By skyforbes 
Microsoft Word is more than just a basic word processor; it’s packed with powerful features designed to make your writing and document management smoother and more efficient. Yet, many users only scratch the surface of what Word can truly do. There are plenty of lesser-known Microsoft Word features that you should know about if you want to be truly proficient with the software.
1
Hide the Ribbon and Go Full Screen
Writers want peace. Since Microsoft Word’s interface is packed full of features, it can feel a bit cluttered when you just want a distraction-free view of the text.
To minimize distractions while writing, you can hide the Ribbon by pressing the Ctrl + F1 keyboard shortcut. Alternatively, click the Ribbon Display Options icon (the tiny arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Ribbon) and select Show tabs only. For an even cleaner workspace, choose the Full-screen mode option to hide both the Ribbon and the tabs.
Similarly, when reading or reviewing a document, you can press Alt + W + F to enable Word’s Read Mode. In this mode, you can double-tap with your finger or double-click with your mouse to zoom in and make graphics, such as tables, charts, and images, fill the screen.
2
Reorganize With the Outline View
Outlining your main ideas and quickly completing the first draft is a surefire way to boost writing productivity. With Outline view, you can quickly navigate to specific heading levels in a long document, efficiently plan main sections before writing the body, and easily move large blocks of text.
To access it, go to the View tab and click Outline in the Views group. This will bring up a special toolbar called Outlining, with controls for promoting or demoting selected text. You can use the controls to hide or display selected text.
3
Find and Fix Mistakes With Microsoft Editor
When it comes to grammar and spelling, you don’t necessarily need to rely on third-party tools, as Word includes Microsoft Editor. It can check your document for grammatical and spelling errors, as well as provide suggestions for clarity and conciseness.
You can access Microsoft Editor by clicking the Editor button in the Home tab. From there, you can review the suggestions in the Editor panel and click on them to incorporate them into your document.
4
Convert Tables Into Graphs
Take your pick: a neatly formatted table with lots of data or a nicely designed chart visualizing that data for you? Being visual creatures, it is often a no-brainer to opt for the latter.
Word makes it easy to convert tabular information into a chart. When you don’t have too much tabular data, it’s best to create a chart in Word instead of over-killing with Excel.
To convert a table with the data into a graph:
- Click the Insert tab on the Ribbon.
- Click the Object tool within the Text group and select Object.
- From the list of Object Types, choose Microsoft Graph Chart and click OK.
5
Write Equations
The Equation Editor has always been an important feature of MS Word. In the latest versions of Word, it is simply known as Equation. To use it, choose Insert > Equation > Insert New Equation.
Then, use the Equation toolbar to create advanced equations for mathematics, physics, or chemistry. Word also provides a collection of well-known equations that you can insert with just a click.
6
Take Advantage of the Clipboard
The Clipboard tool in Word can hold up to 24 items and is interoperable across all Office apps. This capacity allows you to cut and copy multiple items, then move them anywhere within the document or across open Office programs.
To access it, go to the Home tab and click the drop-down arrow next to Clipboard. You can then click the Options button at the bottom to control the clipboard’s functions. For example, you can disable the Show Status Near Taskbar When Copying feature, which displays the number of items you’ve copied in the bottom-right corner of the Word window.
7
Restore an Older Version of the Document
Regret making too many changes to a document? No problem. With Word’s Version History feature, you can easily retrieve an earlier version of your document—as long as you’ve saved it to OneDrive or SharePoint.
Simply click the title of your file and select Version History. Then, choose a previous version of the document to view it, or click Restore to recover it.
8
Translate Text With Ease
All Office apps use Microsoft Translator for translations. With it, you can translate a word or sentence, or even translate the entire document and display it in a separate Word file.
You can find the Translate feature in Word under the Review tab. The Translator tab appears on the right, from where you can choose and change languages. You can also use this sidebar to highlight words and explore their meanings in full.
9
Beautify Fonts with Kerning
Kerning adjusts the space between two individual letters to improve the visual appearance. It is turned off by default in Word, and typically, you don’t need to adjust it. However, if you need to submit a five-page homework assignment, you can save effort by increasing the space between letters, rather than adding unnecessary content.
Click the little pop-out arrow on Font in the Home tab. Then, go to the Advanced tab and select the checkbox for Kerning for fonts. Now, experiment by entering a small point size in the box. Remember, some typefaces and font sizes don’t look good with kerning.
10
Inspect Your Document
Whenever you create or edit a document, some user information is automatically added to the file, which can be a concern if you want to share it. The Document Inspector feature allows you to easily remove this information.
To access the Document Inspector, go to File > Info > Inspect Document > Check for Issues > Inspect Document.
You can inspect hidden content by selecting the relevant checkboxes. After the inspection, any categories containing sensitive data will be marked with an exclamation point. You can then use the Remove All button for each category to remove the data and finalize the document.