- The New File Formats in Office 2007
- Understanding and Choosing File Formats
- Setting Up Office File Storage Locations
- Managing Files and Folders Remotely
- Creating New Files
- Using and Customizing Common Dialog Boxes
- Storing Document Details
- Searching for Office Files
- Working with Multiple Files
- Setting Up Automatic Backup and Recovery Options
- Troubleshooting
- Secrets of the Office Masters: Folder Options That Make Your Life Easier
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Secrets of the Office Masters: Folder Options That Make Your Life Easier
In common dialog boxes, trying to use information in the Type column is an exercise in frustration. Making all file extensions visible is a crude solution to this problem, but Explorer windows don't allow you to sort by this information anyway.
So here's a better idea: Regain control of the file types that you use most often, removing the useless Microsoft tag at the beginning of each one and making extensions visible for selected file types, such as HTML documents, where you might want to edit that change on demand.
Open any Windows Explorer window (the My Documents or My Computer folder is a good choice), choose Tools, Folder Options, and then click the File Types tab. Scroll through the list of registered file types until you reach the Microsoft block, and begin editing each file type. Select a file type (Microsoft Office Excel Worksheet, for example) and click the Advanced button. In the Edit File Type dialog box, remove the unnecessary "Microsoft" from the file type name. Click the Always Show Extension box to ensure that .xlsx extensions are always visible (and editable) in Explorer windows.
Repeat this process for other file types, such as Microsoft Word Document and Microsoft Office Document Imaging File. Now, when you use Details view, you'll really see the details that matter.