As you transition into the rhythm of 2026, resolving to make your software work for you is one of the easiest ways to reclaim time in your day. Whether you try one or all of these quick tech tips and tricks, you’re sure to find something to make your daily law practice run a little more smoothly.
Want more tricks like these? Check out Affinity Consulting Group’s legal-specific software manuals.
Managing Your Email, Calendar and Tasks
1. Open Your Calendar in a New Window
You can have your inbox on one screen and your calendar on another by opening your calendar in a new window. Right-click on the calendar icon and select Open in New Window.
2. Stay Focused With My Day
If you use Microsoft To Do as your task list, add today’s most important tasks to the My Day smart list to keep yourself focused on what matters most each day. My Day starts over with a blank list every morning, letting you intentionally choose your immediate priorities.
3. Show Your Calendar Next to Your Inbox
View your calendar and email side by side with the To-Do Bar in Classic Outlook (View Ribbon > To-Do Bar > Calendar) or My Day in the New Outlook.
4. Dictate Everything
Use Windows + H to open up the built-in Dictate tool and dictate text anywhere you can type.
5. Drag and Drop Emails to Appointments and Tasks
In Classic Outlook, you can drag and drop emails onto the calendar or task icons to instantly create appointments and tasks based on that email. In the New Outlook, simply drag and drop emails directly onto the My Day panel.
6. Process Email Faster With Quick Steps
Create custom quick steps to cut down on the amount of time it takes you to process email. Quick Steps let you combine multiple recurring actions—such as replying, forwarding, and filing—into a single, satisfying click.
7. Automatically Process Emails With Rules
Set up custom rules to let Outlook automatically process your email for you
and keep your inbox clear.
Drafting Documents
8. Double-Click on the Format Painter
The format painter is an easy way to copy formatting from one part of your document to another. Click in the text with the formatting you like, then select the text to be formatted. To apply that exact same formatting to multiple selections across a document, double-click on the format painter icon. (Click it again or hit Esc to return to your normal cursor).
9. Spell-Check Uppercase Words
By default, Microsoft Word and Outlook do not spell-check words written in all caps. That means your pleading titles and major headings are completely ignored! Under the File menu, click on Options. On the left-hand side, click on Proofing. Uncheck the box next to Ignore Words in UPPERCASE.
10. Customize the Microsoft Office Quick Access Toolbars
Add frequently used commands to the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) to get one-click access no matter which ribbon tab you are currently working on. Simply right-click any button in the main ribbon to add it to your QAT.
11. Stop Word From Grabbing Your Mouse
Word natively wants to help you select entire words and the trailing space after them. Stop Word in its tracks by opening Options from the File menu. On the left-hand side, click Advanced, then uncheck “When selecting, automatically select entire word.”
12. Show the Ruler
The ruler shows your document’s margins, indents, and tab stops at a glance. To turn it on, go to the View ribbon and check the box for Ruler.
13. Use AutoText as a Clause Library
For legal text or boilerplate language that you type all the time, create an AutoText entry. Select the text you want to reuse. Then, on the Insert ribbon, click the Quick Parts button. Under AutoText, select Save Selection to AutoText Gallery. Once added, you can quickly deploy these quick tech tips for drafting by pulling from the gallery in any new document.
14. Type “(c)” Without Getting ©
15. Redact With Confidence
If you use professional PDF editing software, ensure you are properly burning out sensitive text. If the tool you’re using isn’t explicitly named Redact or Redaction, it isn’t permanently removing the underlying metadata. Use the true redaction tool to guarantee that nobody can uncover the redacted content.
16. Export Documents to PDF
To ensure a high-quality, stable PDF layout, use Word’s native Export feature to convert your document rather than using a basic print driver. You’ll find the Export button right in the File menu.
17. Make PDFs Text Searchable
Convert flat, scanned files into text-searchable PDFs with optical character recognition (OCR). In your PDF editor, look for the action button that says OCR or Recognize Text.
