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This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

10 Minute Guide to Microsoft Office XP10 Minute Guide to Microsoft Office XP

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This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

10 Minute Guide to Microsoft Office XP10 Minute Guide to Microsoft Office XP

Learn More Buy

Using the Ask a Question Box

The Ask a Question box is a new way to access the Office Help system that Microsoft Office XP provides. It is also the easiest way to quickly get help. An Ask a Question box resides at the top right of every Office application.

For example, if you are working in Excel and would like to get some help with Excel functions, type functions into the Ask a Question box. Then press the Enter key. A shortcut menu appears below the Ask a Question box, as shown in Figure 3.1.

Figure 3.1 The Ask a Question box provides a list of Help topics that you can quickly access.

To access one of the Help topics supplied on the shortcut menu, click that particular topic. The Help window opens with topical matches for that keyword or phrase displayed.

In the case of the "functions" question used in this figure (which was really just a keyword; you can type more complete questions into the box, such as How do I format numbers?), the Help window opens and displays a list of the Excel functions by category (see Figure 3.2).

Figure 3.2 The Ask a Question box provides a quick way to access the Help window.

In the Help window, you can use the links provided to navigate the Help system. You can also use the Contents, Answer Wizard, and Index tabs to find additional information or look for new information in the Help window. You learn more about these different Help window tabs later in this lesson.

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Last Update: November 17, 2020