down to the command "ToolsCustomizeKeyboard".
Caution about removing personal information from a file: Removing personal information using Word's "document inspector" feature isn't perfect; it can leave lots of clues behind. Three problems relate to graphics: both the metadata and any parts of the image that you've cropped out using Word's graphics tools remain in the Word file to provide clues to your identity, and any text concealed by an object such as a graphic won't be removed. The document title also won't change, so "Secret memo from Geoff to Leo.doc" won't change unless you make the change manually. There are also subtler clues, such as a white paper or report that cites many of your previous publications as support. In addition, if you use any backup software that stores versions of your manuscripts somewhere (e.g., any cloud service), be very sure you're sending the correct "cleaned up" version of the document to the intended recipient—and remember that your e-mail address in the transmittal message and the name of the Dropbox link you're sending may reveal your identity. So use the "remove personal information" feature carefully, with your brain engaged to look for things that might reveal your identity even after you've cleaned the file.
Escaping the Office "backstage" pane (Word for Windows, eventually Word for Mac): If you don't like the "Office backstage pane" that Microsoft is seemingly insisting on for file management, you can still use the traditional file Open and Save dialog boxes. In Windows: File menu > Options > Save tab > Save Documents > "Don't show the Backstage when opening or saving files with keyboard shortcuts ". Tip of the hat to the folks at Office Watch for this tip.
Text doesn't wrap at the margin in draft view: Microsoft doesn't always explain itself clearly, onscreen or off. And they have a nasty habit of breaking features that worked just find before the latest "upgrade" [sic]. One example relates to text that should wrap at the right margin of the screen, but doesn't. If you encounter that problem, consult the Word Tips article "Text doesn't wrap at margin in draft mode".
Moving and positioning windows on the Macintosh: The good folks at TidBits offer suggestions on how to manage windows on the Mac in their article Automate Window Positioning With MacOS and Apps.
Correction about customizing the ribbon: Word 365 does not allow you to delete the standard tabs from the Ribbon.
Style characteristics change even though you didn't change them? Word has a feature that lets you automatically update a document to use the properties defined by the attached template's document's character and paragraph styles. Thiscan lead to surprises if you manually change the characteristics of a style and Word changes that style back to its original settings. If you need to make such changes, either update that style in the template file (if you want the new settings in all future manuscripts based on that template), define a new style (if you only want the new settings in the current document), or disable this automatic style update feature. In Windows, File > Options > Add-ins > Manage menu > Templates > select the template that holds your styles > deselect Automatically update document styles.. On the Mac, Tools > Templates and Add-ins > select the template that holds your styles > deselect Automatically update document styles.
Typing Greek letters and math symbols: If you're using Microsoft Word as your writing tool, the Autocorrect feature offers a whole list of special characters, including Greek letters (e.g., \alpha for α) and math operators (e.g., \+- for the ± character). To learn what shortcuts are available or add your own, select (Windows) File > Options > Proofing tab > AutoCorrect Options > Math AutoCorrect tab or (Macintosh) Tools > AutoCorrect Options > Math AutCorrect tab. In both operating systems, select the checkbox for "Use Math AutoCorrect outside of math regions". Deselect that checkbox to stop using that function.
Typing Unicode special characters: The easiest way to insert special characters into your manuscript is to find them in Wikipedia's Unicode character list or another listing and copy/paste them into your manuscript. Better yet, given how long these lists are, create a document that will hold all the characters you use regularly and store it somewhere safe on your computer. If you're a keyboard geek, like to memorize the unique numbers that describe each special character, and use a Mac, you can configure your keyboard to let you hold down the Option key and type the Unicode number. But trust me on this one: it's easier to create your own list of these characters.
Creating keyboard shortcuts for your whole computer: Gizmodo provides instructions on how to "Create Your Own Keyboard Shortcuts to Do Anything on Windows and macOS".
