The Title Bar
This lesson will familiarize you with the Microsoft Word screen. We will start with the Title
bar, which is located at the very top of the screen. On the Title bar, Microsoft Word
displays the name of the document you are currently using. At the top of your screen,
you should see name of document (Document2 in this case).
The Menu Bar
The Menu bar is directly below the Title bar and it displays the menu. The menu begins
with the word File and continues with Edit, View, Insert, Format, Tools, Table, Window,
and Help. You use the menu to give instructions to the software. Point with your mouse
to the menu option and click the left mouse button to open a drop-down menu. You can
now use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to move left and right across the
Menu bar options. You can use the up and down arrow keys to move up and down the
drop-down menu. To select an option, highlight the item on the drop-down menu and
press Enter. An ellipse after a menu item signifies additional options; if you select that
option, a dialog box will appear.
Exercise 1
Do the following exercise. It demonstrates using the Microsoft Word menu.
1. Point to the word File on the Menu bar.
2. Click your left mouse button.
3. Press the right arrow key until Help is highlighted.
4. Press the left arrow key until Format is highlighted.
5. Press the down arrow key until Style is highlighted.
6. Press the up arrow key until Paragraph is highlighted.
7. Press Enter to select the Paragraph menu option.
8. Point to Cancel and click the left mouse button to close the dialog box.
Toolbars
The Standard Toolbar
The Formatting Toolbar
Toolbars provide shortcuts to menu commands. Toolbars are generally located just below
the Menu bar. Before proceeding with the lesson, make sure the Toolbars we will use --
Standard and Formatting -- are available. Follow these steps:
1. Point to View on the Menu bar.
2. Click the left mouse button.
3. Press the down arrow key until Toolbars is highlighted.
4. Press Enter.
5. Standard and Formatting should have a checkmark next to them.
6. If both Standard and Formatting have a checkmark next to them, press
Esc three times to close the menu.
7. If one or both do not have a checkmark, highlight Customize.
8. Press Enter.
9. Point to the box next to the unchecked word and click the left mouse
button. A checkmark should appear.
Note: You turn the checkmark on and off by clicking the left mouse button.
10. Point to Close and click the left mouse button to close the dialog box.
The Ruler
The ruler is generally found below the main toolbars. The ruler is used to change the
format of your document quickly. To display the ruler:
1. Point to View on the Menu bar.
2. Click your left mouse button.
3. The option Ruler should have a checkmark next to it. If it has a checkmark
next to it, press Esc twice to close the menu. If it does not have a
checkmark next to it, continue to the next step.
4. Press the down arrow key until Ruler is highlighted.
5. Press the Enter key. The ruler should display below the toolbars.
Document View
With word, you can display your document in one of five views: Normal, Outline, Page
Layout, or Online Layout.
Normal view
Normal view is the most often used and shows such formatting as line
spacing, font, point size, and italics. Multiple-column text is displayed in
one continuous column.
Web Layout view
The Web Layout view optimizes the document for online viewing (viewing
the document in a browser).
Print Layout view
The Print Layout view shows the document as it will look when it is printed.
Reading Layout view
The Reading Layout view shows the document as book. It shows two pages
on the screen.
Outline view
Outline view displays the document in outline form. Headings can be
displayed without the text. A heading can be moved and the
accompanying text moved with it.
Before moving ahead, check to make sure you are in Normal view:
1. Point to View on the Menu bar.
2. Click the left mouse button.
3. The icon next to Normal should be depressed. If the icon next to normal is
depressed, press Esc twice to close the menu. If the icon next to Normal is
not depressed, continue on to the next step.
4. Highlight Normal.
5. Press Enter. You should now be in Normal view.
Text Area
Just below the ruler is a large area called the "text area." You type your document in the
text area. The blinking vertical line in the upper left corner of the text area is the cursor.
It marks the insertion point. As you type, your work will show at the cursor location. The
horizontal line next to the cursor marks the end of the document.
Word Shortcuts for PC
Cut: Ctrl + X
Copy: Ctrl + C
Paste: Ctrl + V
Undo: Ctrl + Z
Redo: Ctrl + Y
Open a document: Ctrl + O
Close a document: Ctrl + W
Save current document: Ctrl + S
Create new document: Ctrl + N
Select all content: Ctrl + A
Bold: Ctrl + B
Italic: Ctrl + I
Underline: Ctrl + U
Align center: Ctrl + E
Align left: Ctrl + L
Align right: Ctrl + R
Open a document.
Ctrl+O
Create a new document.
Ctrl+N
Save the document.
Ctrl+S
Close the document.
Ctrl+W
Cut the selected content to the Clipboard.
Ctrl+X
Copy the selected content to the Clipboard.
Ctrl+C
Paste the contents of the Clipboard.
Ctrl+V
Select all document content.
Ctrl+A
Apply bold formatting to text.
Ctrl+B
Apply italic formatting to text.
Ctrl+I
Apply underline formatting to text.
Ctrl+U
Decrease the font size by 1 point.
Ctrl+Left bracket ([)
Increase the font size by 1 point.
Ctrl+Right bracket (])
Center the text.
Ctrl+E
Align the text to the left.
Ctrl+L
Align the text to the right.
Ctrl+R
Cancel a command.
