Microsoft Office Q&A: General Discussion (Word, Excel, PowerPoint...)

Timothy Kim60 said:Anyone know?

Just post the download link for that part of the doc so we can actually see what we're dealing with.

Kyle Johnson2 said:Why don't you upload a downloadable snippet of that document so we can actually see what we're dealing with?

Look, just highlight whatever you're copying in Word. For instance, when I grab something from a site like https://www.osha.gov

I ended up fixing it myself—just hit that last click on the icon with the "A" and the eraser to clear all formatting.

I remember being able to set Word 2003 to ignore formatting entirely during a paste, but I finally figured out the modern way to handle it.

Hey, I could use some help here too, even though it looks like this thread has been hanging around forever...
So, here's the deal: I need to put an image on a slide and then layer some text right over the top of it. The problem is, when I go into the picture format settings, I don't see any option for "send to back" or anything like that to get the text in front...
I've already tried messing around with the transparency settings, but absolutely NOTHING is working 😢 basically, how do I actually get text to sit on top of an image?

Chloe Rivera14 said:(so, how do I put text on an image?

("File" -> "New" -> "Blank Presentation" -> "Create"
-> "Insert" -> "Picture" -> pick your image and hit "insert")

-> "Insert" -> "Text Box", click the image, and type.

So, here’s the situation—I’m running into a bit of a snag with a specific formula and could really use some guidance. I assume I’ve landed in the right thread, but please excuse me if I haven't 😉
.

To lay it out clearly, I have data organized in column A (specifically the range A1 : A52) and column B (range B1 : B52). All the values in these columns are whole numbers ranging from 1 to 5.

Here is a quick visual of how the data is structured:
A B
1 1
4 5
3 2
2 3
1 1
2 2
. .
. .
. .

What I am trying to achieve is a formula that counts specific combinations. For instance, how many times do we see:
A=1 and B=1 — looking at the sample above, there would be two such instances where A=1 and B=1.
A=3 and B=2 — that would be one combination.
A=2 and B=3 — and another single combination...

I hope my explanation makes sense so far 😉
. While browsing online, I came across the COUNTIFS function, which seems to be the exact solution for what I'm trying to do—it describes my requirements perfectly—but for some reason, my Excel isn't accepting the formula 🙂 😠
. Does anyone have any insight into why Excel might be rejecting this (honestly, I can't even find it in my list of available functions), or perhaps you could suggest an alternative combination of existing formulas to reach the same result? Essentially, I just need to count how many times a specific value in A pairs with a specific value in B.

Thank you all so much in advance for any help or suggestions you can offer!

Give this a shot: type this formula into C2 (then just drag it down to C52):

=IF(AND(A:A=1;B🙂=1);"a";IF(AND(A:A=4;B🙂=5);"b";IF(AND(A:A=3;B🙂=2);"c";IF(AND(A:A=2;B🙂=3);"d";IF(AND(A:A=2;B🙂=2);"d";""))))).

After that, go into cells D2 through D4 and type out these labels: Komb "a", Komb "b"; Komb "c" and Komb "d".
Then, in E2, put the formula =COUNTIF(C:C;"a"); and in E3, put =COUNTIF(C:C;"b");
For E4: =COUNTIF(C:C;"c") and for E5: =COUNTIF(C:C;"d").

Just a quick breakdown on how that first part of the formula works: Basically, wherever columns A and B both equal 1, we label it "a". Then, that =COUNTIF(C:C;"a") formula simply tallies up how many times those conditions were met—you know, where A and B equal 1 and so on. It might seem a bit convoluted... I remember struggling with similar logic back when I was first learning Excel, and it can definitely feel like you're hitting a wall sometimes if the nesting gets too deep.

Walter Jackson48, thank you so much for getting back to me!

I gave that formula a shot, but I can't quite get it to work—it's just not clicking 😢

The core issue is that I'm actually dealing with 25 different possible combinations based on values ranging from 1 to 5 😢
1-1 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5
2-1 2-2 2-3 2-4 2-5
3-1 3-2 3-3 3-4 3-5
4-1 4-2 4-3 4-4 4-5
5-1 5-2 5-3 5-4 5-5

At this point, honestly, it feels like it might be easier to just count them all by hand—haha 🤣

What's really making my head spin is that I need to tally how many times these specific combinations show up across 51 rows in two columns—and we're talking about nearly 220 almost identical scenarios. Then, I have to present all of that through over 220 pivot tables... 😲

I am still very much open to any suggestions or creative ideas regarding formulas! Truly, any help at all would be greatly appreciated.

Maria Hayes48 said:I'm still totally down for any suggestions or ideas regarding formulas! Any help is huge!