Keyboard shortcuts no longer available in Parallels: Certain keyboard shortcuts may not be available under Parallels if you try to customize Word's keyboard shortcuts. One common reason for this is that either the Macintosh operating system is using those shortcuts, and overrides Parallels. For example, the Control+Right Arrow and Control+Left Arrow shortcuts are used by the OS X "Mission Control" software, which is accessible via the Keyboard Preferences panel: to make these available in Word, select the Shortcuts tab in the preferences dialog box, then select Mission Control and deselect the checkboxes for these two shortcuts. Another possibility is that Parallels is using the shortcuts. For example, the Control+Alt+End keyboard shortcut I use to move the cursor to the end of a sentence stopped working when I installed a new version of Parallels. To solve this problem, open the Devices menu, select Keyboard, and then click the Customize button. Select "Keyboard menu", then deselect the checkbox for this keyboard shortcut.
Custom icons in Quick Access Toolbar: With the latest update, MacWord 2019 finally lets us customize the icons used in the Quick Access Toolbar. Unfortunately, the icons are difficult to see against the blue background, and for icons that rely on color choices, the colors are not visually different. Oh well... it only took Microsoft 6 years to add this feature. Maybe they'll fix it by 2028?
Printing a list of your keyboard shortcuts: The built-in method works, but it's not elegant. For a clearer and more useful list, Jack Lyon provides the following macro:
Sub ListKeyAssignments()
Dim kbLoop As KeyBinding
Dim aTemp As template
For Each aTemp In Templates
If LCase(aTemp.Name) = "Normal.dotm" Then
'You can also use the name of a different template here.
CustomizationContext = aTemp
For Each kbLoop In KeyBindings
selection.InsertAfter kbLoop.Command & vbTab & kbLoop.KeyString & vbCr
selection.Collapse Direction:=wdCollapseEnd
Next kbLoop
End If
Next aTemp
End Sub
If one click selects an entire paragraph: A colleague recently encountered a problem in which they clicked the mouse to position the text cursor inside a paragraph, and Word instead selected the whole paragraph. The problem was that the file's creator had used a feature called "content controls": in summary, these are tools for creating forms that users can fill in. When you click on a paragraph in a form that can be replaced by user-entered text, Word helpfully selects the whole paragraph so that as soon as you begin typing, your input replaces the placeholder text. To convert parts of the form to editable text, click the text to select it, then press Command/Control+Shift+F9 (Word's keyboard shortcut for "convert a field to text").
Jumping between fields: To jump forward to the next field, press F11. To jump backwards to the previous field, press Shift+F11. This keystroke does not wrap around to the start of the file when you reach the end. You'll need to move back to the start of the file by yourself.
Using search to find letter strings inside words: Most often, it's clearer for the author and faster for you if you replace whole words instead of trying to fix small changes inside a word; the problem results from being forced to use the mouse or the cursor keys to move to the part of the word you want to change. However, if you need to change only a few characters so the author can approve that change (i.e., because the change is subtle and you don't want the author to miss what you changed), use the search function to move to the characters you want to change. When you find those letters, Word highlights them so you can delete them in a single keystroke or modify them quickly. Consider, for example, the following intimidating chemical formula: catena-poly[[[tetraaquairon(II)]-trans-μ-1,2-bis(pyridin-4-yl)ethene-κ2 N:N′] bis(p-toluenesulfonate) methanol disolvate. Using the search function would let you quickly jump to the "II" and change it to "III" if that were necessary.
Office Selection Pane: Woody's Office Watch offers a series of keyboard shortcuts for the Office selection pane, the tool that helps you manage graphics, text boxes, and other "objects".
Navigating between tabs of a dialog box (Macintosh): In Word 2019's dialog boxes, Control+ PageUp and Control+PageDown cycle backward and forward (respectively) between the tabs of a dialog box such as the Find and Replace dialog and the Organizer dialog box provided by the Templates and Add-ins function. Tip of the hat to Matthew Stevens for discovering the shortcuts.
