Creating Quick Parts in Microsoft Word

 Jun 02, 2015

Quick Parts are a type of building block in Microsoft Word that allow you to insert a ‘standard clunk’ into your Word documents. They are great for ‘bits of a document’ that you want to insert into lots of different types of document.

Building blocks can include pretty much anything you can put into a Word document, such as tables, graphics, symbols, and so on.

How to create a Quick Part in Microsoft Word

  1. Create the content you want save as a Quick Part. Here, I’ve created a standard sign off I finish my emails with. It has a table, graphic objects, hyperlinks, and text.
    quick-parts-01
  2. Select the content you have created.
  3. Go Insert – Quick Parts – Save Selection to Quick Part Gallery…
  4. Change the name of the Quick Part to something a bit more informative than just ‘Regards,’. I’m going to call this quick part ‘Sign Off’. Note: Quick Parts get saved in a file called Building Blocks.dotx. This file lives on you C: drive, so if you switch machines, you may not have access to your Quick Parts.
  5. Click OK.

To insert a Quick Part, simply position the insertion point (the flashing line) where you want the content to appear and then go: Insert – Quick Parts and then choose the quick part to insert it into your document.

AutoText

An AutoText is a specific type of Quick Part that is even quicker to insert. An Autotext is really useful for common phrases or sentences you want to insert.

To create an AutoText, follow the same steps as for a Quick Part but in step 3 go to "Go Insert," Select "Quick Parts – AutoText" and then "Save Selection to AutoText Gallery…".

To insert an AutoText, simply type the first 4 letters of the phrase (not including spaces).

quick-parts-03

Here I’ve created an AutoText for ‘New Horizons Training Centres, Australia’. All I have to do is type the first 4 letters then press "Enter" to have it complete the rest of the phrase. Alternatively, the F3 key on the keyboard is the same as pressing Enter in this case.

I hope that these tips speed up your work in Microsoft Word

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About the Author:

Matthew Goodall  

Matthew is a qualified Microsoft Office Specialist, Microsoft Certified Applications Specialist and a Microsoft Certified Trainer with over 11 years of hands-on experience in a training facilitation role. He is one of New Horizons most dynamic instructors who consistently receives high feedback scores from students. Matt enjoys helping students achieve real professional and personal growth through the courses he delivers. He is best known for creating “fans” of students, who regularly request him as an instructor for any future courses they undertake at New Horizons.

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