Boldface type identifies the names of icons, agendas, URLs and application commands.

Sans serif type indicates instructions and commands that users should type and file names.

For example, if a cell is formatted for Accounting, clicking on the Underline button produces the single accounting underline—stretching from the dollar sign to the number, as shown below. But if it’s formatted for Currency or General, the Underline button produces the single underline with the dollar sign adjacent to the number.

So you see, it’s actually a shortcut; it saves you a step.

Another tip to achieve more control of AutoFill: As you start dragging the fill handle, right-click on it to generate a drop-down menu (see screenshot at right) that lets you select what you want done.

It can be a little tricky unless you’re handy with a mouse, but with a little practice you can gain control of the function and save lots of time.

Q. Sometimes I need to work on two different parts of a spreadsheet at the same time. I know I can split the screen, but how can I view different parts of the worksheet on the screen?

A. You may not realize it, but by splitting the screen you’ve achieved half your goal already. As you know, you can divide a spreadsheet window into two or four panes, which is what Microsoft calls them. The panes can split the worksheet horizontally and vertically.

There are two ways to make the division. One way is to use the divider bars. One is situated in the upper-right corner of the window above the vertical scroll bar and by dragging it, you can pull down a vertical divider. If all you want to do is divide the worksheet in half horizontally, double-click on the small bar and presto, it’s done.

The vertical divider is in the bottom-right corner, to the right of the horizontal scroll bar.

A second way to divide the worksheet is to click on Window in the toolbar and then Split. That divides the sheet into four panes.

Once the panes are established, you can scroll within each pane independently, as shown above.

First, unhide any hidden worksheets and select all in the workbook. A fast way to select all sheets is to click on the first tab and hold down the Shift key as you click on the last one. Then, in the Edit menu, click on Move or Copy Sheet, producing the Move or Copy dialog box. Then, using the To book: drop-down list, choose (new book). Make sure the Create a copy check box is not selected and click on OK.

Now, once again, hide any worksheets you had left unhidden and you have now moved the worksheets to a new workbook without any attached macros.

For example, let’s say you have this array of numbers and you want to change it into a table—it could just as well be a couple of words.

34, 54, 44, 90
22, 32, 56, 33

Highlight the array and click on Table, Convert, producing this screen.

When you click on Text to Table, this screen at right will appear:

Notice that it recognized you needed four columns. Make whatever adjustments you need and click on OK and you’ll produce this table:

When you convert a table to text, you’ll get this screen, giving the option of how you want the text elements separated—by paragraph marks, tabs, commas or something else:

If you highlight all the text of the multiformatted document (Ctrl+A) and press Ctrl+Shift+Z or Ctrl+Spacebar, you’ll remove all explicit character formatting—bold, italic, underline.

If you want to remove any explicit paragraph formatting and return a paragraph to its style-defined defaults—indents, tabs, line spacing—highlight the text and use Ctrl+Q. And if you want to quickly apply the Normal style to text, highlight the text and press Ctrl+Shift+N.

Using Word (to illustrate), find the icon that launches Word and right-click on it, producing a pop-up menu. Select Properties at the bottom of the menu to bring up the Microsoft Word Properties screen (see right).

If you’re not in the Shortcut tab on top of the screen, click on it. Move your cursor into the Shortcut key box, which should read None. Now just press the keyboard letter that you want to engage Word; W is an obvious choice. The shortcut will instantly change to Ctrl+Alt+W. Click on OK and then on Apply. After you close the screen, test your shortcut by pressing the keyboard combination. If you wish to remove the shortcut, repeat the steps, but press the backspace key (an arrow pointing left) in the Shortcut key box.

You can use Ctrl+Alt+E for Excel. You aren’t limited to the letters A to Z; number and punctuation keys also work.

Word: To repeat the last word, phrase or other passage of text you just typed, move your cursor to the location where you want it copied and press F4. The F4 key must be used before you use any other Word command or type any other text.

Excel: If you have multiple spreadsheet workbooks open, you can quickly switch between windows without the mouse by pressing Ctrl+F6. This will cycle you between open workbooks.

Outlook calendar: You can color code important engagements on your calendar by right-clicking on an appointment and then clicking on Labels in the dropdown menu, selecting the color of your choice.

Web site identification: To quickly determine the source of an Internet site, either go to http://www.better-whois.com and enter the URL there, or while at the site with Internet Explorer, click on Tools and Show Related Links.

Excel: A quick way to delete cells: Pressing Ctrl+- (the minus key, either on the regular keyboard or the numeric keypad) launches the Delete dialog box, saving you some mouse clicks.

Because of the volume of mail, we regret that we cannot individually answer submitted questions. However, if a reader’s question has broad interest, we will answer it in a forthcoming Technology Q&A column.

On occasion you may find that you cannot implement a function I describe in this column. More often than not it’s because not all functions work in every operating system or application. I try to test everything in the 2000 and XP editions of Windows and Office. It’s virtually impossible to test them in all editions and it’s equally difficult to find out which editions are incompatible with a function. I apologize for the inconvenience.