Navigating tabs in dialog boxes (Mac version): Windows Word offers excellent control of navigation within dialog boxes. The Mac version of Word? Not so much. However, the feature isn't completely lacking on the Mac. To cycle between the document window, ribbon, status bar, and quick access toolbar (QAT), press F6 to shift the focus to that part of the interface. You can then press Control+Option+arrow to move between tabs of the dialog box. For the ribbon, only an easy-to-miss "underline" appears below the tab names to indicate which tab is selected. Press Control+Option+spacebar to implement a function after you select it. Inefficient, but better than nothing.
Comment deletion bug in Word 365: A colleague has warned me that if you delete text that contains a comment, the comment will disappear from the document window. However, the comment may still be present in the Reviewing pane. (This is not the case in Word 2016.) To be safe, open the Reviewing pane to see whether the deleted comment is still present in that pane after it disappears from the document window. If it's still present in the Reviewing pane, add a note to your cleanup checklist that you'll have to manually remove these comments.
Revision tracking in LibreOffice: TechRepublic offers a tutorial on the LibreOffice track changes toolbar.
Capitalization bug: If you change capitalization by selecting a character and pressing Shift+F3, Word inexplicably doesn't track this as a change. (This is true in all versions of Word that I've tested up to and including Word 2016.) The solution is to unlearn the habit of using Shift+F3, and instead type the correct new capitalization, then delete the old one. That counts as two changes rather than one, but if clarity is important, it's safer to track such changes.
Changing formatting: If you change the formatting of text that you inserted while revision tracking is turned on, Word will track that format change. If you want to treat the inserted and then formatted text (e.g., an italicized word) as a single change, you can accept the format change or you can turn off revision tracking before you change the format. But an easier solution is to leave revision tracking enabled but copy and then paste the formatted text. The tracked format change will disappear, leaving only the insertion tracked.
Numbering comments: Word used to offer the helpful trick of numbering comments so you could (for example) figure out how many comments you'd inserted in a manuscript. Microsoft helpfully removed that feature. But you can still get comment numbers, sort of. Comments are still numbered in Draft mode using markers such as [GH1]. But if you hate editing in Draft mode and want to use a mode in which comment text appears in balloons, you can restore comment numbers. To do so, edit the "Comment Text" style and change the paragraph properties to include numbering. Note that this solution depends on Word's automatic numbering feature, so it's not 100% reliable—make sure that "Comment Text" is not based on the Normal paragraph style to increase the reliability—but it's still better than nothing. The main problem is that if you add or delete a comment, all subsequent numbers change, so you can't cite the comment number as if it were fixed and unchanging.
Problems with "modern comments": Continuing its practice of breaking things that work just because the programmers are bored with usable software or actively hate us all, Microsoft has introduced "modern comments" to further break a feature that used to work just fine. There are many problems with this "improvement". Microsoft, you keep using that word; I do not think it means what you think it means.
Problem with moved text being tracked: If you set Word to not track moved text, Word may nonetheless decide to start tracking moved text. The problem usually results from selecting what Word considers to be an entire sentence (i.e., from the starting point of the selected text to the next sentence-ending punctuation). The setting for tracking moved text then remains selected until you deselect it again. To avoid the problem, try not selecting the end-of-sentence punctuation before you move the text.
Actionable comments: I've repeated this advice as a reminder that wherever possible, your comments should tell the author what to do about a problem. A comment that only describes the existence of a problem is rarely helpful.
