Using the Push Pin in Microsoft Applications
Have you ever wondered what the purpose of that little push pin is when it shows up in a Microsoft Office 2007 or 2010 application? This push pin can be quite a time saver when opening documents or using online Help in Office applications.
Use the Push Pin to “Pin” a Recent Document or Folder
One place where you will see this push pin is when viewing the Recent Documents or Recent Locations pane. In Microsoft Office 2010 Backstage view, you will see these push pins next to recently opened documents along with the file locations. Just select the File tab on the Ribbon and then click “Recent” so that your recently opened documents are in view. (In Microsoft Office 2007, you must click on the Office button to view recent documents that have been opened in the application).
If you click on a push pin to push it in, that related document along with its location will move to the top of the list and will stay fixed:
Even though documents will eventually disappear from this pane as additional documents are opened and displayed, the stick pin, if pushed in, will keep a document in this Recent Documents list so you can always access it easily. Note that there is another column which will allow you to pin a folder to Recent Locations.
Simply click the push pin again to unpin the document. You can also use the contextual menu by right-clicking any document to pin or unpin it from the list; you will also have the option to clear all unpinned documents from the list.
Note: You can set the default number of recent documents to be displayed by clicking Options and then clicking Advanced. You can then change this option under the Display category for: “Show this number of Recent Documents.”
Use the Push Pin in a Help Window
Another place where the push pin can be useful is in the Help window. Remember those days in older versions of Microsoft Office when you would look up a Help topic, but after switching to another window in your Office application, the Help window would minimize and disappear from view? There is a push pin located across the top of the Help window in Microsoft Office 2010 or 2007 applications:
If this push pin is pushed in, the Help window will stay on top while you switch windows (or documents) within the application. However, if the pin is pushed out, the Help window will act as in earlier versions of Microsoft Office and will minimize when you activate another window.
Note: When you close a Help window with the push pin pushed in, then it will remain pushed in the next time you access Help within that application. The Help window within each Office application will act independently of the other applications in this manner.
