Microsoft’s Office 365 suite is considered the gold standard in the industry. The products such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneDrive have a long list of features and powerful functions to meet the needs of students, professionals, and casual users. Especially, Microsoft Word, which the users commonly refer to as a writing tool, is more capable of simple text, images, and videos. The software even lets you add special characters, math equations, 3D characters, and more. Microsoft wants to centralize the Word as the ultimate place to brainstorm ideas and concepts with various graphs, Wiki integration, Researcher, Smart lookups, and more. In this post, we are going to talk about how to add symbols, special characters, smart art, watermark, and more to a Word document for better personalization. Let’s get started.
1. Insert Special Characters and Symbols
When writing a document, you might get struggle to add special characters that are often missing on a traditional keyboard. Thankfully, Microsoft has added support for it. You can go to Insert menu > Advanced Symbol and add a bunch of symbols and special characters from the menu. Some of the most common ones include Trademark, Registered, Paragraph, and Copyright symbols. As for symbols, one can choose from various fonts as well. In short, there is something for everyone, and you won’t have any problem finding that one special character.
2. Add Math Equations
Office apps are popular in schools and colleges too. Students are one of the focus groups for Microsoft. And that’s why you will find Math equation integration in OneNote and Word. Go to Insert and tap on the down arrow on the Equation menu to reveal the built-in equations and add them to the document. They include the most famous ones, such as Area of a circle, Fourier Series, Pythagorean Theorem, and more. One can also add an equation by tapping on the Pie icon in the Insert menu. It includes Matrix, Radical, Script, Integral, and more.
3. Add Icons
Microsoft has integrated a dedicated section of icons to flavor up the appeal of the document. Just go to Insert > Icons, and the sidebar will let you add various icons to the document. They are organized by categories and has a search bar to find an icon without scrolling to it. You can drag and drop an icon and then alter the characteristics of the icon by changing border color, size, filling up colors, and more.
4. Add 3D Characters
I’m using the Microsoft Word on macOS. And to add a personal touch in a document, I sometimes use the universal keyboard shortcut (Control + Command + Space) to open an emoji picker menu. Microsoft has gone ahead and added the 3D Models to implement in Word software. They look and feel better than a standard two-dimension emojis. Just tap on Insert > 3D Models, and the side menu will let you choose from the hundreds of 3D Models. They are organized by categories such as Emoji, Chemistry, Physics, Furniture, Avatars, and more. The search bar makes the process even easier to find the perfect model.
5. Insert a SmartArt
Microsoft Word already supports a plethora of graphs and charts to analyze data. It also offers a bunch of ways to present data through the process, cycles, pyramids, and more. You can go to Insert > SmartArt and choose from the options such as List, Matrix, Relationship charts, and more. You can add them to a document based on the requirement. Normally, people use SmartArt in PowerPoint, but in a rare case, you might want to implement SmartArt in Word too.
6. Apply Watermark
Preparing an NDA or a confidential document? You might want to add the Copyright icon (from step 1) and watermark with a confidential tag. Microsoft Word offers the ability to add Watermark a document with dozens of customization options. From the Ribbon bar, go to Design and tap on the Watermark menu at the upper right corner. Users can choose either a picture or a text as a background in the Word document. One can simply choose a picture from the computer. In terms of text, you can mess with the font style, color, position, transparency, and more. The company has nailed the customization here.
7. Use Wikipedia Add-in
When writing a research paper or essay, users might want a helping hand from Wikipedia. Switching between Microsoft Word and Wikipedia in the browser might slow down the productivity and overall flow. Thankfully, Microsoft has integrated a Wiki Add-in to look for the detailed information quickly. The Add-ins section in Insert menu lets you access the built-in Wikipedia to access the information on fingertips. It will open the side menu and let you search the term. The results are the same as the ones that appear on the web. You won’t have to switch between windows to add information.
Use Microsoft Word Like a Pro
As you can see from the list above, Microsoft Word is more than a bare document creator. It lets you add math equations, special characters, icons, 3D models, watermarks, and much more. The company also has integrated Wikipedia and Resume Assistant from LinkedIn to make professional-looking CVs in a hurry. In short, there is something for everything. Tell us, which feature are you most looking forward to using in the Microsoft Word? Next up: Microsoft also offers a solid Word Online for the web. Read the post below to find tips and tricks about it. The above article may contain affiliate links which help support Guiding Tech. However, it does not affect our editorial integrity. The content remains unbiased and authentic.