Macro for inserting comments: Word 2016 retains a way to insert comments via the old Reviewing Pane at the bottom of the document window using the following macro text (courtesy of Robert Freeman):
Sub OldCommentPane()
'This bit opens up the old style comment pane
Selection.Comments.Add Range:=Selection.Range
'this part adds a couple of spaces at the start (for good luck)
Selection.TypeText Text:= _
End Sub
Restoring the missing comment numbers: In Word 2016, Microsoft eliminated the feature that displayed comment numbers when comments are displayed as balloons. (The numbers are still there in Draft view mode, where comments markers resemble your initials in square brackets. For example: [GH1].) To restore the missing numbers, simply edit the properties of the "Comment Text" paragraph style, as described in Chapter 3. In the dialog box for the style "Comment Text", open the "Format" menu, choose "Numbering", and choose whatever style of numbering you want. In versions of Windows Word after Word 2016, you may find that this won't work: the paragraph style that controls the format of comments has been changed to "Normal"—which, inconveniently, is the default style for most of the body text. (Bonehead move, Microsoft!) The only good solution is to define a new style such as "My Body Text Style" and set the correct font characteristics for that style. Then replace all instances of text formatted using the "Normal" paragraph style to use the "My Body Text Style". To do so, start by selecting all of the text in the document (Control/Command+A), and then use global search and replace (as described in Chapter 7) to change "Normal" to "My Body Text Style". Next, edit any other styles you're using (e.g., styles for headings and bulleted lists) so that their "based on" setting is changed to "My Body Text Style".
Bug with displaying comments in Word 365: Microsoft introduced a clever new error in Word 365: comments attached to deleted text (e.g., to explain a deletion) may be visible in the Draft mode document view or in the Reviewing pane, but become invisible in Web or Print viewing mode. This can cause problems if you or the author leave a comment unresolved in a manuscript, and either fail to correct a significant problem or potentially leave the comment to appear in the final published document. The only good solution until Microsoft fixes the problem is to attach all comments to non-deleted text. The comment then should be visible in all document views so long as you have set Word to display comments in balloons.
"Modern" (not!) comments: With Word 365 and 2021, has returned to its habit of breaking things that used to work just fine in favor of cosmetic changes that either don't meet anyone's needs or that actively harm the needs of most users. This time, it's the incorrectly named "modern comments". Now, when you insert a comment, you need to click the "Add" button or press Control+Enter to implement the comment instead of just leaving the comment balloon.
Scripted find and replace: Paul Beverley has designed the (free) FRedit macro that lets you enter a series of find and replace operations in a Word document then run this "script" to implement those operations in a single step. C.K. MacLeod provides an example of how to use this macro.
Checking details reported in two or more places: One neat trick uses the search tool to confirm that a detail that appears in one place agrees with the description of that detail that appears elsewhere. Simply copy the item in question and paste it into the Find dialog box. (This is even more efficient if you use the macro I provide in Chapter 10 to automatically copy and find selected text.) This is particularly useful for numbers that are presented later in the text, accompanied by a table citation. Enter a bookmark so you can easily return to your current position, then select and search for that number. If you don't find it, use variants such as removing the numbers to the right of the decimal place (in case the number was rounded). If you still can't find it, search for the cited table and see what number appears in that table.
Display problems when using the Find function: Sometimes, Word 2019 finds text that you asked it to find, but doesn't display that text. Fortunately, the problem is easy to solve: press Control/Command+Shift+down arrow to select the text from the found word to the end of the paragraph, then press the left arrow key to move to the start of the word.
Moving to the middle of a word: See above for "Using search to find letter strings inside words" in Chapter 4.
Checking literature citations: Although it may seem that reference management software eliminates the need to check literature citations, there are many creative ways authors can still screw up the citations. These include choosing the wrong reference from the software's database, typing a citation manually instead of using the software to insert it, messing up the contents of the software's database ("garbage in, garbage out"), failing to copy editorial corrections into the database, and failing to regenerate the References section after making all these changes. I recently encounted a new and creative way to screw up the references: when coauthors use different programs with different citation methods or databases to manage citations in the same manuscript.
