Are You Still Using Microsoft Word Like It’s 2010? These Modern Features Could Change How You Write.

Stop using Word like it’s 2010 — these modern features will change everything

Is Your Microsoft Word Missing Out on Modern Features? Here’s How to Upgrade Your Writing Experience.

Microsoft Word has come a long way since its first release in the 1980s. With each new version, powerful tools are added to help you write more effectively. Features like customizing the ribbon, removing image backgrounds, and collaborating in real-time have been around for a while and are very useful. However, if you are still using Word the same way you did in 2010, you might be missing out on some modern features that can make your writing process much smoother.

The Editor Pane: Your Personal Writing Coach

For many years, Word’s spell checker was a basic tool. We all recognize the red squiggly lines under misspelled words, and sometimes, the program would automatically fix common mistakes. For example, typing “teh” would instantly be corrected to “the.”

Today, Word’s capabilities go far beyond simple spell checking. The Editor pane is a powerful feature that not only catches spelling errors but also identifies grammatical mistakes. It acts like a personal writing coach, offering suggestions to improve your document’s clarity, conciseness, punctuation, and vocabulary. For those with a Microsoft 365 subscription, the Editor can even scan your text and compare it to online sources, helping you avoid accidental plagiarism.

How to Use the Editor Pane

To get started with the Editor, look for the Editor icon in the Home tab of the ribbon and click it. Alternatively, you can right-click a word underlined in red and select See More or Editor from the context menu. Once you open the Editor pane, you will see a list of categories with a count of any issues found.

• Spelling: Click this option to review any spelling mistakes. Word will provide suggested corrections. You can choose one of the suggestions, or if the word is correct, you can select Ignore Once, Ignore All, or Add to Dictionary.
• Grammar: This section highlights grammatical errors in your text. You can accept the suggested correction, click Ignore Once, or choose to Stop Checking For This particular issue.
• Refinements: Under this heading, you will find suggestions for improving clarity, conciseness, punctuation, and vocabulary. These tips can help make your writing more polished and professional.
• Similarity: If you have a Microsoft 365 subscription, you can use the Check For Similarity to Online Sources feature. This tool scans your document and compares it to content available online to ensure your work is original.
• Document Stats: For a detailed overview of your document, click the Document Stats button under Insights. This will show you information such as word count, character count, and readability scores.

Dark Mode: A Comfortable Writing Environment

For a long time, the writing page in Word was always white. While you could change the page color, this would alter the final document’s appearance rather than just the writing interface. In 2021, however, Word introduced a full Dark Mode. This feature not only darkens the ribbon and toolbars but also turns the document background black.

Using Dark Mode can be easier on your eyes, particularly in low-light environments. Some people also find it less distracting, allowing them to focus more on their writing. If you prefer a dark interface but a white page, Word gives you that option as well.

How to Enable Dark Mode on Windows

To turn on Dark Mode in Word for Windows, you need to set the Office theme to Black. After that, you can use the Switch Modes button to toggle between a black and a white page.

1. Click the File menu.
2. Select Options at the bottom of the left-hand menu.
3. In the General tab, find the Office Theme dropdown menu.
4. Choose Black from the list of options.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

To change the page color while in Dark Mode, go to the View tab and click the Switch Modes button. This button is only visible when the Black Office theme is active.

How to Enable Dark Mode on Mac

To use Dark Mode in Word on a Mac, you need to adjust your Mac’s system-wide appearance settings.

1. Open System Settings.
2. Select Appearance from the left-hand menu.
3. Choose Dark to use Dark Mode all the time or select Auto to switch between Light and Dark Mode based on the time of day.

Word will now appear in Dark Mode. If you want to disable Dark Mode for Word while keeping it on for the rest of your Mac, you can do so in Word’s preferences.

1. Go to Word > Preferences > General.
2. Under the Personalize section, you have two options:
   • Turn Off Dark Mode: This will completely disable Dark Mode for Word.
   • Dark Mode Has a White Page Color: This keeps the interface dark but makes the page color white.

How to Enable Dark Mode in Word for the Web

If you use the online version of Word in a browser, you can turn on Dark Mode directly from the ribbon.

1. Select the View tab.
2. Click the Dark Mode button to toggle between Light and Dark Mode.
3. While in Dark Mode, you can click Switch Background to change the page color between white and black.

Paste Text with Smart Formatting

In the past, copying and pasting text from other sources into a Word document could be frustrating. The default setting was to keep the original formatting, which often resulted in text appearing in a different font, size, or color. On the other hand, the “Keep Text Only” option would strip all formatting, which was also not ideal.

Recent versions of Word have introduced a much better default option called “Merge Formatting.” When you paste text from an external source, this feature automatically matches the font, font size, and color to your document’s existing style. However, it preserves other formatting such as bold, italics, underlining, and bullet points. This saves you the time and effort of reformatting pasted text.

Customizing Your Paste Options

While “Merge Formatting” is helpful in most cases, you may sometimes need a different paste option. You can change the default paste setting to better suit your needs.

1. Click the File menu.
2. Select Options at the bottom of the left-hand menu.
3. Choose Advanced from the Word Options menu.
4. In the Cut, Copy, and Paste section, click the dropdown menu for Pasting From Other Programs.
5. Select your preferred default paste option from the list.

Changing the Paste Option on the Fly

If you only need to use a different paste option occasionally, you can manually select it when you paste your text.

1. Paste your copied content using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V.
2. Click the Paste Options button that appears or press the Ctrl key.
3. Hover over each icon to see a preview of how your pasted text will look.
4. Select the icon that corresponds to the paste option you want to use.

Embrace the Modern Features of Word

Microsoft is constantly updating Word with new features, and it can be hard to keep up with the latest changes. The tools mentioned above are just a few of the valuable updates that have been introduced in recent years. By exploring Word’s modern capabilities, you can discover even more features that will help you write more efficiently and professionally. Take some time to familiarize yourself with these tools, and you may find that they completely change the way you work.