Tag: Microsoft Office

If you need to make a presentation based off of something you’ve written, why not kill two birds with one stone and turn your Word document into a PowerPoint presentation?

When it comes to making a public presentation, PowerPoint remains the industry standard. Luckily, Word does the same for word processing software. Here, I’ll show you a little trick that’ll help you take advantage of two of Microsoft’s most used programs in its Office suite: converting a PowerPoint into a Word document (and vice versa).

1. Open a new PowerPoint presentation

Open a new PowerPoint presentation and then go to the Insert tab. On the left you’ll find the New Slide icon. Click on it.

2. Choose Slides from Outline

In the drop-down menu that appears, select Slides from Outline to import the contents of a Word document as slides.

You can also change the theme of the presentation using the default themes provided.

3. Select document

Select the Word document you want. PowerPoint will then import the different headings within the text, which have been formatted using the Heading styles. The images and the text of the document will not be automatically added to the presentation.

4. Copy & Paste

To finish importing the document, all that’s left to do is copy and paste the images and text from the Word document to the presentation. How? The easiest way is to have the two documents open side by side, and manually copy and paste the contents.

5. Save as PowerPoint

All that’s left to do now is save the presentation in pptx format, PowerPoint’s default format. To do this go to File, then click Save as and then finally Computer. And there you have it, your PowerPoint document is finished and ready to be presented to your audience.

One last tip: To do this operation in reverse, that is to say, quickly turn your PowerPoint presentation into a Word document, click on File and then Save As. Change the output format and choose Outline / RTF. Once it’s saved on your PC, you can simply reopen the document and edit it in Word.

Check out some more Office tips:

Office Tip: add page numbers to your Word document

Office Tip: how to type multiple lines in an Excel cell

Office Tip: type faster by replacing one word with another

Office Tip: access your Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents online

Office Tip: use tabs in Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Office Tip: restore or minimize the Ribbon interface in Word and Excel

Originally published in French on Softonic FR.

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Did you know that you can actually type faster in Microsoft with the Find and Replace function?

As part of our Office Tips series, I’ll show you a little trick that’ll help you type faster by replacing a few letters with a complete word using the Find and Replace function.

1. Specify abbreviations

Before typing up your document, you need to specify which abbreviations you want to use and for which words. In this example, I’ll shorten the term Softonic International to Sint and then replace it, once the text is written.

My advice: choose a set of letters that is unlikely to appear in other words. For example, you can type xxx for the phrase return on investment or any other expression that comes up frequently in the document. xxx is very quick to type, and that particular sequence of letters isn’t likely to appear in other words.

Of course, you can use multiple abbreviations to represent different words or phrases in a single document. This is even more effective when you need to type long words or expressions.

So, as you can see below, I chose to type in Sint for Softonic International. The term appears twice in the text.

2. Find and replace

Once the document is written, press Control + H to bring up the Find and Replace menu.

In the first box marked Find what, type in the expression that you want to replace– in this case Sint.

In the second box marked Replace with, enter the word or words you want to replace it with– in this case Softonic International.

Then hit Replace all to change all occurrences of the word in that document.

3. Replacements

A pop up menu tells you the number of replacements made. Click Yes to scan the entire document.

In this case, there were only two, and they’ve been properly placed.

Not only does this save time, it can also prevent spelling errors for words or names that you commonly misspell. And just like that, you’ll be able to write a text quicker and with less errors (hopefully).

In the next episode of the series, I’ll explain how to write multiple lines in a single Excel cell.

Check out all of our Office Tips:

Office Tip: Add page numbers to your Word document

Office Tip: Access your Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents online

Office Tip: Restore or minimize the Ribbon interface in Word and Excel

Office Tip: Use tabs in Word, Excel and PowerPoint

Follow me on Twitter: bbrassart

If you happen to be away from home but need to access a Microsoft Office document, you can use Office Online. It’s a really practical solution for keeping all your documents close and editing them from any computer with an internet connection.

When I was a student, I always carried a USB stick with me. Today, if you look through my bag, you won’t find anything that resembles removable storage. These days, I edit my Office documents with Office Online, a Microsoft web app that synchronizes with the different programs in Microsoft Office.

Here’s how to use Office Online.

1. Save documents

Save documents to OneDrive so that you can access them later.

Once you’ve completed your Word document, Excel spreadsheet or PowerPoint presentation, click Save As. You’ll be given three options: OneDrive (Microsoft’s online storage), Computer (to save locally,) and Add a place (for using Office 365).

Choose OneDrive, then Sign in.

2. Create a Microsoft Account

If you don’t have a Microsoft account, you can create one on this page. A Microsoft account includes your OneDrive storage, an Outlook email address, and the ability to sync your PC or smartphone with your account.

3. Connect to OneDrive

By connecting your OneDrive account to Microsoft Office 2013, you can save all your documents to the Microsoft cloud in just one click.

4. Access Office Online

How can you edit these documents on another computer?

Once you’re on another PC or Mac, open the web browser, go to the Office Online home page, click Sign in at the top right, and enter your email address.

5. Log in

Enter your account details and log in.

6. Edit documents

This is where you will be able to edit all of your Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents. Select the icon of the program you want to open.

Then choose Recent documents on OneDrive, open the document you want, then edit it by going to Edit document, and then Edit in Word Online.

You’ll find that the interface is very similar to Office 2013; the only difference is that it’s in the browser. Your documents will be automatically saved. In other words, when you’re back on your PC, you’ll be able to find the most recent versions of any texts, spreadsheets, or presentations you may have tweaked in the web browser.

Check back for our next office tips, where we’ll give you info about page numbering.

Related Articles

Office Tip: Restore or minimize the Ribbon interface in Word and Excel

Office Tip: use tabs in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

PowerPoint: 6 essential tips for creating the perfect presentation

Follow me on Twitter: @bbrassart

Over the years, I’ve learned a few simple tricks using Office, and none have come in handy as much as Office Tab. I can’t count the number of times I’ve dreamed of being able to use tabs with Microsoft Office. I was convinced that it was impossible to open multiple files in one window. Then, I discovered Office Tab.

How does it works? Once installed, if you double-click on a Word document while another one is already open, the program adds a tab to the Word interface instead of creating a new window.

The demo version is free for 30 days, and it comes in two versions: Office Tab, which is compatible with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and Office Tab Enterprise, which works with all Microsoft Office software packages.

1. Download and set-up

Download Office Tab and follow the installation process. In the Select products window, if you use an older version of Microsoft Office, check the first box only. If you’ve already purchased Office 2013, choose the second option, then confirm by clicking Next.

2. Select destination

Select the destination path, then select the components you need: Office Tab for Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. I advise you all to install all of them since the files are small.

3. Close and install

Close all windows in Word, Excel, and any other program in Microsoft Office before proceeding with the installation.

4. Customize

Finally, after installation is finished, Office Tab takes you directly to the Office Tab options control panel.

In this panel, you can customize how you’d like these plug-ins to behave. If you explore a little bit, you’ll find a few interesting features.

5. Access tabs

Below is a screenshot of Word 2013 before and after you install Office Tab. The second image shows the same thing, but with Excel 2013.

In any case, notice that the ribbon interface has been changed. A new section, located at the top right, appears on the screen. Tabs that allow you to juggle between documents are placed just below the ribbon.

Now, you can comfortably navigate Office with multiple documents in a single window using tabs.

Although the free trial lasts only 30 days, if you’re a big user of Office products (which let’s face it, many of us are), then it’s a great solution.

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Follow me on Twitter: @bbrassart