A Pleasant Surprise

This has been a nice, evenly paced, "laid back" week around the Wyatt household. It has been a while since I've had one of those, and this one was unexpected. (I like pleasant, unexpected surprises!) I have no illusion that such will continue, but I certainly can enjoy them when they come up.

I hope your week has been good and that you enjoy the tips in this week's newsletter!

—Allen
     

WordTips (ribbon) for 28 February 2026
Hyperlinks
Restrictions on Hyperlinks

Word allows you to add active hyperlinks to your document. If the hyperlinks don't work properly when you follow them, here are some ideas you can try out.

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(Thanks to Michael Avidan (MVP) and Timothy McGowan for contributing to this tip.)

 
Files
Understanding Background Saving

Word has the capability to save your work, in the background, while you continue to edit your documents. This tip explains that capability and shows how you can turn it on or off.

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Become a Mail Merge Wizard

Do you want to become a mail merge magician? Discover everything from the basics to being able to complete all your documentation needs—it's all here! Experience the magic today!

 
Word is a great word processor
Footnotes within Footnotes

Need to add footnotes to your footnotes? It's actually allowed by some style guides, but Word doesn't make it so easy.

Read this tip »

 
Document files
Deleting the Open Document File

Want to delete the document you are currently viewing? Word doesn't provide a way to do it, but you can use the macro in this tip to make the task easy as pie.

Read this tip »

     

WordTips YouTube Channel

Do you like to learn visually? Make sure you check out the WordTips YouTube channel. New videos are added weekly. (I typically try to add them on Tuesdays and Thursdays.)

New video: Inserting and Deleting Footnotes and Endnotes
Footnotes and endnotes are essential in some types of writing. When you need to add them to your documents, you'll appreciate the helpful information in this Quick Tip.

 

New video: Removing a List
If you have lists in your document, either bulleted or numbered, you may want to change them back to regular text at some point. This is easy to do using the same tools you used to create the lists in the first place.

 
     

Help Wanted

This section is for those having problems making Word behave. If Word is giving you fits, feel free to submit your own Help Wanted question.

If you have a solution for the problems below, click the link after the problem to send us your answer. (All responses become the sole property of Sharon Parq Associates, Inc., and can be used in any way deemed appropriate.) If your response is used in a future issue, you will be credited for your contribution to the answer.

 
Aligning Numbered Lists on the Period

When I create a numbered list, Word defaults to left-aligning the numbers, then left-aligning the text that follows (and it always has). Once the number of items in the list goes to more than 9 items, the text is jammed against the numbers. If I go above 99 items, it looks horrible. I can fix this one list at a time, but is there a way to change Word's default behavior to make the numbers in a numbered list right-align on the period after the number?
—David Mission (provide an answer for this Help Wanted question)

 
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