Finding something that is NOT something: Sometimes you need to find something that lacks a certain property. For example, you might need to search through a document and find text that is NOT formatted as Times New Roman, in violation of a publisher's style sheet. Unfortunately, the [!] control code for wildcards, which means "NOT whatever follows this control code", won't work. But you can accomplish the same task with a little lateral thinking and the find/replace feature. Turn off revision tracking first if you don't want to track the ensuing changes! First, open the Find/Replace dialog box and in the "Find what" field, specify the property that you don't want to change; here, open the Format menu, select Font, then select the Times New Roman font. If you only want to make this change in text formatted using a specific style, such as Body Text (i.e., you don't want to affect text in headings), open the Format menu, select Style, then select Body Text. In the "Replace with" field, select a format such as the highlighter marker color that is easy to apply and remove without affecting any other text properties. Word will display "Format: Highlight" below the field. Click "Replace all" so that all Times New Roman text will be highlighted. Second, position the cursor in the "Find What" field and from the Format menu, select the highlighter marker color twice. The second time you do this, Word will display "Format: Not Highlight" below the "Find what" field. Next, position the cursor in the "Replace with" field and specify the desired format (here, the Times New Roman font). Click "Replace all". Third and last, with the find/replace dialog box closed, remove the highlighting: select all (Control+A for Windows; Command+A for Mac), then select "No Color" from the menu of highlighter colors in the Home tab.
Selecting text to the end of the line in Word 2019 for Macintosh: Microsoft eliminated the ability to search for hard returns (^p) in a wildcard search, but there's a way around this. Consider an example. Let's say you're trying to change all the en dashes in a series of digital object identifiers (DOIs) in the References section to hyphens. The DOI usually occurs at the end of a reference, so you want to be able to select all text between "DOI" and the hard return. Unfortunately, the old methods of specifying the hard return no longer work. Fortunately, you can solve the problem with the following ugly workaround:
1. Globally replace all instances of DOI with | (the "pipe" character located above the "\" key on your keyboard).
2. Globally replace all ^p characters with || (two pipes).
3. Select the yellow or other highlight color in the Ribbon's Home tab.
4. Open the Find and Replace dialog box. With the cursor in the "Find what" field, select "use wildcards" and search for "|*||" (but without the quotation marks); with the cursor in the "Replace with" field, select the format "Highlighting." Click "Replace all" to highlight all text that begins with DOI and ends with a hard return.
5. Globally change all en dashes that are highlighted yellow to hyphens: in the "Find what" field, type an en dash and select the Highlighted format; in the "Replace with" field, type a hyphen.
6. To restore the original paragraph breaks between references and the word "DOI", globally replace all instances of || with ^p, then globally replace all instances of | with DOI.
7. To remove the highlighting, select all (Command+A), and use the Home tab's Highlighter marker tool to set the text to "no (highlight) color".
Safer global search and replace: Before doing a global search and replace, always save the document first. Then, when you specify the parameters of the search and replace operations, change the "replace with" color to something really obvious, like the yellow highlighter color. Do the search and replace, then scan the document for colored (highlighted) text to spot any problems created by the change. If you changed a bunch of things you shouldn't have, press Command/Control+Z to undo that change. Alternatively, just close the document and select "no" when Word asks if you want to save the changes.
Using the search panel: It's often helpful to use the search sidebar to display all search results before you try something like a global search and replace, or if you just want to be able to quickly see all search results in context, display the Search Sidebar: On the Mac, use the menus, View > Sidebar > Search. In both Mac and Windows versions, you can instead select the View tab, select the option to display the Navigation Pane, and then click the magnifying glass icon to display the Search Sidebar. Now if you click on a search result in the sidebar, Word takes you to the relevant part of the text and highlights the found search term.
