The Most Common Errors Made By Microsoft Word Users
Ask just about any computer user if they use or have used Microsoft Word and you can confidently expect the answer “yes”. Word is everywhere, even on Apple Mac. So, most bosses automatically assume that their people know how to use it and they do, up to a point. But many casual Word users make some pretty basic mistakes. This article looks at the most common.
* Are you ever guilty of pressing the Return key at the top of a document to move the cursor down, perhaps when creating a document to be printed on your company stationery? If so, this means that you are creating a document with unwanted characters at the start. Much better to click on File – Page Setup and change the top margin (in Word 2003) or click on Custom Margins in the Page Layout tab of the Word 2007 ribbon.
* Leaving two spaces after the period which ends each sentence is another common error among users. In fact, one space is fine with modern typefaces since they are proportionally spaced (e.g., the letter “w” takes up more space than the letter “i”). The two space habit is a throwback to the days when people were using typewriters with monospace typefaces such as Elite and Courier.
* The habit of pressing the Return key twice at the end of each paragraph is not a good idea because it creates a sea of extra white space on the printed page. Only one return should used to end the paragraph. Extra space can then be added using the paragraph spacing commands. To find these options, in Word 2003 or earlier, choose Paragraph from the format menu. In Word 2007, click on the Page Layout tab.
* If a casual user of Word has never had any training, you will often see him or her using the space bar to align columns of text. This sometimes looks as though it’s working on screen but when the document is printed, the lack of alignment becomes very apparent. The only sure way of getting columns to align is to press the Tab key.
* Having identified the Tab key as the correct one to use to create columns, many Word users just press the tab key to tab along to the next default tab. The number of times the Tab key is pressed will thus vary, depending on the length of each piece of text. It is much better to set one’s own tabs by clicking on the Word ruler. This means that on each line of text, the tab key will be pressed the same number of times between columns.
* Some Word users, even experienced ones, are so seduced by the Format Painter, that they rely on it to maintain consistency of formatting throughout a multi-page document. It is much better to use Microsoft Word’s styles to make your text formats consistent. With styles, at any time, you can go back and change the attributes associated with a style and your changes will update all text in that style.
* Word AutoCorrect and other text optimisation features can sometimes seem a bit too much to some users but many people do nothing to adjust the way these features work. In Word 2007, the AutoCorrect and other settings can be changed at any time by clicking on the Office Button and choosing Word Options. The equivalent in Word 2003 and earlier is Tools – Options.
The author has been running training courses on Microsoft Word for many years. He is a training consultant with Macresource Computer Solutions, an independent IT training company based in London.
