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

Kyle Johnson2 said:By default, you should be able to see the attachment filename when you're printing an email. If that’s what you were looking for,



If that doesn't quite hit the mark, why not take a look over here?

I haven't really run into this issue before, and everything seems to work perfectly fine on my 2010 version, though for some reason it's acting up on this one. Thanks so much for the help!

Kyle Johnson2 said:You likely clicked the "mirror letter P" button, which stands for Show/Hide.
Now you're stuck with this mess.

Just click it again to get rid of those "weird symbols." They aren't weird; they actually serve a purpose.😉
That symbol sits right next to the percentage field (check the Word window in the link). It’s impossible to miss since it looks exactly like the paragraph mark.

Fixed it, thanks!
🙂

Kyle Johnson2 said:You didn't mention which version of Word we're even talking about...

Just hit Ctrl + a to select everything, then click the Normal style... simple enough.
If you want to grab just one specific style, go ahead and click the selection option within the styles menu. For instance, if you’re looking for Heading2 =, just hit that selection button to highlight everything tied to it. In Word 2007, you can see how that works in the fifth image...Style selection...Or if you're using Word 2003, just check out the eighteenth picture... At this link....

I’d suggest you go watch some tutorials...
- If you're trying to build a Table of Contents in Word 2003, it's pretty straightforward, though the interface feels like a relic... First, you need to make sure you've actually used Heading styles for your titles. If everything is just plain text, the program won't know what to pull into the list. Highlight your headings, go to the Styles menu, and pick a heading level. Once that's set, head over to the References tab, click "Table of Contents," and pick a style. It'll grab everything you tagged and lay it out. If you change your headings later, don't forget to right-click the table and hit "Update Field" or it'll be useless... simple enough, I guess.
- If you want to build a Table of Contents in Word 2007, here’s how you do it... First, you need to actually use styles. If you don't tag your headings, the program won't know what to pull into the list. Go through your document and apply Heading styles to everything that needs to be included. Once that's set, head over to the References tab. You'll see the Table of Contents option right there. Click it, pick a style, and you're done. Just remember, if you change your headings later, the table won't magically fix itself. You have to manually tell it to update the entire table... otherwise, your page numbers will be useless.

Thanks for the help. I've done this exact same thing countless times before without an issue, so I have no clue why it suddenly decided to glitch on me this time... Managed to get it sorted out though. Thanks. 😉 .

So, like the title says, I really need some help moving a table from Word over to Excel. The guy who had this job before me built this massive table in Word—it’s about 30 pages of data now. I'm taking over the project, but honestly, I just find it way easier to manage tables in Excel, so I'd love to get it moved over, I just have no clue how. 🙂 I tried using paste special, but the formatting turns into a total mess. It's an eight-column table with rows filling up every page, just plain text, no formulas involved. Does anyone know a better way? Thanks. 🙂

Casey Sanchez10 said:Like the title says, I really need some help moving a table from Word over to Excel. The guy who had this job before me built this whole massive table in Word—it’s about 30 pages of data now. I'm taking over the project, and honestly, I just find it so much easier to manage tables in Excel, so I'd love to migrate it, but I'm stuck on how to actually do it. 🙂 I tried using Paste Special, but the formatting turns into a total mess. The table has eight columns and as many rows as fit on a page; it's just plain text, no formulas involved. Does anyone know a better way? Thanks! 🙂

To be honest, it probably won't look identical to the version in Word. The main thing is making sure all the data is accurate and that every single bit of info lands in its "own" cell just like it was in Word. Once that's done, you can always play around with the styling to make it look right. Plus, once you're in Excel, you might realize you can pull out some of those repetitive values and swap them for actual formulas. It's a tiny bit of extra work upfront, but man, the payoff for how much easier your life becomes is totally worth it. 👍

Quick question about Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007.

So, I put together this presentation and set up the rehearsed timings—you know, so the slides just advance on their own. I also tried to get a specific song playing in the background by just going to insert sound.

But here’s the kicker: when I hit F5 to start the slideshow, the first slide pops up, the music starts playing, but the slides just sit there. They won't move. If I manually hit enter, the music cuts out and then the slides finally start moving, but without any music.

When I take the music out—that little speaker icon sitting in the corner of the first slide—the slides behave perfectly fine. It's like one thing is just choking out the other, and I have no clue why. This is driving me crazy because just a few months ago, I did a presentation using this exact same setup and everything worked flawlessly.

I figured maybe the song file was some unsupported format that PowerPoint couldn't handle, but it's just an MP3, so that shouldn't be an issue.

I even opened up that old presentation from before that actually worked and compared all the settings—both for the music and the rehearsed timings—and everything is identical. The only difference is that the old one works and this one is being difficult.

So... help me out here. 😢

I'm trying to set up a border in Word, but I'm hitting a total brick wall here—it's driving me crazy. I need it to be 5 mm from all sides, except for the left side where I need a 20 mm gap... plus, I have to fit a header and some technical specs inside the frame. I tried messing around with Page Borders, but that just isn't working out at all. Using a table gets me close, but only if I draw it manually, which is nowhere near precise enough for what I'm doing. Does anyone actually have a clue how to pull this off properly?

Try using a TextBox (you can find it under Insert, then TextBox), and then just grab the edges on the Ruler to stretch it out to whatever size you need. Or, if you want to be more precise, just right-click the edge of the TextBox, select format TextBox, and set your margins from there.

