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

Hey everyone, how can I adjust the maximum length for footnotes? Right now, half of my footnote keeps spilling over onto the next page, even though I’ve definitely seen documents where footnotes take up more than half a page without breaking

Timothy Kim60 said:Basically, half my footnote jumps to the next page, even though I've seen docs where footnotes take up more than half a page

Not being super clear here. Maybe toss up a screenshot of the issue? In the meantime, try running this VBA macro on the page—but seriously, do it on a copy of the doc first

Kyle Johnson2 said:Your explanation is a bit fuzzy. It might help if you posted a screenshot of the issue. In the meantime, try running a VBA macro on the page, but make sure you do it on a copy of the document first.

It honestly feels like this can't be controlled; it just does whatever it wants. It makes zero sense to me why half of a footnote would jump to the next page when there is clearly enough room on this one—why can't it just automatically nudge everything up slightly (like moving that separator line above the footnotes)? It actually does that sometimes, which is what I want.
Whatever, let it be how it will be.

The point is, I can't believe how buggy, stupid, and illogical this software is. 🙂 It is massively overrated. Is there an actual patch for this? 🤣
I swear, I should just write everything in a plain text document.

For example:
When the text shifts and I try to move it back, a heading will stubbornly insist on sitting four or five lines down. No matter what I attempt, it won't go to the first line; instead, it jumps to the top of the page or halfway down 😠

Then, occasionally, a solid black bar will appear across a whole line—not a highlight, but a total blackout where you can't see anything underneath—along with a million other irritating glitches.

And then, when I'm working on the Table of Contents, I follow every step perfectly http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkyisWIE3kQ only to have a full page of intro text shoved between the first heading and its dots, followed by more dots and then the page number 😕 I simply cannot get a handle on this thing... plus a million other headaches.

Anyway, can someone just tell me one thing: how do I prevent the first couple of pages containing the Table of Contents from being numbered, while starting the numbering at Page 1 on the following pages? Back in Word 2003, I knew how to skip numbering on the first page (even if it took me a minute to figure it out).

Timothy Kim60 said:Look, I don't need a lecture, I just need one simple thing answered—how do I stop the page numbers from showing up on my first couple of pages where the content sits, but have the actual numbering start at 1 on the third page? Back when I was using Word 2003—which feels like a lifetime ago, honestly—I actually figured out how to hide those first numbers, though it was a massive headache even back then.

Just move your cursor to the very end of the second page, go up to the menu, hit Insert, select Break, then Next Page, and click OK.
After that, move your cursor to the beginning of the third page. Go over to View, select Header and Footer, then scroll down into the Footer area. Once that tab opens up, look for the little icon for Format Page Number. In the "Start at" box, set it to 1, then hit OK. Finally, click that first little icon for Insert Page Number and then hit Close. If you did everything right, the numbering should pick up starting at 1 on that third page.
I think I laid it all out correctly there. You'll figure it out.

Timothy Kim60 said:I seriously can't believe how buggy and just plain stupid this software is... it makes zero sense. Someone please just tell me one thing—how do I stop the first couple of pages (where my table of contents is) from being numbered, but have the rest start at page 1? Back in Word 2003, I figured out how to skip numbering the first page, even if it took me forever,

Honestly, I'd say you're either doing something wrong or the program is glitching out because of some setting somewhere.

It’d be helpful if you could upload the first 5 or 6 pages of the doc so we can see what's actually going on.

As for starting the page numbers later in Word, just check out this tutorial. It breaks everything down clearly.

- Page numbering from the third page in Word 2007

Hi,

I have an issue in Excel 2007. I was handed a spreadsheet with a massive amount of data entries. I need to extract how many times a specific value repeats within this table.

It looks something like this:

Person A 15
Person B 15
Person C 16
Person D 25
Person E 33
Person F 15
Person G 25

From this, I am supposed to determine how many 15-year-olds or 25-year-olds are in the population.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

If you’ve got a list of numbers sitting in column B—specifically from B1 down to B10—then just pop this into cell B11:

=COUNT(B1🙂10;"=15") basically tells the software to hunt through that range and count every single instance where the number is exactly 15. It’s pretty straightforward once you get the hang of it.

Walter Jackson48 said:If those numbers are sitting in column B from B1 to B10, just pop this into B11: =COUNT(B1🙂10;"=15"). It'll count every instance of 15 and whatever else you need.

Nah, that's not quite how it works.

The COUNT function uses =COUNT(value1;value2;value3...) or =COUNT(range), which isn't gonna get you what you're actually looking for.

You gotta use COUNTIF instead. The syntax is =COUNTIF(range;criteria)
where the "criteria" is the number of years—you can either type it straight into the formula or link it to a cell.

=COUNTIF(B1:B10;15)
=COUNTIF(B1:B10;E1)

Kyle Johnson2 said:It’s not going to play out quite like that.

You've got a point there. Speed.
I jumped the gun this morning. Too fast.
Appreciate the reality check.

URGENT URGENT URGENT help needed
Rofa is basically making a fool out of me here—he’s actually insisting that I number every single page... easy enough... Every paragraph... easy enough... And now he wants every single line of text numbered too (as if anyone would actually care?)

If you’re looking to build a table of contents, here is how you do it:

First, go through the text you're working on and tag your categories using headings—like Heading 1, 2, 3, or 4. For example, your main titles would be Heading 1, while subheadings for different sections would be Heading 2, and so on, depending on the level of importance.
Then, just head over to the References tab and select "Table of Contents." If things change, you can always update it by right-clicking; you'll see two options there—one just to fix the page numbers and another to refresh the entire table.

