Here’s a quick tip: Ever open up your Microsoft Word document first thing in the morning, after having worked on it all day yesterday, and have trouble finding where you left off last time?

Don’t worry — you won’t have to wait for your morning caffeine to kick in.  As soon as you open up your document, press SHIFT-F5.  Word’s “Go Back” feature will take you back to your last edit.  (In fact, if you press Shift-F5 repeatedly, it’ll take you through your last four edits.)

That’s it!  (Don’t you love it when something’s that simple?)

Edit: Well, this is embarrassing. Apparently, this feature disappeared briefly in version 2007, but it’s back in version 2010.  Thanks to an alert reader for the heads-up (and shame on me for not keeping better notes on my testing!)

Deborah Savadra

I spend an inordinate amount of my time playing with computers and attempting to explain technology to lawyers and law office staff. It's not always easy, but someone's got to do it.

But, seriously, I'm a law firm software trainer by trade with nearly 30 years of experience in and around law firms and their technology. This blog is my attempt to spread the word about better and more efficient ways to use Microsoft Office in a legal practice context.

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2 Comments

  1. I use Word 2013 for my book in Urdu (written in Arabic script). I do not see “Pickup where you left off.” What could be wrong? SHIFT+F5 also does not work. Please help.

    1. If the keyboard shortcut no longer works, it’s because it’s been removed as the shortcut to the macro GoBack. See if ALT-CTRL-Z works. If not, you may need to run the macro itself from the Developer tab (go to File | Options | Customize Ribbon and check the box next to Developer to enable).

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