To spice up a spreadsheet, or simply to organize one better visually, you can change the color of the sheet tabs at the bottom of the screen. Right click on the tab you'd like to change, and select "Tab Color". There is a fairly large selection of colors to choose from. To change the color of many tabs at once, hold the control key while left-clicking each tab.  Select Format, then Sheet, then Tab Color to display the color palette and pick your color.

      Ctrl + :                            Enters the current time

      Ctrl + ;                            Enters the current date&l ... Read More »

To calculate the number of years, months and days between dates in your spreadsheet, there is an Excel function available. It is called DATEDIF that doesn't appear in the inset Function box. Type DATEDIF (cell with first date, cell with second date, "y") to calculate the number of years between. You can also insert "ym" instead of "y" to calculate months, or "md" to calculate days.  If you would like to calculate all three, type DATEDIF(cell 1, cell 2, "y")&"Years,"&DATEDIF(cell 1, cell 2, "ym")&"Months,"&DATEDIF(cell 1, cell 2, "md")&"Days".

Here are some helpful tips to keep your presentation from getting disrupted:

• Disable power saving features if you are working on a laptop,
• Hide your cursor by right clicking, choosing Pointer Options, then clicking "Hide Now", which keeps your pointer hidden until the mouse is moved, or "Hide Always", which turns if off for the rest of the show,
• Always disable screensavers!
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Any time you enter a quotation mark in a document in Microsoft Word, it is automatically changed by the program to a prettier version of your average quotation mark. This is nice for some documents, but when text is transferred to other applications, these nice marks turn into small boxes, indicating unreadable text. To turn these “smart-quotes” off, click Tools, then Auto-Correct Options. Select both the Auto-Format and Auto-Format As You Type tabs, and clear the “straight quotes with smart quotes” checkbox. You now have documents that should transfer anywhere, with no annoying little boxes!

For printing purposes, files in PowerPoint should be around 150 dpi or larger, but for viewing only, there is no need to let a file exceed 96 dpi because the screen always displays at this setting. Keeping files in bitmap format can take up too much space, so why not make these files smaller? When you go to "Save As", you can save your presentation as a specific kind of file ("Save As Type" appears in the File Save browser). Selecting a .gif or .jpg can significantly reduce the amount of space your file takes up.

When you create a document format that you like, it’s easy to duplicate with the Format Painter option. Highlight the text of the formatting you want and click the paintbrush located in the formatting toolbar. Then, highlight the text you want to change. It will automatically adjust the highlighted text to the format you selected!

You can apply specific transition effects to several slides at once by selecting Slide Sorter under the View menu. Pick your first slide, and then hold down the Ctrl key to select subsequent slides. Go to the Slide Show menu and click "Slide Transition."  Select the transition you like in the Effect box & click Apply. Smooth sailing!

In Microsoft Word 2003, you can avoid searching through menus and submenus over and over again by creating your very own menu filled with actions you find yourself doing repeatedly.  Here’s how:

1. Click the Tools menu, then "Customize"
2. From the Categories list, choose “New Menu”
3. Drag New Menu from the list to the menu bar
4. Use "Modify Selection" to enter a descriptive name for the new menu
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Got a slide from an old presentation that you'd like to insert into your new show? Open up a new presentation. From the "Insert" drop-down, select "Slides from Files". Browse and find the presentations you've already made and highlight the slides you want. Click “Insert” to add one, or “Insert All” to select all slides.