Click and Type in Word

One of the indispensable but esoteric features of the Word user interface is called "Click and Type."

Click and Type was a feature added to Word 2000 to help make it easier to position text at specific points on the page without needing to hit Enter and Tab a bunch of times to position the cursor manually.

Here's how it works. First, create a new blank document in Word 2000 or later.

Watch your cursor as you move it around the blank page. Depending on the part of the page you are hovering over, you will see a tiny little symbol for left-align, center, or right-align show as part of the cursor.

Whenever you see one of these special cursors, you can double-click to start typing exactly where the cursor is positioned. The miniature alignment icon indicates what kind of text alignment you will get when you start typing.

Generally, when you're near the center of the page, you get center alignment. When you're close to the right margin, you get right alignment. And pretty much everywhere else, you get left alignment.

One of the cool things about this feature is that you can use it to easily create left-aligned, centered, and right-aligned text even within the same line of the document. For example, if you're creating letterhead, you can use Click and Type to put your name in the middle, your phone number on the left side, and your e-mail address on the right side--all within the same line.

Office Online has the full write-up about Click and Type, including pictures of the other more advanced cursors.