Communicating and Collaborating
18. Rename Teams’ General Channels
Microsoft Teams allows you to clean up your workspace clutter by renaming default channels. Hover over the General channel, click on the three dots (...), and select Rename Channel.
19. Reply to Specific Teams Chat Messages
To keep contextual threads alive in a fast-moving hybrid workplace, reply directly to a specific message in a Teams chat by hovering over the message and selecting the Reply button.age and select the reply button.
20. Forward Teams Chat Messages
To seamlessly pass information along to a colleague, hover over a Teams chat message, click the three dots (...), and select Forward.
21. Share Your Whole Screen in Video Calls
When sharing your screen on a standard video call, save yourself the hassle of constantly stopping and restarting your share every time you swap applications. Select the entire monitor or screen to streamline your workflow during collaborative sessions.
Analyzing Data
22. Let CoPilot Do the Work
With AI utility deeply woven into modern workflows, managing data is faster than ever. Whether you need to instantly add a column, sort a messy list, filter entries, or build complex pivot tables, get started simply by asking Microsoft Copilot to execute the task.
23. Autofill text in Excel
If you’re typing predictable datasets—like a sequence of file numbers or calendar dates—let Excel do the heavy lifting. Type the first two variables in your list, then click and drag down on the bottom right-hand corner of the cell to extend the pattern using AutoFill.
24. Select a Column of Data With Ease
To instantly highlight every cell in a massive column containing data, click the top cell. Hold down Ctrl + Shift while tapping the Down Arrow on your keyboard. Excel will perfectly select everything down until it hits a blank cell.
25. Created Banded Rows With Tables
For cleaner visibility, formatting data as an official Table is the absolute easiest path to automatic banded rows. Highlight your data range, click the Insert ribbon, and select Table to convert your raw data. This ensures your formatting, filters, and formulas automatically replicate as you add new rows.
Workplace Efficiency FAQs
Few things cause more localized panic than watching Word completely scramble your custom pleading hierarchy right before a filing deadline. To override this, head to File > Options > Proofing and click on AutoCorrect Options. Flip over to the AutoFormat As You Type tab and uncheck “Automatic bulleted lists” and “Automatic numbered lists.” This gives total control back to your keyboard.
Don’t rely on luck. Before you hit send, open your document in Word, click File > Info, and run the Inspect Document tool. This will flag hidden comments, revision histories, and template paths. Clean them out there, export to a clean PDF, and then attach.
This is a classic frustration of standard modern hybrid workspace setups. Windows can lose track of display coordinates during monitor handshakes. To lock it down, ensure you are snapping your windows using Windows Key + Arrow Keys rather than manually dragging them across monitors. Outlook is significantly better at remembering docked positions when they are bound to a native Windows snap grid.
Data privacy is paramount. Ensure your firm is utilizing an enterprise-grade commercial data protection account (such as Microsoft 365 E3/E5 or Business Premium with Copilot). Avoid using the free, consumer-facing web versions of AI engines for any client-related tasks, as those models train on your prompts.
About Affinity Consulting Group
Affinity Consulting Group inspires, enables, and empowers legal teams of all sizes to work smarter, from anywhere. The company’s holistic approach incorporates people, process, and technology. Affinity’s passionate, well-connected industry experts work hand in hand with you to help you better understand and optimize your business — from software to growth strategy, and everything in between.
Microsoft Word for Legal Professionals
Want to work faster? For in-depth information and instructions on getting the most from Word, order Affinity Consulting Group’s hands-on digital manual “Microsoft Word for Legal Professionals.” Individual and site licenses are available for download in the Attorney at Work bookstore.
More Office 365 Training Manuals for Lawyers
Check out Affinity Consulting Group’s “Microsoft Word for Legal Professionals,” “Excel for Legal Professionals,” “Outlook for Legal Professionals” and “PowerPoint for Legal Professionals.” Each manual zeros in on your practice’s needs with in-depth instructions from Affinity experts on getting the most out of your tech.
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