Microsoft Office Q&A: Ask anything (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.)

Regarding the first part of the question—I didn't quite manage to nail it because I don't have that Greek Math Symbol option available on my current setup—but I did eventually find a workaround by jumping onto an older version of Word on a different computer. As for the second half of the query, I’ve been wrestling with it at home, but I am honestly stuck. Here is the situation: I’ve sketched out a chart in Excel using three different columns to represent specific values, and now I need to overlay a standard deviation onto each individual column. I noticed there is an option within the Chart Tools under the Layout tab called Error Bars. I found the "Error bars with standard deviation" setting, but the problem is that when I apply it, the software just slaps the exact same standard deviation onto all three columns—whereas what I actually need is for each one to reflect its own unique value. I simply cannot seem to decouple them. If anyone understands the technical headache I'm describing, please, help me out!

granitepilot342 said:I found that "Error Bars" option with the standard deviation setting, but when I actually apply it, the software just slaps the exact same value onto all three columns. That’s not what I need. I need them to be distinct—each column needs its own specific deviation—but for some reason, I can't seem to decouple them. It's incredibly frustrating.

Look, what I’m about to say here is pure speculation—I don't claim to have all the answers and I certainly don't want anyone taking this as gospel—but I'm putting it out there simply because I want to be helpful:
So, I was looking back at that mess from earlier... specifically that second step within the Wizard in the field. It’s just one of those things that seems straightforward until you actually sit down to do it, right? You think you have a handle on the workflow, and then—bam—everything goes sideways because of some tiny setting or a menu that doesn't behave. Honestly, it's enough to make you want to throw the whole computer out the window. Anyway, I'm trying to wrap my head around the logic there. Series in Check before you proceed. Seriously. Just... take a second to look ahead first. ColumnsSo, here’s an idea—and I'm just thinking out loud here, mind you. If you manage to get those bars in different colors—you know, like three separate series—then you might actually be able to manipulate them individually. Once you've got that set up, just try running through the exact same steps you were taking before. It's a long shot, I know, but maybe... just maybe... it'll actually work?

Reiterating my request:
Ever since I fixed my PC, the option to see Italian synonyms has completely vanished.
Basically, back when I was typing up stuff in Word using Italian, I could just right-click any word and a list of synonyms would pop up. It still works perfectly fine for English and French, though. I have no clue how to get that functionality back for Italian specifically.
Any help would be huge. Just a heads-up, I'm pretty much a total tech novice.
Thanks in advance.

Hey, does anyone know how to tackle part B from this image? Here's the link: http://oi49.tinypic.com/2m7y8zr.jpg
Thanks!

Did you finish that Revenue table yet?
If you did:
- Right-click on "Sheet2" - Rename - Expenses
- Select the whole Revenue table - right-click - Copy - (go to your new Expenses sheet) - Paste
- In that new sheet, just change the header from "Revenue" to "Expenses"
- Click the first cell in your new table, type "=", then click over to the "Revenue" sheet and grab the first value in the revenue column, then type *0.9503 and hit enter.
- Drag that cell down to fill the rest.
- Highlight all those numbers, right-click - Format cells - Number - check the box for the separator, and make sure you've got two decimal places set.

/* and don't include those quotation marks */

Honestly, you might want to brush up on this stuff before the school year starts. How are you gonna survive when you hit college level math? ☕

Hey there, everyone!
I’ve been tinkering around with Access 2007 lately—I'm really just trying to get a solid database up and running--
but I’ve hit a bit of a snag when it comes to filtering, running queries, and getting those reports looking right.
If there happens to be anyone out there who actually knows their way around this stuff and wouldn't mind pointing me in the right direction, I’d be so grateful! I'm just looking for a little guidance on the general workflow to get everything synced up properly.

Michael Jackson10 said:Did you set up that Income table yet?
If you did:
- Right-click "Sheet2" - Rename - Expenses
- Select the entire Income table - right-click - Copy - (go to the Expenses sheet) - Paste
- On the header of this new sheet, change "Income" to "Expenses"
- Click the first cell in the new table, type "=", then go to the "Income" sheet and left-click the first data point in the income column, type *0.9503, and hit enter.
- Drag that cell down to fill the rest.
- Highlight all the numbers, right-click - Format cells - Number - check the box for the thousands separator, and make sure it's set to two decimal places.

/* and none of those quotation marks needed */

Honestly, you might want to brush up on the basics before you tackle part C.☕

Thanks, it was actually pretty easy. I sorted it out, and now since I finished C, I'm onto D. So, I just hit "=" again, click over to the Profit sheet, click the first column, and... what's next?
Task description for D:
In the Percentage worksheet, calculate the % share of profit for each year relative to the total profit. Base your calculation on linked data from the Profit worksheet. Display the results using the "percentage" category formatted to four decimal places.🤷

Got a quick question about Word.

Just finished my thesis, and now I’m trying to wrap up the table of contents, but I’ve hit a wall.

I can't for the life of me get the page numbers to line up vertically. They just won't stay aligned.

