Microsoft Office Specialist: Expert (Microsoft 365 Apps) — Practice Set 3

Question 1

A compliance officer is working in Microsoft Word preparing a document for public distribution. She needs to check for accessibility issues before sending it to colleagues who use screen readers. Which tool should she use?

Accepted Answer

File > Info > Check for Issues provides the option to run the Accessibility Checker, which scans the document for common accessibility issues such as missing alt text on images, improper heading hierarchy, and low contrast text. Results appear in a task pane.

Question 2

You are working in Microsoft Word. You want to enable automatic backups of your document every 15 minutes and control where those backup files are stored. Which two settings should you configure? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

Both required settings live in File > Options > Save. The 'Save AutoRecover information every N minutes' field controls the backup interval (set to 15), while the 'AutoRecover file location' field specifies the folder where these automatic backups are stored. 'Keep the last autosaved version if I close without saving' (C) is a related but separate safety net triggered only when closing without saving, not a recurring interval/location setting. There is no 'Automatic Backups' option in Trust Center (D), and 'Always create backup copy' in Save As (E) creates a single .wbk copy on manual save, not a recurring 15-minute autosave.

Question 3

You are working in Microsoft Word. You have a document that contains tracked changes and comments from multiple reviewers. You want to protect the document so that only tracked changes can be made and reviewers cannot disable change tracking. Which setting should you use?

Accepted Answer

Both options provide protection but with different scopes. 'Allow only tracked changes' via Restrict Editing prevents most editing but allows tracked changes. 'Lock Tracking' specifically prevents turning off change tracking. Both can be used together for comprehensive protection.

Question 4

You are working in Microsoft Word. You have a list of 50 instances of the phrase 'must be completed by' and you want to find only those that appear at the start of a paragraph. How should you use Find & Replace?

Accepted Answer

In Find & Replace with wildcards enabled, ^p represents a paragraph mark. Searching for '^p must be completed by' finds instances that appear right after a paragraph break (at the start of a paragraph). Regular expressions use different syntax (^p is not the same in regex mode).

Question 5

You are working in Microsoft Word. You want to display the Outline view so you can see the document structure with headings and subheadings collapsed. Which tab or menu should you use?

Accepted Answer

View > Outline (or View tab > Outline button in the Document Views group) switches to Outline view, which shows the document structure organized by heading levels. In this view, you can collapse/expand headings and reorganize content by dragging outline items.

Question 6

You are working in Microsoft Word. You want to create a custom paragraph style with automatic formatting for code snippets: monospace font, single-line spacing, and gray background. Which two elements should you define in the style? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

When modifying a style, you define font properties (Modify Style > Format > Font) and shading/background (Modify Style > Format > Paragraph > Shading). Line spacing is set in Paragraph area. These settings are stored in the style definition and applied to all text using that style.

Question 7

You are working in Microsoft Word. You want to create a drop cap (large first letter) at the start of a paragraph. Where should you go?

Accepted Answer

Insert > Text > Drop Cap opens a dialog to create a drop cap (enlarged first letter that spans multiple lines). You can choose to drop it in the paragraph or in a margin. It's found in the Insert tab under Text options.

Question 8

You are working in Microsoft Word. You need to insert a field code that references another field (e.g., to display the current save date when a SET field was modified). Which field code should you use?

Accepted Answer

The REF (Reference) field code references another field's value. For example, { REF myField } displays the content of a SET field named 'myField'. SAVEDATE is a standalone field for the document save date; REFERENCE and LINK are not standard field codes.

Question 9

You are working in Microsoft Word. You need to insert a bookmark so you can create a cross-reference to a specific location in the document. What should you do?

Accepted Answer

Insert > Bookmark (Insert tab > Links group > Bookmark button) allows you to select text or place your cursor and create a named bookmark. These bookmarks can then be referenced via Insert > Cross-reference or in hyperlinks.

Question 10

You are working in Microsoft Word. You need to create a field code that displays different text based on a condition (e.g., if the document status is 'Draft', show 'This is a draft', otherwise show 'This is final'). You store the status in a SET field. Which field code structure should you use?

Accepted Answer

The IF field code with REF to reference another field's value creates conditional logic: { IF { REF fieldname } "criteria" "true text" "false text" }. In this case, { REF status } retrieves the status field value, and IF compares it to 'Draft'.

Question 11

You are working in Microsoft Word. You need to insert a caption below a table with automatic numbering (e.g., 'Table 1', 'Table 2'). Where should you go?

Accepted Answer

References > Insert Caption (or right-click the table and choose Insert Caption) opens a dialog where you specify the label ('Table'), numbering format, and position (above or below). Word automatically numbers the captions sequentially.

Question 12

You are working in Microsoft Word. You need to insert a field code that displays the last date the document was saved. Which field code should you use?

Accepted Answer

The SAVEDATE field displays the date the document was last saved and updates automatically. The \@ switch allows you to specify the date format (e.g., 'd MMMM yyyy' for '12 July 2026'). LASTSAVEDTIME, MODIFIEDDATE, and PRINTDATE are not standard Word field codes.

Question 13

You are working in Microsoft Word. You need to create a mail merge from a data source and exclude certain records (e.g., skip all customers from 'NY' state). Which two steps are involved? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

Mailings > Edit Recipient List opens a dialog where you can uncheck rows to exclude them from the merge. Alternatively, Mailings > Rules > Skip Record inserts a field that programmatically skips records matching criteria (e.g., skip if State='NY'). Both approaches work; the first is manual, the second is automatic.

