Tuesday, December 3, 2024

How to Hide and Restore the Microsoft Word Ribbon

 Quick Tips

  • Never forget – the “Ribbon Display Options” icon is always at the top-right of your screen.
  • There are simple keyboard shortcuts you can use to temporarily hide and restore Word ribbon access.
  • The Microsoft Word ribbon can be your best friend or an annoying little feature you just want to get out of the way. You need it for formatting, obviously. Every font change or page break comes thanks to that ribbon. However, if you want as crystal clear a view of your Word document as possible, you may want to eliminate it entirely.

    Either way, we have you covered.

We’ll show you how to hide and restore Word ribbon access so you can completely control the icons at the top of your document.

We have a couple of methods for hiding your Word ribbon. One is temporary, with the other being a more permanent fix you’ll have to reverse if you want the ribbon back later.

Method 1. Use the Ribbon Icon

You’ll go digging through your ribbon options with these steps designed to get that ribbon out of your way altogether.

Step 1. Open a new Microsoft Word document and click on the “Ribbon Display Options” icon at the top-right of the screen. It’s between the “Minimize Document” icon and your profile picture.

Step 2. Select “Auto-hide Ribbon” from the list of options. “Show Tab” is also a good option if you just want to see the basic Ribbon tabs without all of the icons that are usually underneath them.

Sunday, December 1, 2024

8 Time-Saving Tips for Excel

 Quick Tips

  • Boost your productivity by memorizing important keyboard shortcuts.
  • Use automated Excel processes like the Pivot Table and Auto Fill to complete tasks.
  • Customize your toolbar to make frequently used tools easier to access.

Excel is wonderfully convenient for newcomers and spreadsheet veterans alike. However, it can take years to master, and even the most advanced power-users still don’t know some of the niftiest time-saving techniques.

Excel does much to make its functions and layouts as streamlined as possible, but it’s often hard to keep track of them all. If you’re looking to pick up some new skills and shortcuts, or are just looking for a quick refresh on some useful tips and tricks, this article has eight time-saving tips for Excel you’ll appreciate knowing.

Know Your Shortcuts

Shortcuts are the lifeblood of Excel, saving you the hassle of digging through menus for every task. Making these keystrokes second nature is a great way to enhance your Excel productivity. Here’s a list of the most important:

  • Ctrl + Home – Go to the beginning of the spreadsheet.
  • Ctrl + Space – Select the current column.
  • Shift + Space – Select the current row.
  • Ctrl + A – Press this once to select an entire data set, and twice to select the entire spreadsheet.
  • Shift + Tab – Move to the previous cell.
  • Ctrl + 0 – Hide the current column.
  • Shift + 0 – Hide the current row.
  • Ctrl + : – Enter the current date.
  • Alt + H + B – Add a border to the current cell or selected cells.
  • F4 – Apply absolute references to a formula.
  • Ctrl + O – Open an existing spreadsheet.
  • Ctrl + W – Close the current spreadsheet.
  • Shift + F9 – Calculate your currently active worksheet.

Use This Clever Workaround to Post Carousels on LinkedIn

 Quick Tips:

  • Carousels are multiple slides of images on a single post that readers can flick through for additional information on a single topic.
  • LinkedIn recently “sunsetted” the feature that allows users to create carousels using images and individual slides.
  • There is a workaround, by using PDF documents which automatically get transformed into carousels in LinkedIn.

Carousels in LinkedIn are slideshows of images that users can swipe horizontally. They allow you to add more information to a single post. Carousels are great for promoting your brand, explaining topics, or raising engagement with your audience.

LinkedIn used to allow members to create carousels using images and videos, however, they took away that function in December 2023. Because of this, only users who pay for advertising space get the option to create carousels in LinkedIn. However, there is a clever workaround — PDFs are automatically changed into carousels in LinkedIn posts. It’s easy to use Canva (or a similar design studio) to create PDFs that look great as slide shows, using the below instructions.

Creating Carousels in LinkedIn Posts: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Open Canva (or use your preferred graphic design tool).

Step 2: Start a new project — look for a purple button with Create a design on it. The poster setting works great for carousels, as it’s in portrait layout and you can add additional pages.

Step 3: Design a basic template so that all your carousel slides will look the same. Add as many pages as you’ll need for this carousel and copy the template design onto all the pages.

Step 4: Add your content to each page exactly as you’d want to see it in a carousel. The slides will appear in the order the pages are in on Canva, so take that into account.
Step 5: Tweak your slides until you’re happy with them, then click the Share button in the top right.




The Vivo X Fold 3 Pro Is My New Phone, Tablet, and Camera – All in One

 

I vividly remember Steve Jobs taking the stage on 29 June 2007 to announce Apple’s latest hardware developments. Addressing a massive crowd with media and fans, he said: “Today, we’re introducing three revolutionary products — an iPod, a mobile phone, and an internet communications device. These are not three separate devices. This is one device. And we’re calling it iPhone.” The rest, as we all know, is history.