Highlighting words whose spelling you've checked: Sometimes you look up the spelling of an unfamiliar word, and don't want to be bothered with repeatedly checking the spelling again in a long document. In that case, select the Home tab and select a color for the highlighter marker. Next, copy/paste the correctly spelled word into the Find and Replace dialog box, and in the "replace with" field, choose the highlight color. If you click the Replace All button, all correctly spelled instances of that word will be highlighted. When you come across a highlighted version of that word, you'll know it's correctly spelled. If you find a lookalike word that isn't highlighted, determine the correct spelling! If you do this often, record a macro to do the hard work for you.
Three wildcard secrets: If you select the wildcard option and search for [A-z], with a lower-case z, you will find any capital or lowercase letter, but you won't find accented letters. To find those letters, search for [A-Za-z] instead. Bonus sub-tip: if you search for [!A-z], you'll find only the accented letters, but also lots of other things. Fortunately, you can also exclude those other things. For example, add 0-9 to exclude numbers. You can't search for Unicode characters in a wildcard search, but if you can find the character you're seeking in the Symbol palette, you can copy/paste it into the search dialog box. To use ^p to find the end of paragraph marker in a wildcard search, use ^13 (the code for a paragraph marker). However, in the replacement field, you have to use ^p. Tip of the hat to Jack Lyon for discovering these tricks!
Fiction: Note that styles sheets are also useful in fiction, although in that context, they are often referred to as "story bibles". For more about story bibles, see my book Write Faster With Your Word Processor.
Exclusion dictionary: I've provided a list of words you can use to start an exclusion dictionary. The linked page contains a table of word pairs (so you can more easily determine which pairs are revelant in your work), followed by a list of all the words in that table that you can more easily copy and paste into your own exclusion list.
Change the spellcheck and grammar check colors: [Windows only] If you don't like the way Word uses color to display spelling and grammar errors, Microsoft provides guidelines on "How to customize the color of the spelling and grammar checker underlines in Microsoft Word". In summary, you must edit the Windows Registry, so if you're not comfortable doing this, ask a geeky friend to help. Caution: Always make a backup of your Registry before trying to edit it. If Murphy's law happens, you can at least restore your system to its working state before you tried the change.
Sub DisplayTraditionalSpellCheckDialog()
Dialogs(wdDialogToolsSpellingAndGrammar).Show
End Sub
For maximum ease of use, assign the same keystroke you use to launch the spellchecker to this macro. See Chapter 3 for details on how to assign keystrokes to macros.
Restore classic spellcheck: Dislike the "Editor" feature of the most recent versions of Word? Adrienne Montgomerie explains how to Launch Classic Spellcheck.
A note about QuickParts as Building Blocks: One advantage of creating a building block as a "QuickPart" is that it will appear at the top of the QuickParts menu. If you create many of these shortcuts, this can save time compared with having to dig through the poorly designed Building Blocks dialog box searching for your QuickParts.
Backing up your customizations:Paul Beverly, author of the wonderful free book "Macros for Editors", has also provided a free Word template that contains macros that will help you back up your own macros, both for Mac and Windows. See the Youtube video "Automatic macro/keystroke backup system" for an explanation of how this works. The actual macros are provided in his book.
Moving building blocks: WordTips provides instructions on how to find the templates that hold your building blocks ("Building blocks.dotx" and "Built in building blocks.dotx" are the default templates used by Word). You can't move these files to a different folder, but you can create your own template (e.g., "Geoff's blocks.dotx") to store them. You can move that template wherever you want, including into the directory or folder that holds your other templates.
Bypassing a startup macro: Word lets you create an "autoexec" macro that runs each time you start Word. If you need to prevent that macro from running (e.g., because it is preventing Word from Launching), you can disable the macro by following the instructions in "Bypassing the Startup Macro". In summary, start by quitting Word, then launch the Windows command line utility from the Start menu, and enter "winword.exe /m" (without the quotes). If that doesn't work, try starting Word in safe mode: in Windows, hold down the Control key and click the Word icon in the Start menu to start Word. There doesn't appear to be a Mac equivalent to safe mode, but you can accomplish a similar effect by making a backup copy of your Normal.dot template while your copy of Word is stable. If you find yourself unable to start Word or if Word keeps crashing, try replacing the current Normal.dot template with the backup copy.
