Computeractive

Make Office Better
Expert tips for every program
OFFICE
Check whether add-ins are
destabilising your program
You’re probably familiar with
browser add-ons that extend the
functionality of Chrome and
Firefox. Office programs (Word, Excel and
PowerPoint) have similar tools called
‘add-ins’ that let you add extra features.
To use add-ins, click the Insert tab, then
click Store in the ‘Add-in’ sections at the
top. Like browser add-ons, Office add-ins
can sometimes make your programs
unstable. So if, for example, a program is
loading slowly or crashing frequently,
there’s an easy way to check whether an
add-in you recently installed is to blame.
To do this, hold down the Ctrl key, then
launch the faulty program. You’ll see a
pop-up prompting you to launch the
program in Safe Mode – click Yes. Th e
program will now open minus any
add-ins. If it opens without problems and
works fi ne, then you know the add-ins
are responsible for any instabilities. To
remove the faulty add-in, simply reopen
the program, click the Insert tab, then
click ‘My Apps’ (in the ‘Add-ins’ section).
Now right-click the add-in, click Remove,
then Remove again.
WORD
Create your own ‘cover pages’
If you tend to lay out the fi rst
page of your Word document
in a particular way (your name,
address, an image or graphics, for
example), then there’s an easy way to
OUTLOOK
Change the ‘read’ status of your emails
Whenever you
receive a new
email in Outlook,
the number next to your
Inbox at the top left will
increase by one and the
new email is formatted in
bold in your Reading Pane.
By default, when you click
to read this new email in
your Reading Pane, it
won’t lose its bold
formatting and the
number next to your Inbox
won’t decrease. It’s only when you
click another email (an older one, for
example) that the formatting changes
and the number decreases – indicating
that the email has been ‘read’. It’s easy
to change this default setting so that
Outlook shows an email as ‘read’
when you click it.
save this template as a ‘cover
page’ that you can reuse
whenever you want. Th e
easiest way to do this is by
using Word’s Cover Page
option. If you click the
Insert tab, then the Cover
Page dropdown menu at the
top left, you’ll see a selection
of cover pages that you can
click to add. It’s easy to
create and add your own
page to this group.
First, open a new
document and lay out its fi rst (cover)
page the way you want. Now select every
element on the page, click the Insert tab,
the Cover Page dropdown menu, then
click ‘Save Selection to Cover Page Gallery’
(see screenshot left). Next, name your
cover page, then click OK. Th e next time
you want to reuse this page for a document,
simply click the Cover Page dropdown
menu, then click the page you created.
ONENOTE
Create Desktop shortcuts for
your notebooks and sections
If you use a particular notebook
or section within OneNote a lot,
then you should create a Desktop
shortcut for it for easy access. To create a
Click File at the top left, then
Options. Next, click Mail on the left,
the Reading Pane button, then tick the
‘Mark items as read when viewed in the
Reading Pane’ box (see screenshot).
Type in the fi eld below to set how
many seconds after clicking the email
you want the formatting and number
to change. Click OK twice.
shortcut for a notebook, click the
notebook dropdown menu at the top left
of OneNote, right-click the notebook you
want, then click ‘Copy Link to Notebook’.
Likewise, to create a shortcut for a
notebook section, right-click the relevant
section tab at the top, then click ‘Copy
Link to Section’ (see screenshot above).
Now right-click any blank area on your
Desktop, move your cursor to New in the
menu, then click Shortcut. Click inside
the location fi eld and press Ctrl+V to
paste your copied shortcut link, then
click Next. By default, the shortcut is
named New Internet Shortcut, so rename
it, then click Finish. Now, whenever you
double-click this shortcut, it’ll take you
straight to your desired notebook or
section.
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