Microsoft Office Information

Most people open Excel and use the default setting as the standard. You can customize this interface to meet your needs so you make your workspace more efficient to your needs. This tip will cover basic setup customizations.

Adding more recent files used:

1. Open Excel
2. Select Tools and then select Options.
3. Select the General Tab.
4. Change you recently used files from the default of 4 to any number less than 10.
5. Click Ok when done

Result of this:
When you select File, you will see a your newly customized list instead of the default 4 items.

AutoCorrect allows you to add your own entries to the existing word dictionary. This is helpful to add your own custom words or specialized spelling to your dictionary.

1. Open Microsoft Word and type Ano.
2. Highlight the n in Ano and select Insert on the menu bar. Select Symbol. Change your font to (normal text) and then the subtype to Latin-1. Locate the ñ. Click on it and select Insert.
3. Press the Enter key.
4. Type the word Ano and press the spacebar.
5. You will notice that it was automatically changed to Año.
6. Highlight Año and select Tools on the Menu Bar. Select AutoCorrect.
7. Under Replace Type Ano. (The newly created Año should be under With)
8. Select Add and then OK.
9. In the future, when you type Ano and press the spacebar, it will automatically be replaced with Año.

1. Open Microsoft Word and type Renee.
2. Type Ren.
3. Press Control key and the ‘ key. (The ‘ key is to the left of the Enter key)
4. Type ee. *You will notice the 2nd e changed to é.
5. Highlight Renée and select Tools on the Menu Bar. Select AutoCorrect.
6. Under Replace Type Renee. (The newly created Renée should be under With)
7. Select Add and then OK.
8. In the future, when you type Renee and press the spacebar, it will automatically be replaced with Renée

AutoFill is used to automatically fill in a series of values. To get access to this feature, enter the first two values in the sequence in two separate cells.  (The cells need to be beside each other either horizontally or vertically.)

Using your mouse, select these two cells.  Now look at the cells you highlighted, you will see a small box in the lower right hand corner.  When you take your mouse and point to that corner, you will see it change to a thin black plus.

While the cells are still highlighted, drag that small box until you have gotten to the end of your sequence.  You will notice that Excel is filling in the values for you.

A quicker way to enter the sequence, is to double click on the box after you have selected the first two values in your sequence.

Below is an example of a double elimination spreadsheet.

These tables are often used to figure of your mortgage payments, interest, principal, or balance regarding a new or existing mortage.  This was a favorite request from my students.  The enclosed templates came from Microsoft.com.

Example one: loan-calculator-amortization-calculator

Example two: loan-amortization-example2