Sunday, November 24, 2019

Microsoft Excel Tips & Tricks

Microsoft Office: Excel is an extensive program that can be incredibly helpful when working with tables, spreadsheets, and graphs. It can be a difficult program to learn, as its' functions and capabilities are so vast that new users can quickly become overwhelmed. Here are a few tips and tricks we use in the IT department that can hopefully make life easier for you.

Input The Same Data Into Multiple Cells

If you ever need to input the same thing into more cells than one, there's a simple solution to do it all at once; that way you don't waste time retyping the same thing over and over.

Hold Ctrl while you click on all the desired cells and then type your information into the last selected cell.

After typing your information, hit Ctrl+Enter to automatically place the same information into all selected cells.


Wrap Your Text To Fit The Cell

Have you ever tried to type something in Excel, and for some reason it wants to extend past the cell? There's a simple fix to that as well: Wrapping your text.

Click the cell you wish to use, and type your information into it as normal.

After that's done, click Wrap Text at the top of your screen to fit your text into the cell. (Hint: You may have to adjust the size of the cell to fit lengthy words by dragging the edge to the right.)


Autofill Your Cells

Sometimes you'll find yourself inputting repetitive data such as names, dates, or other numerical information. Excel can detect patterns and fill in the rest of your column, granted the pattern is correct.

After typing in 2-3 cells of your column, Excel should be able to take it from there. Move your cursor over the bottom right corner of the selected cell and it should turn into a black "+"

Click and drag down the desired amount of cells, and Excel will autofill the rest of the cells with data that fits the pattern detected.


Keyboard Shortcuts

Similar to our Microsoft Word blog post, Microsoft Excel has a plethora of keyboard shortcuts that can save you time and effort when using the program. Here's a few that we find useful in our day-to-day excel tasks.


Tyler Parker
Social Media & Marketing Student Assistant
Web & Digital Strategies

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

Microsoft Office Keyboard Shortcuts

Microsoft Word - Tips and Tricks

Microsoft Office is a great tool for typing your papers, resume, or even just taking notes. At the surface, the program can seem simple to use; but there are a lot of hidden features you might not know about.

Here's a quick tip: Be sure to save all your precious files on your ESU OneDrive, to have convenient access to your files from any device.

These are the most convenient keyboard shortcuts that can save you valuable time.

Document Shortcuts
  • Ctrl+N: Create a new document
  • Ctrl+O: Open an existing document
  • Ctrl+S: Save the document
  • Ctrl+W: Close the document
Action Shortcuts
  • Ctrl+Z: Undo previous action
  • Ctrl+Y: Redo previous action
  • Ctrl+C: Copy text/graphic to clipboard
  • Ctrl+V: Paste text/graphic from clipboard
Movement Shortcuts
  • Ctrl+Left/Right Arrow: Move one word to the left/right
  • Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow: Move up or down one paragraph
  • End: Move to the end of the current line
  • Ctrl+End: Move to the end of the document
  • Home: Move to the beginning of the current line
  • Ctrl+Home: Move to the beginning of the document
Formatting Shortcuts
  • Ctrl+B: Bold formatting
  • Ctrl+I: Italic formatting
  • Ctrl+U: Underline formatting
  • Ctrl+Shift+D: Double underline formatting
  • Ctrl+Shift+W: Underline formatting to words only (No spaces)
  • Ctrl+[ or ]: Increase/decrease font size
View Shortcuts
  • Ctrl+Alt+S: Add/Remove split window view
  • Ctrl+Alt+O: Outline view
  • Ctrl+Alt+V: Print layout view
  • Ctrl+Alt+N: Draft view
  • Ctrl+F2: Print preview view
These shortcuts can be incredibly helpful when typing up those last-minute papers that you forgot about. We all know how valuable every minute is when that 11:59 pm due date is coming up fast. Hopefully this article can save you from wasting your time, and maybe even save your grade.


Tyler Parker
Social Media & Marketing Student Assistant
Web & Digital Strategies

Thursday, November 14, 2019

myIT Tip of the Week

Using Adobe Acrobat for Scanning

Did you know that you can use Adobe Acrobat with your scannerYou can bypass using the scanner software and go straight to the Acrobat app. Click on Tools, and open Enhance Scans. 



Click Scan a Document and then click the Start Scan button. Choose your scanner name from the drop-down. Scan using the default settings or choose your scan options. Place your paper on the scanner, then press the blue scan button and save your PDF scan.