Look, give it another shot using Borders and Shading. Here’s the drill: first, type out your header, then head straight into Borders and Shading, select Box, and when you get to the Apply to dropdown, make sure you pick Whole document. After that, hit Options (it's right underneath) so you can mess around with the margins a bit—just play with them until it looks right—then click OK, OK. That should wrap your header in a frame. Once that's set, you can go ahead and drop in your tables or whatever else you're working on.
Hopefully, that does the trick for you.

p.s.: This works whether you're running Windows XP or Windows 7.

Alright, I'll give it a shot tomorrow once I actually have some breathing room...

David White8 said:I'm trying to create a border in Word but I just can't get it right. I need it to be 5 mm from all sides, but on the left, I need it to be 20 mm... any tips on how to pull this off?

In Word 2003, you basically have two things to tweak:
1. Set your document margins about 1 cm wider than where you actually want the border to sit. Why 1 cm? Honestly, it just makes life easier, though you could go smaller if you want the text closer to the border. You just have to get the logic down. For what you're doing, try setting the margins to 1.5 cm, with the left margin at 3 cm.
2. On your screen, go to Page Setup, select Layout, then Borders. Pick your Border style, click on Options, set all the margins to 28 pt (which is roughly 1 cm), and make sure to select Measure from: Text.
Hope that helps you get it sorted! 🙂

Jack Hayes said:In Word 2003, you basically have two things to tweak:
1. Set your document margins about 0.4 inches higher than where you actually want that border to sit. Why 0.4 inches? Just because it makes the math easier—you can go smaller if you want less breathing room between the text and the edge. Just get the concept down. In your case, try setting the top/bottom margins to 0.6 inches and the left one to 1.2 inches.
2. On your screen, go to Page Setup, pick Layout, then Borders, select Border, click Options , set all the internal margins to 28 pt (which is roughly 0.4 inches), and choose Measure from: Text.
Hopefully, that gets you moving... 🙂

It worked, thanks! Now I just need to figure out tables and I'm golden. 🙂

I just ran into this incredibly annoying headache—I'm trying to set my margins, right? But I have to set the right margin to exactly 8mm just so the edge of this border frame actually shows up properly. The second I hit "page break," everything goes sideways... the spacing just flips. The left side is supposed to be 20mm (matching the first page), but instead, the right side jumps to 20mm on the second page. And get this—every time I try to fix the Page Setup on the second page, it fixes that one but then completely messes up the first page again. Just a total loop of frustration...

IMAGE

David White8 said:I've run into a bit of a headache while setting my margins. I have to set the right margin to 8 mm just to get this frame edge to show up correctly on the right side. But the second I hit a page break, everything shifts. The left side should be 20mm (just like the first page), but instead, the right side jumps to 20mm on the next page. It’s like a seesaw—whenever I try to fix the page setup for the second page, the first page breaks again.

IMAGE

Take a look at the Pages section within the Page Setup menu. There are four different options in that dropdown, and based on your screenshot, it looks like Mirror margins is currently selected. Try switching it over to Normal instead.

Jack Hayes said:Take a look at the Page selection under the Page Setup menu. There are four different options in that dropdown, and from what I can see in your screenshot, you've got Mirror margins selected... try switching it back to Normal.

Thanks. 🙂

Rebecca Miller4 said:got a question about Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007.

So, I put this presentation together and set up the rehearsed timings—you know, where the slides just move on their own. I also tried to get a specific song playing in the background by just using the "insert sound" option.

But here's the thing... when I hit F5 to start the show, the first slide pops up, the music starts playing, but the slides just sit there. They won't budge. If I manually hit Enter, the music cuts out and then the slides finally start moving, but without the soundtrack.

If I just strip out the music—that little speaker icon sitting in the corner of the first slide—everything moves perfectly fine. So clearly, one thing is gumming up the works for the other, and honestly, I have no idea why. A few months ago, I did a presentation using this exact same setup and it worked flawlessly.

I figured maybe the song file was some weird unsupported format, but it’s just an MP3, so that shouldn't be an issue at all.

I even pulled up that old presentation that actually worked and compared the settings for both the audio and the rehearsed timings. Everything is identical. One works, the other is a total mess.

So... help me out here, please. 😢

Seriously, does anyone actually have a clue?

Rebecca Miller4 said:Is there really nobody who knows how?

Give me an example. Just whip up a quick presentation with a few slides of random filler, toss some music in there, and hit send... Who knows, maybe it'll actually work and you won't even need help after all. ☕

Rebecca Miller4 said:Is there seriously nobody here who knows how to do this?

So, you've been sitting here waiting four whole days for an answer? 😲

If you just type Google -> Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007 play mp3 across slides -> 398000 results into a search bar, you'll see—honestly, any one of those first few video tutorials should get the job done...

Finally managed to get this thing working within the last hour. Took long enough.

Thanks anyway, Nicholas King! 🙂

Greetings. I find myself facing a rather vexing issue regarding how formulas are being displayed within Word 2010. It seems quite inconsistent—certain equations render perfectly fine, while others simply return a Error! message instead of the intended content. Does anyone happen to know the specific setting required to rectify this? Much appreciated.

http://s13.postimg.org/o9og2p2xz/Untitled.png

EDIT: I neglected to mention—and this is a crucial detail—that when I open this exact same document on other computers, everything appears to be in perfect order; the formulas display without any issues whatsoever.