Question 14

You are working in Microsoft Word. You need to mark specific terms throughout your document so they can be included in an index. For example, you want to mark each occurrence of 'macroeconomics' with different sorting information. How do you mark entries for an index?

Accepted Answer

Alt+Shift+X opens the Mark Index Entry dialog, or you can use References > Index > Mark Entry. This dialog allows you to mark selected text for inclusion in an index and specify sorting/formatting options for that particular entry.

Question 15

You are working in Microsoft Word. You have a long document with multiple chapters. You want to restart page numbering at '1' for each chapter while keeping a continuous section numbering (Chapter 1, Chapter 2, etc.). What feature should you use?

Accepted Answer

Insert section breaks (Layout > Breaks > Section Breaks) divide the document into sections. In each section's header/footer, you can insert a page number and right-click it to set 'Start at 1', restarting numbering for that section while maintaining chapter continuity.

Question 16

You are working in Microsoft Excel. You need to protect your worksheet so users cannot insert, delete, or modify cells, but they can still select and view cells. Which two menu paths let you access the Protect Sheet dialog? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

Excel provides two equivalent entry points to worksheet protection: the Review tab's Protect Sheet button, and the File > Info > Protect Workbook dropdown, which also lists a 'Protect Current Sheet' option alongside 'Protect Workbook Structure'. Both open the identical Protect Sheet dialog. There is no ribbon 'Tools' menu (C), no Protect Sheet command under Review > Changes (D), and Data > Data Tools contains no protection command (E).

Question 17

You are working in Microsoft Excel. You have a large dataset and want to filter it to show only rows where the value in column B is greater than 100 AND the value in column C contains 'Active'. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

AutoFilter allows basic filtering; Standard Filter (Data > Filter > Standard Filter) provides multi-criteria AND/OR logic for complex conditions. Advanced Filter is more for copying filtered results. All three can work, but Standard Filter is most direct for this multi-criteria scenario.

Question 18

You are working in Microsoft Excel. You need to create a PivotTable that shows sales by product and region, with revenue as the data field. You also want to add slicers so users can filter by date range. Which steps should you follow?

Accepted Answer

Both Insert > PivotTable and Data > Pivot Table work to create a PivotTable. Once created, you configure rows, columns, and values by dragging fields. Slicers are added via PivotTable Tools > Insert Slicers (or Insert > Slicers when the PivotTable is active), allowing users to filter multiple fields at once.

Question 19

You are working in Microsoft Excel. You have a dataset and want to set up data validation so that only dates between January 1, 2026 and December 31, 2026 can be entered in a cell. Where should you go?

Accepted Answer

Data > Validation (or Data > Data Validation in some versions) opens a dialog where you specify validation criteria. You can set Allow to 'Date', then use Between to specify a date range (2026-01-01 to 2026-12-31). Invalid entries trigger an error message.

Question 20

You are working in Microsoft Excel. You need a formula that returns the second-largest value in a range of numbers (A1:A100). Which function should you use?

Accepted Answer

LARGE(array, k) returns the k-th largest value in a range. LARGE(A1:A100, 2) returns the second-largest. SECOND_LARGEST does not exist; MAX() - 1 does not reliably give the second-largest; RANK/SMALL combination is overly complex.

Question 21

You are working in Microsoft Excel. You need to create a formula that looks up a customer's order total in two different ways: first by customer ID (column A), then by order date (column B). If no exact match is found by ID, fall back to searching by date. What advanced lookup approach should you use?

Accepted Answer

Nested IFERROR with XLOOKUP allows fallback lookup logic: try customer ID first, and if not found, try order date. INDEX/MATCH can also achieve multi-criteria lookup. Both are valid; XLOOKUP is more readable in modern Excel.

Question 22

You are working in Microsoft Excel. You need to count how many cells in the range A1:A100 contain values greater than 50. Which function should you use?

Accepted Answer

COUNTIF and COUNTIFS both count cells matching a criteria. COUNTIF(A1:A100, ">50") is the standard single-criteria approach. COUNTIFS also works for single or multiple criteria (COUNTIFS(A1:A100, ">50")). COUNT does not accept criteria.

Question 23

You are working in Microsoft Word. You want to add a signature block to a form so users can digitally sign the document. What should you use?

Accepted Answer

Insert > Signature Line (Insert tab > Signature Line button) inserts a placeholder line where users can digitally sign the document using an XML digital signature or handwritten signature. This is different from adding a scanned image of a signature.

Question 24

You are working in Microsoft Word. You want to create a custom quick style so common formatting (bold, blue color, sans-serif font) is available in the Quick Styles gallery for easy application. Which two steps should you take? Choose 2.

Accepted Answer

You can either save directly from formatted text (right-click Styles gallery > Save Selection as New Quick Style) or create a new style via Styles pane (Home > Styles > New Style). Both approaches create a named style that appears in the gallery.

Question 25

You are working in Microsoft Excel. You need to create an array formula that calculates the sum of products (sum of A1:A10 multiplied by corresponding B1:B10 values). In a non-Microsoft 365 version, what syntax would you use?

Accepted Answer

SUMPRODUCT(A1:A10, B1:B10) calculates the sum of products without needing array formula entry. Alternatively, =SUM(A1:A10 * B1:B10) entered with Ctrl+Shift+Enter creates an array formula with the same result. Both are valid; SUMPRODUCT is simpler.

MO-100/MO-110/MO-200/MO-210 — Microsoft Office Specialist: Expert (Microsoft 365 Apps)