Esc
Undo the previous action.
Ctrl+Z
Redo the previous action, if possible.
Ctrl+Y
Adjust the zoom magnification.
Alt+W, Q, then use the Tab key in the Zoom dialog box to go to the value you want.
Split the document window.
Ctrl+Alt+S
Remove the document window split.
Alt+Shift+C or Ctrl+Alt+S
COMPONENTS OF THE WORD WINDOW
1) THE TITLE BAR
It is located at the very top of the screen.
On the title bar, Microsoft word displays the name of the document
you are currently using.
2) THE MENU BAR
The menu bar is directly below the title bar and it displays the
menu.
The menu begins with the word file and continues
with edit, view, insert, format, tools, table, window, and help.
You use the menu to give instructions to the software.
When you click on any menu option a drop-down menu appears.
3) TOOLBARS
Toolbars provide shortcuts to menu commands.
Toolbars are generally located just below the Menu bar.
File
When you open a new file in Word, the first tab you will see is File. Look carefully -
you may miss it because it is a different color than the other tabs (depending on
what color scheme you have your desktop set on). The File tab has just what you
would think: options related to the entire file, such as save, print, share, and open.
Home tab:
The Home tab has the most commonly used features, especially as they relate to
modifying text. In the Home tab you can select your font, size, color, attributes (bold,
italics, underline), and alignment (left, center, right). You can also select a style,
which is a predetermined text made to fit certain document parts, such as headings,
subtitles, and text.
The Home tab is the default tab in Microsoft Word. It has five groups of
related commands; Clipboard, Font, Paragraph, Styles and Editing. It helps
you change document settings like font size, adding bullets, adjusting
styles and many other common features. It also helps you to return to the
home section of the document.
See the image:
Insert tab:
Under the Insert tab, there are a number of choices. In a Word document, there are
many types of visual aids and highlights you can add to a file to help summarize and
present information. It's in the Insert ribbon tab where you can find options for
graphics, charts, hyperlinks, page breaks, headers, footers, textboxes, and reference
information, such as date and time, comments, page numbers, and bookmarks.
Insert Tab is the second tab in the Ribbon. As the name suggests, it is
used to insert or add extra features in your document. It is commonly
used to add tables, pictures, clip art, shapes, page number, etc. The Insert
tab has seven groups of related commands; Pages, Tables, Illustrations,
Links, Header & Footer, Text and Symbols.
See the image:
Design tab
The Design tab can be either very useful or hardly used, depending on your own
understanding of Word. Most of the space in the Design tab is taken up by examples
of document designs that you can select, such as documents with centered titles,
offset headings, and left justified text. However, in addition to those less popular
tools, the Design tab also includes watermarks, page color, and page borders, which
may be used by advanced Word users.
Page Layout tab:
The Page Layout ribbon is an important tab to determine how your document looks.
This is the tab that has the options to modify margins, page orientation, paper size,
columns, indents, spacing, page breaks, and the arranging of any parts of the
document, such as text and graphics or tables.
It is the third tab in the Ribbon. This tab allows you to control the look
and feel of your document, i.e. you can change the page size, margins,
line spacing, indentation, documentation orientation, etc. The Page Layout
tab has five groups of related commands; Themes, Page Setup, Page
Background, Paragraph and Arrange.
See the image:
References tab:
The References tab is one that you may never use, or may be used heavily,
depending on the type of work you do in Word. For students, the References tab is
the easiest way to insert citations and references into the Word document. It can
help with creating the reference page, table of contents, footnotes, and sources.
It is the fourth tab in the Ribbon. It allows you to enter document sources,
citations, bibliography commands, etc. It also offers commands to create a
table of contents, an index, table of contents and table of authorities. The
References tab has six groups of related commands; Table of Contents,
Footnotes, Citations & Bibliography, Captions, Index and Table of
Authorities.
See the image:
Mailings tab:
It is the fifth tab in the ribbon. It is the least-often used tab of all the tabs
available in the Ribbon. It allows you merge emails, writing and inserting
different fields, preview results and convert a file into a PDF format. The
Mailings tab has five groups of related commands; Create, Start Mail
Merge, Write & Insert Fields, Preview Results and Finish.
See the image:
Review tab:
It is the sixth tab in the Ribbon. This tab offers you some important
commands to modify your document. It helps you proofread your content,
to add or remove comments, track changes, etc. The Review tab has six
groups of related commands; Proofing, Comments, Tracking, Changes,
Compare and Protect.
See the image:
View tab:
The View tab is located next to the Review tab. This tab allows you to
switch between Single Page and Two Page views. It also enables you to
control various layout tools like boundaries, guides, rulers. Its primary
purpose is to offers you different ways to view your document. The View
tab has five groups of related commands; Document Views, Show/Hide,
Zoom, Window and Macros.
The Ruler
The ruler is generally found below the main toolbars. The ruler is used to change the
format of your document quickly. To display the ruler:
1. Point to View on the Menu bar.
2. Click your left mouse button.
3. The option Ruler should have a checkmark next to it. If it has a checkmark
next to it, press Esc twice to close the menu. If it does not have a
checkmark next to it, continue to the next step.
4. Press the down arrow key until Ruler is highlighted.
5. Press the Enter key. The ruler should display below the toolbars.