Cheat sheets can be a great way to learn office software, by learning or reviewing key concepts in a concise, visual layout.
CustomGuide offers a bunch of these free digital or printable cheat sheets based on the company's motto of: "Learning by doing, not watching."
Here are a few things to consider about these guides, followed by quick links to where you can find them online.
Price of CustomGuide Cheat Sheets
Free! (for downloadable or printable PDFs). You can also order printed, glossy copies of each guide for about $1.95 USD each.
Main Advantages to Consider
These cheat sheets come in a wide variety of topics, which means you can learn a lot if this format and layout works well for you.
In fact, you can find over 100 free downloadable or printable cheat sheet guides by signing up with your email. Get an idea for this range of programs, applications, and other productivity software just below.
The guides are also full color and include labeled pictures of the program toolbars, keyboard shortcuts, and fundamental skill suggestions.
Main Disadvantages to Consider
This is not so much a disadvantage but more just a warning to watch out when printing these guides.
The last page is an advertisement for additional resources from the company, so you may not want to opt for "Print All Pages" with these PDFs.
List of Quick Links for Popular Cheat Sheets Offered by CustomGuide
Here is a quick list of where you can find these popular resources.
As mentioned, you can sign up for access to even more topics, but here are several you may want to start with.
Microsoft Office for Windows Cheat Sheet Guides:
These are full suite overviews, which means they are great for computer beginners or general users, whereas the subsequent program-specific books feature more detail for power users. I do also have platform or operating system guide links at the very bottom of this list.
Take your pick, or opt for both kinds of guides. I found both helpful, though it of course all depends on your existing knowledge base.
Cheat Sheets for Microsoft Word (Word Processing program)
Cheat Sheets for Microsoft Excel (Spreadsheet program)
Cheat Sheets for Microsoft Outlook (Email and Task Management program)
Cheat Sheets for Microsoft PowerPoint (Presentation or Slide Show program)
Cheat Sheets for Microsoft Project (Management or Project Planning program)
Cheat Sheets for Microsoft Access (Database program)
Cheat Sheets for Microsoft SharePoint (Content Management program)
Cheat Sheets for Microsoft Lync aka Skype for Business as of 2015 (Communication and Collaboration program)
Cheat Sheets for Microsoft Office 2011 for Mac
Other Platforms and Guides:
Cheat Sheets by Device or Operating System
As you continue looking at tools for making work or school easier, you may also be interested in checking out templates and other free tools for Microsoft Office.
These can be a great way to get to know a new program, because so much of the document is already created for you.
Here are some program-specific suggestions for templates you may not have seen before:
Microsoft's Best Free Templates by Program, Holiday, Project, and More
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