Weekly Computer Tip # 150
8 April 2006

speed up saving files with similar names (Microsoft Office)

Even if you've used Microsoft Office for ages, you may not know everything. Does "How did you do that?" sound familiar? Well, I recently watched somebody (hello, Emma!) save a file with a pretty long name on her computer, yet it only took her a split second. She used a neat little trick for reusing an existing file name.

Here's how:

1. Create your file as normal.
2. On the File menu, click Save As.
3. In the list of file names, click on the file that has a similar name.
4. Tweak the file name in the File name box.
5. If necessary, save the file in a different folder or click the Create New Folder button to save the file in a new folder.
6. Click Save.

This is particularly useful when you save, say, weekly reports with long file names such as MyWeeklyReport080406. Next week you can save yourself some time by using the procedure as described above. Thanks for the inspiration, Emma!

Until next week.

PS I’m committed to sharing the best of what I know with others so please don’t keep me a secret. If you enjoyed today’s tip, please forward it to anyone you feel may benefit. Alternatively, feel free to reprint it (with full copyright and subscription information) in your newsletters and message boards.

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