Automation tools: Apple has provided a free, built-in automation tool called "Automate" for several years. Windows doesn't come with such a tool, but you can now download Microsoft's Power Automate Desktop software for free.
AutoCorrect language clarification: In the text box "Automatic text depends on the language setting", the description is slightly unclear. In the text where you want to use the AutoCorrect, determine which style is controlling the formatting (e.g., the Comment Text style for the text in a comment balloon) and edit its properties (see Chapter 3 for details) so that the style's language agrees with the language you used to define the AutoCorrect shortcut that you want to use.
AutoCorrect capitalization change in Macintosh Word 2019: Word 2019 now (as of January 2022) distinguishes between different capitalization forms. For example, AC1 and ac1 will be treated as different AutoCorrect entries. Thus, it's no longer necessary to add "AllCaps" or similar words to the shortcut to type different capitalization patterns.
Large number of free macros: Paul Beverly, macro guru, now provides a handy list of his many macros, organized by category.
Enable text suggestions (AutoCorrect) in Windows 10 and 11: Microsoft's article "Enable text suggestions in Windows" describes how to enable a feature similar to Word's AutoCorrect for all applications, not just Word. In summary:
Windows 10: Settings --> Devices --> Typing --> Hardware Keyboard --> Show text suggestions as I type.
Windows 11: Settings --> Time and Language --> Time & Language menu --> Typing --> Show text suggestions when typing on the physical keyboard.
Getting help with macros: The ever-reliable Jack Lyon provides some good advice on where to get help if you can't solve a problem with macro coding.
Run macros automatically when you start Word or open a new document: Microsoft renamed the macros that Word can run automatically. To run a macro each time you start Word, create a macro named Auto-Exec and save it in your Normal.dotm template. To run a macro each time you open a new document, create a macro named Auto-Open and store it in the document that requires this behavior or in a template such as Normal.dotm so that the macro will be available in all new documents based on that template. For more details, see the article "Description of behaviors of Auto-Exec and Auto-Open macros in Word".
Editing PDFs on your iPad or iPhone: Apple's iOS includes "Markup" software you can use to annotate PDF files.
Editing LaTeX files: A colleague recommended the Overleaf LaTeX editor, which offers revision tracking, as an alternative to Lyx.
A large source of corpuses (corpora): Brigham Young University now offers several large corpuses (corpora) for a fee. Not cheap, but if you need this kind of information, it's worth a look.
Yahoo Groups is shutting down: As of October 2019, it appears that Yahoo will be closing its "groups" service. If pressure from members of these groups does not motivate Yahoo to change their decision, I expect most groups will move to Google Groups, Facebook, or some other service. You should still be able to find groups that interest you using Google to search for [name of subject] plus keywords such as "discussion group".
Trust but verify: As one of the oldest search engines, Google does a pretty good job of finding Web sites if you frame your search terms effectively. That doesn't mean Google has your best interests at heart when it decides what to display and in what order. When you use Google, keep your brain engaged to be ensure you're getting results that support you more than they support Google's advertising revenues.
News agencies and newspapers: These sources are an interesting case. Many (perhaps most) for-profit sources of news are owned by wealthy individuals who have a significant political bias, and that bias affects how they report the news. Without doing some research, or spending a lot of time reading a source's material in search of insights into their bias, the bias can be difficult to detect. (Not all sources are as painfully obvious as Fox News about wearing their bias on their sleeve.) Government-funded news sources from democratic nations, such as the U.K.'s BBC and Canada's CBC, used to be seen as sources with high probity, but in 2020, we saw significant political interference with the BBC by leaders appointed by the U.K. government. And, of course, news agencies of totalitarian regimes such as Russia are rarely a reliable source of news. Thus, exercise caution when relying on news agencies for information: engage your critical faculties, and look for confirmation by other sources.