Let's give this a shot.
column A1 : A52 are the first numbers in your combinations
column B1 : B52 are the second numbers in your combinations
In cell C1, pop in the formula =A1&B1 and drag it down to row 52. Now you'll have combined combos (like: 1-1 becomes 11, 1-2 becomes 12, etc.)
In a column—let's say E—put your criteria, which are all your possible combinations (all 25 of them). So, from E1 to E25, just list: 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 31, 32, 33... all the way up to 55.
In cell F1, type =COUNTIF(C1:C52;E1) to count how many times those criteria from column E show up. Drag that down to match your list.
That way, you can see exactly how many of each combo you've got.

Kyle Johnson2, thanks so much!!!

So, this was how I finally managed to pull it off 🙂))

Chloe Rivera14 said:How do I get text to sit on top of an image?

Are we talking about Microsoft Office Word here?

Look, if you're working on a blank page, just paste your picture in there first. Then, head up to the Insert menu and grab a Text box. You’ll want to draw that box right over the image where you want the words to live.
Once that's done, right-click the edge of the Text box to bring up the menu, then go into Format text box. Under the Line and color tab, set the Fill color to No color, and then set the Line color to No line. Hit OK, and you're all set.

Does anyone know how to jump from the top of a page to the bottom in Word without just hitting enter, enter, enter? That's the only way I know... 😁

Take a look at this:http://www.najstudent.com/saveti/Skr...-tastaturi/249

CTRL+PGDN moves you down (+END jumps straight to the end of the doc)
CTRL+PGUP moves you up (+HOME takes you back to the start)

If you're on a blank page, just use the mouse wheel or double-click.

p.s. Sending love to New York City!

Where do I go in Excel to change the default font for comments? Having to manually adjust every single one is getting old.

Linda Fowler84 said:does anyone actually know how to jump from the start of a document to the end in Word without just hitting enter, enter, enter like a total amateur... 😁

You mean jumping to a new page?

If you're trying to start a new page right after your last line of text
use Insert -> page break or if you're using an American version of Word, just hit that command...

Hey everyone!
I could really use some help if anyone knows the fix...
So, here's the deal: every time I open Word, it defaults to landscape mode with tiny margins. It’s like my settings just went haywire on me, and I have to manually fix everything every single time I start a new project. Is there a way to switch the default back to portrait and set my preferred margins so it actually stays that way every time I launch the app?

frozenwolf3 said:Hey everyone.
I could really use some help here, if anyone actually knows what they're doing...
So, here’s the deal: Word keeps opening up in landscape mode with these tiny, ridiculous margins, and frankly, it’s driving me up the wall. It’s like the software has a mind of its own lately. Every single time I sit down to actually get some work done, I have to waste my breath manually fixing the orientation and resetting the margins just to get back to a normal workspace. It’s a massive time-sink and feels completely broken. Is there an actual way to force this thing to behave? I want to switch it back to portrait and set my preferred margins once, and then—this is the crucial part—have it actually *stay* that way. I need a way to save these settings as the default so I don't have to play this repetitive game of catch-up every time I launch the program. How do I make these changes permanent?

Go to File, hit Page Setup, then Margins, select Portrait, set it to Default, and just click OK. If a little pop-up window tries to grill you with more questions after that, don't overthink it—just click 'Yes' and move on.

• If you're trying to mess with your page margins, don't let the software drive you crazy. It’s one of those things that seems simple until you're staring at a screen wondering why your text is hugging the edge like it's terrified of the white space. Basically, if you want to change how much breathing room you have around your text, you need to head over to the Layout tab. From there, look for the Margins option. You can pick one of the pre-set layouts—like "Normal" or "Narrow"—if you're feeling lazy, or you can go into "Custom Margins" if you want to get precise. It’s a bit like adjusting the seating in a movie theater; you either want everyone packed in tight to save space, or you want plenty of aisles so nobody's bumping elbows. Just a heads up: if you start playing with margins too aggressively, especially if you've got images or tables floating around, the whole document might start acting like a glitchy mess. If you're working on something important, just take it slow and check your layout after every tweak.
• Setting up page margins.

frozenwolf3 said:Hey everyone.
I could really use some help if anyone knows how to fix this...
So, basically, Word keeps opening up in landscape mode with tiny margins. It’s like my settings just went haywire out of nowhere! Every single time I start a new document, I have to manually reset everything. Is there actually a way to set it to portrait with my preferred margins and save it so it stays that way every time I open the app?

You can actually make as many templates as you want! Just head over to the Microsoft Office button -> New -> My Templates -> Create New. From there, you can pick everything—margins, fonts, view, whatever you need. Just save it with a name like "Template 1."

The next time you open it, you'll find it right there where you started.

So, I’ve been running into this weird little quirk with my Office Professional Plus 2010—it just won't let me open an Excel file if someone sends it over via email, or even if I download one from somewhere online. It’s driving me a bit crazy! Instead, the only way I can actually get it to work is by launching Excel first, clicking over to the File tab, and then manually browsing for the document... 🙂

I’d probably try reinstalling Microsoft Office, but if the issue was there from day one, I'm not even sure if that would actually fix anything.