Microsoft Word Basics Workshop

Microsoft Word is the most commonly used word processing software program in the world. Most likely, you use it on your computer regularly, yet you may have never really learned how to use it properly. This workshop is aimed at helping you to feel more comfortable using Word by addressing some of its most common and useful functions. The goal is for you to be able to word process, save, print, and manage your files more efficiently.

Microsoft Word is a very powerful word processing program. This is both the good news and the bad. While Word is robust and allows you to do many things, it is also quite complex which can lead to user frustration. Happily, you do not need to know all of the functions of this program, just the most useful and relevant ones. Also, like all Microsoft programs, Word has redundancies built into it, so there is more than one way to complete any particular function. You can open the top menus, you can click on the icons from the toolbars, or you can use the keyboard shortcuts to complete most functions. It is up to you to choose the method(s) that are most convenient for you.

The Toolbars

Standard Toolbar

Function of commonly used buttons Creates a new blank document Opens or finds a file based on the default template Saves the active file with its current Prints the active file - for more print options file name, location and file format go to the File menu and select Print Print preview - Shows how the Spelling, grammar and writing style checker document will look when you print it. Cut - Removes the selection and Copy - Copies the selected item(s) to the places it on the clipboard clipboard Paste - Places the content of the Format painter - Copies the format from one clipboard at the insertion point object and applies to other objects Undo - Reverses the last command. Redo - Reverses the action of the Undo Use pull-down menu to undo several button. Use the pull-down menu to redo

steps several steps Displays the Tables and Borders Insert a table into the document, or make a toolbar table of selected text Insert an Excel spreadsheet into the Columns - Changes the number of columns Word document in a document Zoom - Enlarge or reduce the display of the Displays or hides the Drawing toolbar active document

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Formatting Toolbar

Function of commonly used buttons

Select the style for paragraphs Changes the font of the selected text Changes the size of selected text Makes selected text bold

Makes selected text italic Underlines selected text

Aligns to the left with a ragged right Centers the selected text margin Aligns to the right with a ragged left Aligns the selected text to both the left and margin right margins Makes a numbered list or reverts Add or remove bullets in a selected paragraph back to normal Decreases the indent to the previous Indents the selected paragraph to the next tab tab stop stop Adds or removes a border around Marks text so that it is highlighted and stands selected text or objects out Formats the selected text with the

color you click

The Menus

File Menu

New - Opens a new document. If you use the keyboard combination indicated on the right, a blank document opens immediately. Selecting the New menu item with your cursor gives the opportunity to open a variety of types of documents. Open - Opens a previously saved document. Close - Closes the active document but does not quit the application. Save - Saves the active document with its current file name, location and format. Save As - Saves by opening a window which gives you the opportunity to change the file name, location or format. Page Setup - Sets margins, paper size, orientation and other layout options. Print Preview - Shows how the file will look when you print it. Print - Prints the active file, also gives the opportunity to change the print options.

Exit - Closes Microsoft Word.

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Edit Menu

Undo - The actual entry of this item will depend on what you did last. In my example I had cut text, so that was displayed. This selection can be repeated several times. Repeat - After an action has been undone, it can be reinstated in the document. Cut - Removes the selection from the active document and places it on the clipboard. Copy - Copies the selection to the clipboard. Paste - Inserts the contents of the clipboard at the insertion point (cursor) or whatever is selected. Clear - Deletes the selected object or text, but does not place it on the clipboard. Select All - Selects and highlights all text and graphics in the active window. Find - Searches for specified text in the active document.

Replace - Searches for and replaces specified text and formatting.

View Menu

Normal - The default document view for most word processing tasks. Page Layout - An editing view that displays your document as it will look when printed. This view takes more system memory and scrolling may be slow. Toolbars - Displays or hides toolbars. The right pointing arrow indicates a list of toolbars. To add one slide down to the name of the toolbar and click to select. Ruler - Displays or hides horizontal and vertical rulers at the top and left side of the document. Header and Footer - Adds or changes the text that is displayed at the top or bottom of every page of the document Full Screen - Hides most screen elements so you can see more of your document

Zoom - Controls how large, or small, the current document appears on the screen.

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Insert Menu

Page Break - This command sends your cursor to the top of the next page even though the text does not extend to the bottom of the previous page. Date and Time - Choose from seventeen formats for displaying date, time, or date and time. Auto Text - Insert any of several pre-set text lines, or create your own. Symbol - Insert a symbol from each of your symbol fonts, or any standard font which includes symbols. There are more than you might think! Footnote - Place a footnote at the bottom of the page or the end of the document. Picture - Insert pictures from clip art or a file. You can also insert auto shapes, word art, or a chart. Text Box (Frame) - Use this to place captions near tables or drawings, or to set off text at the beginning of a page. Click and draw the box after making this selection. File - Insert a saved document into the active document at the cursor. Object - Insert an object such as clip art, word art, an equation or much more. Hyperlink - Place a link to any document stored on your computer or to a Webpage.

Format Menu

Font - Change font style, size, color and a large number of other features. You can also change the spacing between letters here. Paragraph - Indent a paragraph using either margin or place some chosen amount of space before or after the paragraph. Bullets and Numbering – Select a type of bulleted or numbered list here. Your bullets can be literally any symbol you wish them to be. Border - Create borders around blocks of text, or around the entire document. On the Page Border tab, under the Art pull down menu, you will find a selection of graphic borders. Drop Cap - Make the first letter of a paragraph or chapter large enough to span several lines. Style - If you prefer not to use the Formatting toolbar, document style can be changed here. Background - Another task which can be handled in the Formatting toolbar, you can choose the color to highlight selected text in your document. Change Case - DO YOU EVER FORGET THE CAPS LOCK? If so, come to this sub-menu and change the case of the highlighted text. Object - Make changes to any selected object; image, word art, auto shape or any other object inserted into the document.

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Tools Menu

Spelling and Grammar - Choose either sub-menu and the same window opens. Questioned spelling appears in red, grammar in green. Language/Thesaurus - Have you used the word "like" too many times? Highlight the word, select Thesaurus and get suggestions like similar and analogous. Word Count - Need to know how many words are in your document? Select Word Count and find out how many pages, words, characters, paragraphs, and lines. Auto Summarize - Exactly what it sounds like. Word summarizes the document, reducing the length of the document, keeping the meaning. Use with caution. Auto Correct - Word will automatically correct some things for you. If this feature is irritating to you, come here to change what is corrected. Customize- Opens the same window that you get by going to the View menu and selecting Toolbar/Customize.

Options - Modify Word settings here. Modify print, editing, spelling and other options from this sub-menu.

Window Menu

New Window - This opens another window with a copy of the active document. Arrange All - Displays all open files in the window. This makes dragging and dropping from one document to another much easier. Split - Splits the active window into separate panes. Open Document List - There is no need to drag windows to the side so you can see other documents open in Word. Come to the bottom of this window for a listing of all open documents. The active document has a checkmark beside it.

Help Menu

Microsoft Word Help - Open Word's Assistant and get a search box to type in. Word displays possible matches for you to read about. Contents and Index - See an index of all topics available in Word's Help documentation. Microsoft on the Web - Select a link and a Microsoft help page is opened in your browser. If you are not online, Word will attempt to make the connection and then display the page. About Microsoft Word - Not sure which version of Word you have? Check here for version information and for the product ID number.

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Keyboard Shortcuts

You can avoid reaching for the mouse if you are familiar with keyboard shortcuts. Using these will dramatically increase your productivity. If you forget them, use the mouse and go to the menu bar. In each pull down menu you will see keyboard commands given in the right side of the window.

To use one of these combinations Hold the Ctrl or Alt key down and strike the letter key.

Commonly Used Keyboard Combinations

Cut- Removes the selection from Open a new word document Ctrl +N Ctrl+X the active document and places it quickly. on the clipboard. Opens a previously saved Copies the selection to the Ctrl+O Ctrl+C document. clipboard. Paste - Inserts the contents of the Closes the active window, but Ctrl+W Ctrl+V clipboard at the insertion point does not Exit Word. (cursor) or whatever is selected. Saves the active document with its Selects all text and graphics in the Ctrl +S current file name, location and Ctrl+A active window. format. Prints the active file. Allows you to Find - Searches for specified text in Ctrl +P Ctrl +F change print options. the active document. Bold - Formats selected text as Alt+F4 Exit - Closes Microsoft Word. Ctrl+B bold or removes bold formatting. Undo the last action. This Italic - Formats selected text; make Ctrl +Z selection can be repeated several Ctrl +I text italic or remove italic. times. Redo - After an action has been Underline - Formats selected text; Ctrl +Y undone, it can be reinstated in the Ctrl+U make text underlined or remove

document. underline.

Less Commonly Used Keyboard Combinations

Increases selected text in Apply superscript formatting. increments. Decrease selected text in Apply subscript formatting. increments. Increase selected text one point. Copy formats. Decrease selected text one point. Paste formats. Change case of the letters. Single space lines. Underline words but not spaces. Set 1.5 line spacing. Double underline text. Double space lines. Center a paragraph. Delete one word to the left. Justify a paragraph. Delete one word to the right.

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Left align a paragraph. Right align a paragraph. Indent a paragraph from the left. Insert a line break. Create a hanging indent. Reduce a hanging indent.

If text is already selected and you want to extend the selection area

Extend selection one character to Extend selection one character to the left. the right. Extend selection to the end of a Extend selection to the beginning word. of a word.

If you want to move the cursor

One character to the right. One character to the left. One word to the right. One word to the left. To the end of a document. To the beginning of a document.

Managing Files and Folders

Everything you work with on your computer is stored in the form of files. Most are stored on your hard disk unless you choose another storage medium such as a floppy disk or USB drive. Think of a traditional office filing cabinet as an analogy. Your hard disk is the filing cabinet. It is filled with folders, and within the folders are your files, such as Word document, images, etc. On your PC you can even store folders within folders. This is a great system, but you most likely have so many files that it becomes hard to keep track of them all. That is why it is imperative that you devise a logical system of keeping track of them all.

Creating Folders To create a new folder on your desktop, or within any existing folder, simply right-click and select ‘Folder’ from the menu. A new folder will be created. (See “Adding a New Folder” below.)

File Paths As you navigate through folders to the location of a specific file, you are following a path. A path always begins with the hard drive letter (usually ‘C:’) and then lists in order the ‘nested’ folders you go through to get to the file. File paths are often long and complicated. Thus, it is much easier to use the ‘Start’ menu or a desktop icon to access the program of file you want rather than type it out.

Naming Files The nicely organized folder/file structure that Windows provides is useful, but only if you name your files and folders in clearly identifiable ways, so you can locate what you want when you want. Each file on your computer has a filename which uniquely identifies it. There are a few characters that you can’t use in Windows’ filenames. They are: / \ : * ? " < > |. Apart from these excluded characters, you can name your files however you like.

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However, you should try to avoid very long filenames and you should establish a consistent approach to naming files with descriptive terms.

It is important that you develop a system for naming your folders and files. Consistency is key, so that you can always find what you are looking for on your computer. For example: I might label a folder “Tests.” Within that folder I would place the files of my individual tests. If I have multiple versions of each test, then I might create subfolders within “Tests” called “Test1”, “Test2” and so on. In these subfolders I would place the various versions of each test. I would label these files: Test1 v.01, Test1 v.02, etc. so as not to confuse them.

Selecting Files and Folders Selecting files and folders is something that is common when using Windows. An item must be selected before you can move, copy, or delete it. To select a file or folder, put your cursor over the item and then left-click your mouse. The item is highlighted to indicate you've successfully selected it. Likewise, double clicking the item opens it.

Moving Files Using the left mouse button, select the file or folder you wish to move. Continue holding down the button and drag the item until it is over the destination folder. Release the button and the item is moved. Note: When you move a folder all folders and files under it are also moved.

Copying Files Place the cursor over the file or folder you want to copy, and right-click your mouse. Select ‘copy’ from the menu that appears. Place your cursor over the destination folder and again right-click your mouse. Select paste from the menu and the item is copied to the destination folder. Note: When you copy a folder all folders and files under it are also copied.

Adding a New Folder Within any folder, go to the 'File' command on the menu bar at the top left of the screen. A drop down menu appears. Select 'New' and another menu appears. Select 'Folder' and a new folder icon appears within the selected folder with the name 'new folder' highlighted. Type the name you want for the new folder and it overwrites the highlighted text. Click your mouse or hit the 'enter' key and the new name is stored.

Renaming a Folder Select the folder, wait a moment and then click again on its name. The name of the folder becomes highlighted. Type the name you want for the new folder and it overwrites the highlighted text. Click your mouse or hit the 'enter' key and the new name is stored. You can also just right-click it and choose Rename from the pop-up menu, then type in the new name and press Enter.

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Searching for Files

Sometimes you lose track of a file or folder on your computer. If this happens to you, do not despair, you can find it using the Windows search utility. To use Search, do the following:

1. Click Start, then Search to open the ‘Search Results’ window. 2. On the left side of the window, click All Files and Folders, three fill-in boxes are displayed in the window. 3. In the box labeled ‘All or part of the file name’ type in the full or partial file name you want to locate. You can optionally search for text within each file by entering the text you want to search for in the box labeled ‘A word or phrase in the file.’ 4. Click the arrow at the right side of the box labeled “Look In’ and in the drop-down list that opens, select the drive(s) you want to search in. 5. Click the 'Search' button and all files and folders matching your search conditions appear in a list. The path of each folder and file is also displayed.

There are also other options available to help you better define your search criteria such as modification date, size of file, etc.

Saving Your Work

When you are creating/modifying a file, make sure to save your work often. I suggest you save your work every few minutes, that way you will never lose more than a little bit. There are a few ways to do this:

1. With the file open, click the 'Save' icon (looks like a floppy disk) on the toolbar near the top of screen. OR…

2. Click on the File menu, then click on “Save.” OR…

3. Hold down the 'Ctrl' key then press the 'S' key. (In my opinion, this is the quickest way to save your work within MS Word. Do it often and it will develop into an automatic habit.)

Saving your work often is very important because even the best PCs do sometimes crash. If you've done a lot of work without saving it and the PC crashes, all your work will be lost when you restart it.

Printing a Selection of Text

To print a small section of a large file, first select the text you want to print by highlighting it. Then from the 'File' menu select 'Print' (or ‘Ctrl’ + ‘P’). In the dialog box that opens, look in the 'Print Range' section and check the 'Selection' option. Click OK and the selected text will print.

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Cutting and Pasting Text with the Mouse

Before text in a file can be cut or copied, it must first be selected. It can then be pasted into another part of the file you are working on or even into a completely different file or program.

Selecting Text To select text, place your cursor at the beginning or end of a section of text you wish to select. Then click the left mouse button, hold it down and sweep the selection bar across the text you want to select. The text becomes highlighted as you sweep it which means you've successfully selected it. Release the mouse button when you reach the end of the text you want to select. To unselect an item, just move your cursor to a clear area and hit the left mouse button.

Copying Text Now that the text you want is selected, right click your mouse. Do not left click your mouse. If you do all the text becomes unselected. A drop down menu appears with a number of different choices. Choose copy by moving your cursor over the word copy and clicking either mouse button. Doing this places a copy of the selected text in an area of memory called the 'clipboard'. The selected text is left intact in source file.

Cutting Text Select the text you want to work with. When your place your cursor over the selected text and right click the mouse, the drop down menu appears. Choose the 'cut' option by moving your cursor over it and clicking either mouse button. The selected text is sent to the clipboard and it is cut (removed) from the source file.

Pasting Text The text in the clipboard can now be pasted wherever you want it. Left click your mouse at the place in the text where you want to paste the clipboard contents. The blinking text selection bar appears. Right click your mouse and a drop down menu appears. Choose ‘paste’ by moving your mouse over it and clicking either button. The clipboard contents are pasted at the location of the selection bar.

Cutting and Pasting Text with the Keyboard (Without the Mouse)

Selecting Text Use the up, down, left and right arrows to move the selection bar to the end of the text you want to highlight. Hold down the 'shift' key and use the 'left' arrow key to sweep the selection bar across the text you want to select. The selected text becomes highlighted.

Copying Text Hold down the 'Ctrl' key then press the 'C' key and the highlighted text is copied to the clipboard. Make sure you press and hold the ‘Ctrl’ first, before you hit the ‘C’ key. This rule applies to all ‘Ctrl’ commands.

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Pasting Text Move the text selection bar to the place in the file where you want to paste the clipboard contents. Hold down the 'Ctrl' key then press the 'V' key and the clipboard contents are pasted at the insertion point.

Cutting Text Select the text you want to work. Hold down the 'Ctrl' key then press the 'X' key and the selected text is cut from the source file and copied to the clipboard. Follow the same procedure as above to paste it in the destination file.

Controlling the Views of Running Programs

Every running program is contained in a window on the desktop. In the upper right corner of each window there are usually three small control boxes that are used to control how the window is displayed.

Minimizing a Window The left control box has a minus [-] sign in it. If you put the cursor over it and click the mouse, the application is 'minimized' and placed on the task bar as a block. To expand the minimized program, click the block and it expands to become the active program on your desktop.

Maximizing a Window The control box in the center has a square [ ] in it. If you put the cursor over this box and click your mouse the application is 'maximized' and takes up the entire screen. When maximized, this control box changes to show one square in front of another square. Clicking this control box again restores the window back to about half size.

Closing an Active Window The control box on the right has an [x] in it. If you put the cursor over this box and click your mouse the application terminates. To open it again you must click the program icon for it.

Manually Resizing a Window By manipulating either the top/bottom or the left/right side of a window, you can change its shape. You can also reshape a window diagonally by manipulating its lower left corner.

Creating Desktop Shortcuts

A shortcut is a quick way to start a program or open a file or folder without having to search for its exact location on your computer. A shortcut is an icon that has a tiny black arrow in the bottom-left corner. Each shortcut points to the location of a file, folder, drive or program.

There are several ways to create a desktop shortcut:

1. Open the folder which contains the item to which you want to create a shortcut.

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2. Locate the item in the folder and right-drag-and-drop the item onto a vacant spot on the desktop. A pop-up menu will appear asking what you want to do. Choose Create Shortcut Here. OR…

1. Right-click on the item you want. 2. Choose Send To and Desktop (create Shortcut). OR…

1. Right-click on the item you want. 2. Select Create Shortcut (if available).

It is important to distinguish between shortcuts and the objects they represent. The shortcut is not the same as the file, folder, or program to which it points; rather it is just a representation that leads to the real thing. If you delete a shortcut, the file or program it points to remains on your computer. However, if you delete the file or program itself, not only will it be gone for good but any existing shortcuts to it will no longer work.

Renaming Shortcuts You can rename a shortcut without affecting the objects they point to. This means you can give your shortcuts highly descriptive names. To rename a shortcut, right-click it and choose Rename from the pop-up menu, then type in the new name and press Enter.

Make a Mistake?

Remember, you can always go back and “undo” your last action by clicking or going to the Edit menu and choosing Undo Typing.

______Adapted from: Computer Help A to Z (www.computerhelpatoz.com), Computer Hope (www.computerhope.com), Internet4Classrooms (ww.internet4classrooms.com), and Geek Girl’s Plain English Computing (www.geekgirls.com).

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