Additional Google search tips: Google offers several new search tricks to help you refine your search. To find synonyms, add ~ as a prefix for the search term; for example, searching for ~enormous should also find "large", "very big", etc. You can also narrow your search to specific types of files; for example, adding filetype:PDF will restrict the search results to PDF files. Google provides a complete list of file types you can try. To find Web pages that link to a specific Web page or site, use link: and site:, respectively, followed by the Web address. To perform wildcard searches, type * to replace certain words in a phrase (very useful for tracking down quotations). To find pages with a range of numbers (such as dates), type two periods to indicate the range; for example, 2001..2010 will find information published between 2001 and 2010, or pages that contain any numbers within that range.
There are no additions or errata at this time.
Making the text look different: Changing the text font, particularly to one of the various fonts that have been designed specifically for proofreading, makes it easier to spot errors. But another recent tool, "bionic reading", might also help. I haven't tested it extensively, but in a quick read, st seemed like there might be something to this.
Backing up your Word customizations: The good folks at Woody's Office Watch are offering their Office Backup Handbook, which goes much further than the brief summary in my book. Subscribe to their very useful newsletter to receive a significant discount (nearly 50%) on the book.
Automated backups using tools built into your operating system: On the Mac, the easiest way to create ongoing backups is to use the built-in utility Time Machine. Windows also offers built-in tools, as described in the Lifehacker article "How to back up your computer automatically with Windows 10's built-in tools".
Never work on the original file: One good reason for never working on the original copy of a file? If you're not using revision tracking, you may be unable to retrieve the original version. Thus, always create a copy of that original with "-original" appended to the name, or create a working version with "-edited" or "-revised" appended to the name. If anything happens to the working copy, you can still recover the original and start over. For a more complicated type of problem that may happen if you're relying on automated backup software to protect the original version, see "How You Can Lose a File Despite Three Layers of Backup (and How To Avoid It)".
Recover unsaved documents: If you quit Word without saving your changes, or if Word crashes, you may still be able to recover your document. Lifehacker provides complete instructions. In summary, a copy of the file is likely to be found in the AppData folder, which you can find quickly using your operating system's systemwide search feature. Depending on your version of Word, you may also be able to find the files using File > Info > Manage Documents > Recover Unsaved Documents. Open the missing file and save it somewhere safe.
Save your ribbon settings or transfer them to another computer (Windows only): To save your Ribbon settings, right-click or Control-click in any blank area of the Ribbon, select Customize the Ribbon, and then select (depending on your version) Export Ribbon or Import/Export. To import the settings on another computer, follow the same initial steps, but choose "Import Customization File" in the last step.
Wrist exercises: As a writer or editor, your wrists are a critical link between your brain and your fingers. Thus, you'll need to protect them. The Ergonomic Trends Web site provides some useful tips in their article "Preventing injury: 8 best hand and wrist exercises for computer users".
Rebooting in safe mode (Windows): Microsoft offers a handy trick that lets you reboot your computer in "safe mode". This restricts the software that loads to a core set of software that is known to be safe and able to run without conflicts. If you've been experiencing a problem and it goes away in safe mode, you can be confident that some non-safe software is causing the problem (usually a hardware driver program or an add-in for Word or another program, but sometimes a virus), and this makes it easier to identify and fix the problem. Sam Cook of Comparitech has written "How to start Windows 7/8/10 in safe mode" to explain this process.
Rebooting in safe mode (Mac): Apple also offers the ability to reboot your computer in "safe mode". See Apple's article "Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac" for details.
Software update problems: The kind folks at Woody's office watch provide a helpful article "The realistic guide to fixing Office 365/Office 2019 update problems". They also offer a complete list of error codes and the associated fixes for Office installation problems, "Revealed! Office install/update errors and fixes".
There are no additions or errata at this time.
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