Microsoft Word is one of the most-used tools in a law office. While it’s packed with powerful features, you don’t need to become a Word expert to work more efficiently. Sometimes learning just one new shortcut or hidden feature is enough to save time, reduce frustration, and make document drafting a little easier. Here are five quick tips worth adding to your toolkit.

Restrict Editing: Protect Your Drafts

Ever hesitated before sending a draft to a client or colleague because you didn’t want them making changes to the document? Instead of converting it to a PDF or relying on a “Draft” watermark, you can decide exactly what someone is allowed to change, if anything. From the Review tab, select Restrict Editing in the Protect section. A column will appear on the right side of your document with various options for restrictions. You can limit editing to only certain types of formatting, or limit editing to allow Tracked Changes, Comments, Filling in Forms, or Read Only (which prohibits making any changes). Once you’ve made your choice, click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection. If you want to allow editing but ensure readers use the Track Changes feature, click on the Review tab. Then in the Tracking section, click on the down arrow next to Track Changes and select Lock Changes. The default setting allows readers to toggle off Track Changes; Lock Changes requires them to use it.

Clipboard: Copy More, Paste Less

Drafting often involves gathering language from multiple locations, such as emails, statutes, or templates. Rather than repeatedly copying and pasting one item at a time, Word’s Clipboard feature lets you temporarily store up to 24 copied or cut items and paste them when you’re ready. From the Home tab, click on the arrow in the bottom right corner of the Clipboard section. A clipboard will appear on the left side of your document. Copy or cut any text or image, and it will automatically appear on your clipboard. When you are ready to use it, place your cursor where you want it in the document, and click on the item to paste. Keep in mind that the items are not stored after you close the document, so be sure to store them elsewhere if you plan to use them again.

Format Painter: Fix Formatting in Seconds

Gathering language from outside sources often results in inconsistent formatting.  To quickly apply the same formatting, such as font style and size to multiple pieces of text, use the Format Painter feature. Select the text that has the formatting you want to copy. From the Home tab, click on Format Painter in the Clipboard section. Your cursor then changes to a paintbrush. Use the brush to “paint” over the inconsistent text to apply your desired formatting. Need to format text in different locations of the document? Double-click Format Painter first.

Keep With Next: Stop Awkward Page Breaks

We've all seen it—a heading stranded at the bottom of a page or a signature block floating onto the next page by itself. This can disrupt the look of the document and context of the information. Avoid the frustration of endless attempts to manually create the desired spacing. This handy feature allows you to “glue” text together, so it does not become separated by automatic page breaks. To keep a paragraph from splitting onto multiple pages, right click inside the paragraph. Then select Paragraph. At the top of the Paragraph dialog box, select the Line and Page Breaks tab. In the Pagination section, select the Keep lines together check box, and select OK. You can also apply this to the entire document by selecting all text and following the same steps above. If two consecutive paragraphs or a subhead and a paragraph are closely related, you might also want to keep them on the same page. A common example of this is a paragraph above a signature line. Highlight the paragraphs you want to keep together. Right click, and in the box that opens, select Paragraph. In the Paragraph dialog box, select the Line and Page Breaks tab. In the Pagination section, select the Keep with next check box, and select OK.

Keyboard Shortcuts: Save Seconds on Every Document

Every extra click adds up over the course of a busy day. Keyboard shortcuts may only save a second or two each time, but that saved time can add up quickly. Below are some of the most useful options:

1. Ctrl Home/Ctrl End. Rather than scrolling all the way to the beginning or end of your document, simply hit Ctrl Home to get to the top, or Ctrl End to get to the bottom.
2. Ctrl Z. Made a mistake? Hit Ctrl Z rather than clicking the Undo button.
3. Highlighting. Manual highlighting with a mouse or mousepad requires precision and steady hands, often resulting in mistakes and time wasted. Use these options instead:
   1. To highlight a word—Place your cursor inside the word. Then double click.
   2. To highlight the entire sentence surrounding a word—Place your cursor inside of a word in the sentence. Then hit Ctrl and click.
   3. To highlight an entire paragraph—Place your cursor inside of a word in the paragraph. Then hit Ctrl and triple click.
   4. To highlight the entire document—Place your cursor anywhere in the document. Hit Ctrl A.

Microsoft Word is packed with features, but becoming more efficient doesn’t require learning every one of them. Sometimes a few simple shortcuts or overlooked tools can save time in drafting documents, and that can add up quickly over the course of a busy practice. As with many technology tools, small changes in how you work can lead to meaningful gains in productivity.

See this video tutorial for a walk-through of each tip: