This lesson introduces you to the basics of the Microsoft Word program. It explains the process of creating and manipulating word documents. The lecture is designed for users who are new or have little experience using MS Word. Most of the functionalities covered are applicable to almost all versions of MS Word. MS Word has a vast number of functions and tools. Among other things, this lecture will focus on functions and tools which are necessary to complete tasks like writing simple documents like letters, curriculum vitae, and the like.
Word Basics
Microsoft Word is a word processor developed by Microsoft and was initially launched in 1983. It is a widely used commercial word processor. Microsoft Word offers several features to ease document creation and editing, including:
WYSIWYG (what-you-see-is-what-you-get) display: It ensures
that everything displayed on the screen appears the same way when printed or moved
to another format or program.
Spell check: Word features a built-in dictionary for spell
checking; misspelled words are marked with a red squiggly underline. Sometimes,
Word auto-corrects an obviously misspelled word or phrase.
Text-level features such as bold, underline, italic and
strike-through
Page-level features such as indentation, paragraphing, and
justification
The default file format was .doc prior to the Microsoft Word 2007 version; in 2007, .docx became the default file format. Below shows the word processor screen with the most common features of MS Word 2007.
MS Word Screen
The Title Bar shows the name of the application that you are using (Microsoft Word) and the name of the file (Document1) as the default name when you create any new document. In the title bar also there is the Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons.
The main menus (Tabs) in MS Word include the Office Button, Home, Insert, Page Layout, References, Mailings, Review, and View. Each of these main menus consists of several sub-menus. The Home tab contains styles (headings), paragraph and font options, and all the most frequently used options. Insert Tab allows you to put things (insert) into your document like Tables, Pictures, Symbols, Date and Time, Comments, Shapes, Page Break, WordArt, Object, Header and Footer, Page Number, Media, Charts, Signature Line, etc. Page layout is where you would go to change your Margins, Paper Orientation (Portrait and Landscape), Paper Size (letter, legal, executive, A3, A4, A5, B4, B5, envelope, etc), Columns, Indent, and Spacing, etc. References tab for a table of contents, list of Tables or Figures, Bibliography, Footnotes, and Captions.
The Status Bar gives information about our position within the document by showing which page are you in the file. A number of words are also shown here. The Scroll Bar allows you to scroll through the document. If you click the scroll arrow you will move 1 line at a time. If you click in the scroll bar itself, you move one screen at a time. The square box indicates your position in the document. If you click above the square box you will move up, if you click below it you will move down. You can also drag the square box to where you think you want to go. Insertion Point is the place where once you start typing, the text will begin. The text will be inserted to the left of the insertion point. The insertion point is also known as the cursor.
The image below shows all submenus of the Office Button.
The Office Button has the options to create a New File, Open
an existing file and Save or Save As a file. You choose Save As when you want
to specify the drive letter, folder, name, and type. Other sub-menus include
Print, Prepare, Send, Publish and Close. If you right-click any option, you
will get a pop-up menu that one choice is to add this button to the Quick
Access Bar. In Fact, you should add your most common buttons to the Quick
access bar. To print a document, click on the Print option and select the Printer name,
specify page ranges, number of copies, etc. You can click on Print Properties
to put more options such as paper size. To encrypt files by putting password,
click the Office button and choose Prepare, then Encrypt Document and enter the
desired password when prompted. Note that there are three password types that
can be set in Microsoft Word which are password to open a document, to modify a
document, and to restrict formatting and editing. The second and the third type
of passwords were developed by Microsoft for convenient shared use of documents
rather than for their protection
Keyboard Shortcuts
Several keyboard shortcuts can be used to simplify the MS Word tasks. The table below shows some of the tasks that can be performed through the use of keyboard shortcuts.
Margins
To set margins in MS Word 2007, click the Page Layout tab,
click the Margins tool in the Page Setup group and then click Custom Margins.
Change your right and left margins to one inch. Click the Default button and
finally click Yes. Another way to change the margins is to select the Page
Layout tab in the toolbar at the top of the screen. Then in the Page Setup
group, click on the Page Setup Dialog Box Launcher. This is the button in the
bottom right corner of the Page Setup group. When the Page Setup window
appears, click on the Margins tab. You can adjust the Top, Bottom, Left, and
Right margins. Click on the OK button when you are done.
Also, a ruler is useful for resizing the margins. To have your ruler displayed, choose the View Tab, Show hide button, and check the ruler.
below shows a ruler and Margin.
The zero mark on the ruler is at the left margin.
Format Painter
Format Painter is one of the useful tools in MS Word. It is normally used when you do not know what formatting has been used on a particular part of the text. You can use the Format Painter on the Standard toolbar to apply some basic graphic formatting, such as borders, fills, and text formatting. First, select the part of the text with the desired formatting. Then click on the Paintbrush icon in the Standard toolbar at the top of the application. Next, with the cursor, select the text for which you want to change the formatting.
Footnotes and Endnotes
Inserting footnotes into a document is very easy. You simply place the cursor where you want to mark the footnote, choose the References Tab, and look for Insert Footnote. This will put the footnote mark where your cursor is and jump you to the bottom of the page, so you can type in your footnote. If you want to get more options, simply click the icon to get the footnote dialog box. You have your choice of a footnote that shows up at the bottom of the page that the mark is on or endnotes ( icon) that show up at the end of the document.