George Harris2 said:URGENT URGENT URGENT Microsoft Office

Just get to work ASAP. Professors are always right, there's no arguing with them.

- Table of Contents (TOC)
- Page numbering in Microsoft Office
- Paragraph numbering in Microsoft Office

Kyle Johnson2 said:Just get to work immediately—professors are always right, and there’s really no arguing with them.

- Table of Contents (TOC) numbering
- Page numbering in Microsoft Office
- Paragraph numbering in Microsoft Office

I appreciate the effort... though, honestly, I finally figured it out myself—just a bit of trial and error. You go to File, then Print, and then you just fiddle around with the various layout options under the view settings 😁
Good luck!

Hey there,
so I'm messing around in Word... and I've got a quick question. I want to change the color, but not the actual page itself—I mean the background area. Hopefully, you guys get what I'm getting at. To give you an idea, I'm working in 'print layout' mode, so the page just sits there in the middle of the screen, leaving that ugly background color visible on the sides.

Basically, my page isn't stretched out to fill the whole monitor, so the whole screen isn't white. I'm not looking to change the page color or the font color. I already know how to do all that stuff.
Let me know if that makes sense.

Chloe Adams6 said:I'm trying to figure out how to change the color, but not the page itself—just the background.

For Word 2007 check this link

Hey guys, if anyone is actually following this thread, I could really use some help. Either walk me through how to tackle this assignment or just knock it out for me if you're feeling generous.

Here’s the drill: Open up a new Excel workbook on your desktop and save it as "exam." Rename the first sheet to "assignment." You need to type out the prompt, input the data table, fill in the missing parts, and show all your work using formulas.

Grading scale: 0-5=1, 6-7=2, 8=3, 9=4, 10=5

c= 5

Everything needs to be calculated within a table formatted like this:

I've attached screenshots of the target table and how it should look in Excel.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sc0dpcw5wql5i0j

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/8135/35917281.png

Kyle Johnson2 said:That isn't quite right.

The COUNT function uses the syntax =COUNT(value1;value2;value3...) or =COUNT(range), which won't get you what you're looking for.

You need to use the COUNTIF function, which follows the syntax =COUNTIF(range;criteria)
where the criteria is the number of years, which can be typed directly into the formula or placed in its own cell.

=COUNTIF(B1: B10;15)
=COUNTIF(B1: B10;E1)

Thanks a lot! You saved me... I was trying to use COUNTIF, but being an idiot, I kept putting the criteria before the range.

John Cooper65 said:Hey everyone, if anyone is actually following this thread, could you please do me a huge favor? I really need some help figuring out how to tackle this assignment. Honestly, would someone mind walking me through it or maybe just helping me get it done?

Here’s how you do it: First, open up a brand-new Excel workbook on your desktop and save it as "exam." Once that's done, rename the first sheet to "assignment." Now, go ahead and write out the prompt, input your data table, fill everything in, and then lay out all your work—formulas and all. Simple enough, right?

How should we grade this? Here’s the breakdown: 0 to 5 gets you a 1. 6 to 7 lands at a 2. An 8 is a 3. A 9 earns a 4. And a 10? That's a solid 5.

So, c equals 5? Just like that? Is that really all we're working with here?

So...
Just pop those formulas into cells C4, D4, and E4. You’ve gotta know. I mean, this stuff is like Excel 101. It’s super basic. Instead of messing around with cell references, you can just type "5" directly into the formula. Sure, there’s that other way using the dollar signs to lock things down, but I don't want to overcomplicate things for you right now. Let's just keep it simple, okay?

So, you just pop the formula right into cell F3. Simple enough, right? Ever wondered how to handle a negative number when you're trying to find its square root? If you just run a standard formula, Excel is going to throw an error at you. It’s frustrating, right? The trick is to wrap your cell in the ABS function first. By using `=SQRT(ABS(C3))`, you're basically telling the program, "Hey, just look at the absolute value here." It strips away that pesky negative sign, turns the number positive, and then lets the square root calculation go off without a hitch. Simple, effective, and saves you from those annoying error messages! The term "anti-lock braking system" just works... I mean, there isn't really a better way to describe preventing that negative braking effect, right? 🙂
So, you just drop the formula right into cell G3. Simple enough, right? Ever wonder how to just grab the square root of a cell? It's actually pretty simple if you use this formula: `=SQRT(F3)`. Just pop that into Excel and you're good to go! Simple, right?
I wasn't really sure what was supposed to go in cell H3, so I just took a wild guess. Is that okay? Is there anything more satisfying than a quick little formula hack? Just `=F3&"©"`—simple, clean, and gets the job done. Sometimes you just need that tiny bit of automation to make things click, right?
Once you've finished typing all those formulas into cells C3 through H3, just highlight that whole range with your mouse. See that little black cross that pops up in the bottom right corner of cell H3? Just grab onto that and drag it down. Simple enough, right?
So, you just right-click on Sheet1, hit rename, and type in whatever you want. Simple enough, right? A task? Just one little task?
Once you're totally finished, just hit "Save As" and type in... An exam? Seriously? Just when you think you've finally caught your breath! And what about the storage location for the destination desktop? For instance, on my machine, the desktop sits right under the Favorites folder.

Come on, put a little more effort into this and just see it through to the end.
See ya!

I pretty much figured this out the second I took a closer look at it, mostly because things were moving way too slow, but I appreciate you stepping in to help me out 🙂

I'm working on putting together a massive list in Excel, and I have a quick question...
how do I, for example, select cells A2, B2, C2, and D2 so that when I start scrolling down through my data, those specific rows stay pinned right at the top? I hope you guys catch my drift.