I'm using the latest version of Word, and honestly, I'm struggling to figure this one out. :/

Angela Long84 said:Hey everyone,
I'm running into some issues with Access 2007. My main goal is just to build a database,
but then I hit a wall with filtering, queries, and reports.
Is there anyone here who actually knows their stuff and would be willing to point me in the right direction? Just looking for the basic workflow to get things done.

There are endless tutorials online, so you might as well use them to suit your needs. Honestly, giving you specific advice without more context is pretty pointless.

🤷

Dennis Sanchez84 said:I’ve got a question regarding Microsoft Office.

Now that I've finally wrapped up my thesis, I need to put together a table of contents, and I'm hitting a wall.

I just can't get the page numbers to line up vertically—you know, actually stay aligned under one another.

I'm using the latest version of Word, and honestly, I can barely navigate this thing. :/

Did you actually set up your titles and subtitles using headingsb>? Because if you didn't, that's your problem right there. You need to go back and change all of them to headings first. Once you've done that, just search Google for how to create a table of contents in Wordb> and follow the steps. If you do it correctly, the content should align perfectly on both the left and right sides, and it'll even automatically pull the styles and fonts you used for your headers. I'm still stuck using an older version from years ago, so I don't know the exact clicks, but the logic for generating a table of contents hasn't changed much since the early 🤷 2010s
version.

Dana Diaz8 said:🤷

Did you actually use headings for your titles and subtitles??? If not, you gotta change all of them first. Once that's done, just Google how to make a table of contents in Word and follow the steps. You'll get a perfectly aligned table of contents that even copies your specific styles and fonts from each page. I'm still rocking Word 2007, so I don't know the exact clicks for the newer versions, but I'm pretty sure the logic is the same in the latest ones, like 🤷2012
.

I just typed everything out without messing with settings—Word just auto-numbered stuff for me.
I set it to justified alignment, you know, "justify paragraph."
How am I supposed to change all of them?

Thanks a ton for the help.

Dennis Sanchez84 said:I have a quick question regarding Word.

You know, if you're looking to get your Table of Contents to actually line up with those page numbers—without everything looking like a total mess—you can also handle it this way:

First you handle the formatting, then you hit the Tabs, and finally, you just put it right into the field. I’ve been staring at my screen for forty minutes now, just absolutely losing my mind over this one tiny, insignificant setting. It’s the tab stop position. You’d think, wouldn't you, that after decades of software evolution, something as fundamental as where a cursor lands would be intuitive? But no. I was sitting here in my home office—coffee gone cold, by the way, which is just my luck today—trying to format a simple memo. I thought, "How hard can it be? Just hit the tab key." Well, apparently, I was wrong. Big time. Every time I try to align these columns, the cursor jumps around like it’s got a mind of its most chaotic self. It’s maddening. It feels like I'm fighting the software rather than using it. It reminds me of that time I tried to reorganize my entire garage last summer. I had everything planned out, perfectly aligned, only to realize halfway through that I hadn't accounted for the clearance on the heavy shelving units. Total chaos. Same thing here. You think you have control over the layout, and then one little misplaced setting sends the whole document spiraling into an unreadable mess. Is anyone else dealing with this level of frustration, or am I just losing my grip? I feel like I'm pulling my hair out trying to get these indentations to behave. It shouldn't be this much work to make a page look professional. Just type the number you want—say, number 20—into the cell where you want the page count to show up. Then, move over to the input field... Alignment. It’s funny, isn't it? How one little word can cause such a massive headache when you're staring at a screen at two in the morning. I was sitting here, nursing a lukewarm cup of coffee—the kind that tastes more like burnt beans than actual breakfast—just trying to get my columns to behave. You know that feeling? That specific, rising heat in your chest when the software just refuses to cooperate with your vision? I spent nearly forty minutes wrestling with some formatting issues. Forty minutes! I could have driven halfway to Chicago in that time. Every time I thought I had the cells lined up perfectly, something would shift. A margin would jump, a border would vanish, and suddenly the whole layout looked like a disaster zone. It's maddening. Truly. It feels less like using a tool and more like an argument with a brick wall. Anyway, I suppose I'm rambling. I just needed to vent about the sheer frustration of it all. Has anyone else been stuck in this loop lately, or am I just losing my mind over a few misplaced pixels?
Check the alignment before you hit Left, then make sure it's actually set within the field itself. Leader Take a look at what's sitting right there in front of the number. Just check it. 2....
Then you just go ahead and click on... I suppose I should start by saying that setting things up properly from the get-go is half the battle, though God knows most people just dive in headfirst without a single thought for the long-term consequences. It’s like when I was trying to reorganize my entire home office last summer—just a complete disaster zone because I didn't have a plan. I spent three days moving heavy oak desks around only to realize I hadn't even accounted for the power outlets. Absolute madness. Anyway, regarding the setup... you can't just wing it. If you aren't meticulous about how you structure your initial parameters, you're basically asking for a headache down the road. I've seen too many folks try to cut corners, thinking they're being efficient, when in reality, they're just building a house of cards. You need to be deliberate. Take your time. It might feel slow at first, but believe me, the frustration of having to redo everything twice is much, much worse than just doing it right the first time. It's common sense, really, though I know common sense isn't exactly a widespread commodity these days.Alright, fine. Let’s get down to business. Here is how you handle it: you type in your first heading, then hit that Tab key on your keyboard—you know, the one with those two arrows pointing in opposite directions? It’ll spit out those little dots for you. Once those dots show up, just punch in the page number and hit Enter. Then, you just move on to the next heading, hit Tab again, type the page number, and keep repeating that whole cycle until you've finished the entire document. Now, look, I’m basing this on the old version from back in the day, but honestly, most versions should work pretty much the same way. Best regards.