I was nine at that time. And while I didn’t understand too much tech, I was blown away by the prospect of a multipurpose tool in my pocket. Fast forward to 2024, a smartphone is as ubiquitous as it can get. I’ve used hundreds of them over the past six years, and most of them have been fantastic. But, I’ve seldom used a phone that has wowed me with the same level of versatility as the first iPhone. Enter — the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro.

Over the past month or so, the X Fold 3 Pro has been my phone, media consumption tablet, and a replacement for my DSLR — all while fitting into my trouser pockets. And it has changed the way I use tech. Let’s unfold the nitty-gritty and tell you why the Vivo X Fold 3 Pro is one of the most well-rounded phones in recent times.


Saturday, November 30, 2024

Use This Clever Workaround to Post Carousels on LinkedIn

 Quick Tips:

  • Carousels are multiple slides of images on a single post that readers can flick through for additional information on a single topic.
  • LinkedIn recently “sunsetted” the feature that allows users to create carousels using images and individual slides.
  • There is a workaround, by using PDF documents which automatically get transformed into carousels in LinkedIn.

Carousels in LinkedIn are slideshows of images that users can swipe horizontally. They allow you to add more information to a single post. Carousels are great for promoting your brand, explaining topics, or raising engagement with your audience.

LinkedIn used to allow members to create carousels using images and videos, however, they took away that function in December 2023. Because of this, only users who pay for advertising space get the option to create carousels in LinkedIn. However, there is a clever workaround — PDFs are automatically changed into carousels in LinkedIn posts. It’s easy to use Canva (or a similar design studio) to create PDFs that look great as slide shows, using the below instructions.




Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra Review: It’s Ultra, but Not for Everyone!

 Samsung has been in the smartwatch game for a considerable time now. Through a series of incremental — and sometimes major — upgrades over the years, it has managed to remain a force to be reckoned with in the wearables segment. Now, with the launch of the Galaxy Watch Ultra, it’s attempting to strengthen its position and take the fight to Apple and its existing line-up of Ultra smartwatches.

We’ve had the Galaxy Watch Ultra with us for a bit now, giving us the opportunity to test it in-depth and figure out if it’s worth the money that Samsung is asking for it. So read on for all that you need to know about it.

The watch has a squircle design and a circular screen within it. Everything about the watch’s material and build quality is premium. The grade 4 titanium body and the sapphire crystal that protects the screen are the best out there and will surely protect you from some basic scratches and day-to-day wear and tear.

Now, the watch and band weigh approximately 90 grams, and I must say that again, the watch is not for everyone. Every time I was working on my laptop, even while writing this review, the watch just sat on the desk instead of on my wrist. I wore it to bed just once to track my sleep and was not able to do so again because of its heft—not even for this review.

Interestingly, the bezels are non-rotating. Yes, they are fixed and it might have to do with the fact that the watch is 10 ATM water resistant for up to 10 minutes and is IP68 rated. So forget about swimming, you can even take it diving.

Can the Hardware Hold Its Own

The Galaxy Watch Ultra is a mixed bag in the hardware department. On the outside, it uses a 1.5-inch OLED display that’s crisp and sharp. Interestingly, it’s also the same display we’ve seen on the Galaxy Watch 6 last year.

This panel is capable of good brightness levels and is also protected by Sapphire glass to protect it from scratches and wear and tear from day-to-day use. Not to anyone’s surprise, it comes with a horde of sensors, including a Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Sensor, an Infrared Temperature Sensor, and an Optical Heart Rate Sensor, to name a few.

To handle such sensors and to improve the functionality, Samsung has used a new SoC underneath the hood—the Exynos W1000. This is a brand-new chipset built using an advanced 3nm manufacturing process.







Three Clever Formatting Tricks to Try in Microsoft Excel



 Quick Tips:

  • Creating workbooks in Microsoft Excel is easier when you can quickly present your data in a visually appealing way.
  • You don’t have to format each cell individually — there are several shortcuts that save you time and effort.
  • Use clever formatting tricks in Excel like the fill handle and number formatting to make your workbooks look slick and professional.

Spreadsheets shouldn’t be dull and dry — if you want people to read them, that is. Learn a few tricks to make formatting your data easy and create Excel workbooks that get engagement from your colleagues.

Formatting Tricks in Excel 1: Using the Fill Handle

Step 1: Open an existing Excel workbook. Here we have an unfinished table showing profits for a small business.

Step 2: You want to complete the Month column, but you don’t want to type each month in manually. No problem, just click cell A2 (January) and hover the cursor over the bottom right corner of the cell. You’ll see a small black plus sign appear — this is the fill handle.

Step 3: Hold the fill handle and drag it down to cell A13 to fill in the months in order. However, if you had hundreds or thousands of cells to fill, this could take time. Instead, you can double-click the fill handle to complete all entries to the end of the table.