Even as a Microsoft Word power user, I’m always stumbling upon different ways to speed up my workflow and make the most of the program’s tools. Here are some nifty tricks you should know.

1 Sort Lists Into Order

You might think that only Excel can sort your data into alphabetical, numerical, or chronological order. However, Microsoft Word offers a similarly effective tool for sorting words, numbers, and dates.

Sorting a List

To sort a straightforward list of words, numbers, or dates that are presented in separate paragraphs or bullet points and not in a table, select the data, and click the “Sort” icon in the Paragraph group of the Home tab.

In the first drop-down box, choose “Paragraphs,” and in the second, tell Word whether you’re sorting text, numbers, or dates. Finally, decide whether you want the data sorted in ascending or descending order, before clicking “OK.”

Here’s the resulting list of names in my example, sorted into alphabetical order.

Sorting a Table

To sort a table based on the data in one of its columns, place your cursor in any of the table cells, and click the same “Sort” icon in the Home tab.

Next, use the “My List Has” section at the bottom of the dialog box to tell Word whether your columns have headers. You can then select the column by which you want to sort your table—this is the column name if there are headings, or the column number if there are not. In my case, I want to sort my table by the “Frequency” column.

Each row is fixed, meaning if you sort your table by the first column, the other columns will also be reordered so that the data remains cohesive across your rows.

Now, complete the remaining fields, and add any other sorting rules if required. Finally, click “OK,” and appreciate your newly sorted table.

Other Sorts

You can also create more dynamic sorts. In this example, I want to reorder the headings (formatted using Word’s Heading styles) into alphabetical order but keep the text under each as is. To do this, I will select all the text, and click the “Sort” icon in the Home tab.

Now, I will click “Options,” check “Other,” and click “OK.”

When I come to define the criteria for this sort, the first drop-down menu now has “Headings.” Here, I could also choose other ways to sort my data, such as by the nth word in each paragraph.

After selecting “Headings” and ensuring the other fields contain the correct details, I can click “OK” to see my headings correctly ordered, with the bullet points remaining unaltered.

2 Send Your Word Document to Kindle

There are many reasons why you might want to send a Word document to Kindle:

• You can choose a more comfortable reading position, handy when reading a long document.
• You can adjust the font sizes and page layouts, making the document easier to read.
• A Kindle is more portable and tends to have a longer battery life than a laptop.
• Because they use E-Ink technology, Kindles are widely considered better for your eyes.

So, to send your document to Kindle, open the “File” menu. There, click Export > Send Documents To Kindle > Send To Kindle.

Sign in to your Amazon account in the dialog box that appears.

Then, select how you want the document to be displayed on your Kindle. Choose “Like A Kindle Book” if the document contains simple formatting. This option means you can adjust the font sizes and page layouts and add handwritten sticky notes if needed.

On the other hand, go for “Like A Printed Document” if you want to preserve the document’s complex formatting. You can also write directly on the page when viewing the document through this option.

When you click “Send,” the document will arrive in your Kindle library within minutes.

3 Remove Extra Spaces Between Words

In the early twentieth century, it was considered standard to add a double space after a period. Although this has gradually been phased out over time, you might encounter a Word document with this antiquated formatting. In this case, it can take forever to remove the extra spaces manually.

You can use Word’s Find And Replace tool to reduce all cases of multiple spaces to a single space, whether they’re double spaces or longer strings of spaces. In this example, there are two spaces between some words and three spaces between others.

First, press Ctrl+H to launch the Find And Replace dialog box. In the “Find What” field, type ( ){2,}. Make sure you include a space between the rounded parentheses, and the second pair of brackets are braces, usually accessed by pressing Shift+[ or Shift+]. In the “Replace With” field, type 1.

Next, click “More” (this will change to “Less” when clicked), and check “Use Wildcards.”

Finally, click Replace All > OK, and see that all the multi-spaces have been reduced to single spaces.

4 Add High-Quality Graphics

Gone are the days of searching for high-quality graphics on the web and worrying about permissions, copyright, and royalties. Microsoft Word offers a seemingly endless collection of royalty-free images, icons, cutout characters, stickers, illustrations, and cartoon people.

Place your cursor where you want to insert the graphic, and click Insert > Pictures > Stock Images.

Then, use the tabs along the top of the Insert Pictures dialog box to switch between the different types of graphics, and type keywords into the search bar to find a suitable image.

Once you’ve found a graphic that meets your needs, click it once to select it (notice the checked radio button in the corner of the graphic), and click “Insert.” You can select and add more than one graphic at a time.

Now, you can format the graphics if needed through the Picture Format tab on the ribbon.

5 Duplicate Your Microsoft Word Window

If you’re working on a large document, it can be handy to view different pages at the same time. Similarly, you might find it useful to use two views at once, like the Print Layout and the Draft View. This is where Word’s New Window tool—accessed via the View tab on the ribbon—comes in handy.

When you click this icon, an exact duplicate of your document opens in a new window. Any changes you make to one copy will automatically update in the other, and you can close either the original or the duplicate when you’re ready to return to a single-window view.

In addition to using these tricks to increase your efficiency, be sure to avoid some of the mistakes many people make when using Microsoft Word.