Patrick Sanders91 said:Thanks, it's pretty simple. I fixed it and now it goes d again = and then click on the profit sheet, then the first column with the right click, and then what?
task description
In the Percentage worksheet, calculate the % profit share for each year relative to the total profit. Perform the calculation based on data linked from the Profit worksheet. Display the % data using the percentage category with four decimal places.🤷

Of course it’s easy when we're talking elementary math, but me, a big-hearted American soul, had to grab the chance to act like a genius...

You don't know how to move forward because you're missing one specific piece of info, right?
Total profit.
So, underneath the profit data in your Profit table, you just need to add up all the profits,
say =SUM( B2 : B5 )
or whatever cells you used for that.

Now, just like before, divide the individual profit by that total profit.

Just a heads up: if you're going to drag that first formula down, make sure to use an absolute reference for the total profit sum, like:

=Profit!B2/Profit!B$5 (if the total profit is in cell B5, that $ "locks" the row so it doesn't shift when you copy it down)

Notice how both pieces of data are on the same sheet now? Makes it even easier (unless this task requires a new sheet)

Then just format the result as "Percentage" with the requested number of decimals...

BTW buddy, I've got your back. No shame in learning from a pro, right?

Walter Jackson48 said:You can get those aligned page numbers like this:

Go to Format, then Tabs, and in the Tab stop position field, type the number where you want the page number to show up (like 20). Then, under Alignment
, check Left, and in the Leader field, select option 2....
Then hit Set, then OK. Now: type your first heading, hit the TAB key on your keyboard (the one with the two arrows), and it'll spit out those dots. Then just type the page number and hit Enter. Repeat that for every new heading—TAB, page number, Enter—until you're done. (That was for the old version, but I think it's pretty much the same everywhere). Cheers.

Thanks a ton.
It works.
I'm using the 2007 version in American English, so I couldn't figure out where all that stuff moved to in this newer version.
Honestly, I liked the 2003 version better—way easier to navigate—but hey, we're stuck with the new one now.

So, for anyone using 2007 with the American interface, here's the drill:
Go to Home—>Paragraph—>click that tiny little square icon in the bottom right corner—>Tabs (down at the bottom left)—>put 16 in the first box—>select "Left" and "2....." —>hit Set—>then OK.

Once you type your title, just hit TAB on your keyboard to get those dots, then type the page number.
Just keep doing that until your Table of Contents is finished.

Hey everyone, hope you’re all doing well.

I’ve run into this really bizarre glitch while working in Excel 2010.
Basically, after I’ve been working for a little while, the copy-paste function just stops behaving like it should.
When I click "copy" on a cell, you know that little animated marching ants border that usually shows up? It doesn't happen anymore—the cell just stays highlighted normally. Then, when I try to paste it somewhere else in the workbook, it acts like it's only performing a "paste values." It completely ignores my formulas and formatting, leaving me with nothing but raw numbers.
To make matters worse, if I try to use Paste Special, the usual menu of options is gone; it only gives me the choice to paste as Text or Unicode text.
The weirdest part is that if I just reboot my computer, everything goes back to being perfectly fine, but then after a bit of time passes, the whole headache starts all over again. And just to be clear, it doesn't matter which specific spreadsheet I'm using—it happens in my main files and even when I open up a brand-new blank workbook.
I actually went ahead and ran some diagnostics on the Clipboard to see if some other background process was interfering with my copy/paste commands, but everything there looks totally clean.

Does anyone have any bright ideas on how to fix this?🙂?

Hey there!
Quick question about Word—I inserted a text box, but now I can't seem to change the font at all. Anyone know how to fix this??

velvetviper22 said:Hey there!
I've got a bit of a situation with Word. I dropped a text box into my document, but now I'm stuck—for some reason, I can't change the font at all! It's just completely unresponsive. Anyone know how to fix this??

Are we talking about the style or the actual size? And does it actually look wrong when you print it out on paper?

[QUOTE=Walter Jackson48;40390878]Style or size? Does it happen during a regular printout to paper?[/QUOTE

I mean the font style! Everything looks fine when I print it normally, but once I convert it to text, the box automatically switches everything over to Times New Roman...
I really need a script font; I'm trying to make some invitations...[/QUOTE]

Try typing out some text, highlighting it, and then messing around with the font styles.

So, I’ve got this block of text sitting in Word, but apparently, the diacritics are totally missing—no accents on the letters at all—which is just great, isn't it?
I was wondering if there's some kind of clever little trick or a way to make the program automatically slap those marks back on where they belong?