Why does formatting sometimes get messed up when you cut and paste text? And what is that thing that appears at the end of the last sentence every time you paste-like a fly returning to honey.

That thing--the Paste Options button--is your friend, a worker bee and not a fly whose only job is to follow your formatting instructions. Learning how it works keeps you from wasting time manually formatting pasted text.

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I want my Valentine's Day card to be as special as the special someone I'm giving it to, and I'm not so good with scissors and glue.

So I'm going to start with a template from Office.com, and then I'm going to customize my card, make it more personal.

First, I find a template...

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The Word 2010 gallery makes adding a basic table of contents quick: Click the References tab, click Table of Contents, and then click the gallery table of contents you want.

But what if you want more? What if your table of contents needs to provide different information--more levels, or fewer levels? What if you want a table of contents at the beginning of each chapter? What if you want to change the font?

Here are some of the ways you can customize your table of contents.

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Just at the beginning of starting a business? Or mulling over an idea for one? Knowing how to structure and write a business plan is essential to testing your tantalizing idea against the marketplace. Author, influencer, and venture capitalist, @Guy Kawasaki, partnered with Office Web Apps team to show you how to write an effective one in Microsoft Word : Get tips straight from an expert, and download his free guide from SkyDrive. And, one other thing: using the Word Web App makes it easy to share...

Sometimes all it takes to get your world under control is checking off tasks on a list. Office.com has lots of already-made checklist templates to meet your needs, including those for general projects, travel planning, or daily tasks. But if you're a Type A personality, making your own list is the first step to regaining control. Word can help.

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It's hard to believe that it's 2012 already! Now it's time for this year's calendar to keep track of dates and plan your days. We have some wonderful new Word calendars to help you do just that.  All of these calendars take advantage of familiar Word 2010 features to let you design your own calendar. For example, you can Use themes and change colors to give the calendar's border a different look.

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For our last blog post of the year, we took a look back to see which ones you read the most. It’s no surprise that the top five were tips—the shorter the better for reading at work.

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'Twas the night before… the children nestled all snug… and you've got gifts to wrap before your long winter nap. Bright, shiny presents with no tags.

No problem. Word has gift tag label templates that you can customize or just print out and fill in.

You can also find templates for gift certificates (personalize a few for some snow-shoveling sessions) and thank you cards.

Let the festivities begin!

-- Joannie Stangeland

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Buy holiday lights. Check. Decorate the house. Check. Send out holiday greetings. Oh no! Never fear. This weekend is not too late to complete the holiday card or newsletter that you've been meaning to get out the door since Thanksgiving. If you want your cards to be displayed on living room mantles and not in email inboxes, start with a Word template and the right card stock.

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Broader access to content is important in today's information-rich world. Microsoft Word 2010 is a critical tool for content creation. We're happy to announce that a new accessibility add-in for Microsoft Word 2010 is now available. Save as Daisy for Office 2010 makes working with Microsoft Word easier for people with print disabilities, and so helps them better meet their information needs.

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