Introduction to MS WORD

INTRODUCTION TO MICROSOFT WORD
1. To start Microsoft Word, from the Taskbar, click Start -> Programs -> Microsoft Word.
2. On top of the application is a long bar called the Title Bar. On the most left side of the title bar, there is an icon
that represents the application. That application icon also represents menu used to perform many operations
related to Microsoft Word as an application. To use the system menu on the application icon, click the small icon.
3. A menu appears. From the system menu, click Restore
4. To maximize the application again, click the icon again, and click Maximize from the menu
5. On the right side of the icon, there are two groups of words. When Microsoft Word starts, it creates an empty
document called Document1. You can then type your text. If at one time you find that you need another
document, you can initiate a second one. In that case, you would have Document2. Eventually you can add more
documents. We will come back to that feature. DocumentX represents the name of the file you are working on. If
you save your document under an appropriate name, the new name would display in that area and Document1 or
DocumentX would disappear.
On the right side of Document is the name of the application. Microsoft Word would like you to know that it is the
running application.
On the right side of the application’s name, there is a long empty bar; this is the main area of the title. As empty
as it looks, this area can be used to perform many actions because it has a menu of its own.
To experiment with the title bar, double-click it. The window is restored
6. To access the menu of the title bar, right-click the title bar and click Maximize from the shortcut menu. The
window application is maximized.
7. On the most right side of the title bar system buttons used to perform routine operations on Microsoft Word as a
window.
Every one of these buttons has a name can display it when you position the mouse on top of the button. To see
how they work, position the mouse on the left button. A tool tip appears displaying Minimize. Click the Minimize
button.
8. To restore the window, click Document1 – Microsoft Word on the Taskbar. The Microsoft Word window is
maximized.
9. Under the title bar, there is a group of aligned words such as File, Edit, View, etc. This group is called the Menu
Bar or the menu.
The menu allows you to perform all or almost all kinds of operations pertinent to word processing. To use the
menu, you have to click one of the words. Here is an example.
Click File.
10. The menu in Microsoft Word 2003 is configured to display the most recently used items or the items that are most
often used with the application. That is why you see the button.
To display the rest of the menu, double-click File
11. The File menu allows you to do many things. For example, from here you can create a new empty document and
do many other things such as closing the current document, saving the document, or opening an existing file.
Besides the File menu, to view other menu items, position the mouse on Edit. Notice that the menu is different
from the previous. Position the mouse on Format and observe the menu
12. To use a menu example, click Tools -> Options…
13. From the Options dialog box, click the Blue Background And White Text check box. Increase the Recently Used
File List to 8 Entries.
14. Click OK. Notice that the screen is blue
15. Type: This text is going up front and press Enter. Notice that the (white) text is displaying on a blue
background
16. Again on the main menu, click Tools -> Options…
17. From the Options dialog, click the General property sheet. Click the Blue Background And White Text line to
deselect its check box.
18. Just like any menu that is part of the operating system, especially programs published by Microsoft, there are four
classic categories of menus in Microsoft Word.
A sub-menu that is gray is temporarily disabled, which means it is not available. Some
examples at this time are Edit -> Paste, Data -> Refresh Data.
To experiment with this kind of menu, click Edit then click Cut. Nothing happens. A menu in this state will not
work, it is waiting for something else to happen, then it will become enabled
19. A sub-menu that stands by itself will perform a simple action, some of those actions
even occur behind the scenes, sometimes giving you the impression that nothing happened when you clicked
them. Examples of such menus include File -> Save, Edit ª Copy, etc (The File ª Save menu will behave like the
next category if the workbook has not been saved yet).
To see an example of such a menu, click File -> Select All.
A sub-menu is a child of another menu. It is used to group menu items
that belong to the same sub-category.
20. Menus in another category have three dots on their line. These menu items will call a
dialog box when you click them.
To see an example, click File, observe that the New... sub-menu has three dots, just like the disabled Save As...,
the Page Setup..., and the Print...
Click New.... Notice that it calls the New property sheet. Click the General property sheet. Click Blank Document
and click OK.
21. The last category of menus has a right pointing arrow. You don't need to click these
menus, the arrow means they have a sub-menu; just position your mouse on them and you will have access to
the sub-menu.
To see an example, on the main menu, double-click File, and then position your mouse on Send To. Notice the Send To sub-menu. While the menu still has focus, on the main menu, position the mouse on View, then position the mouse on Toolbars. Notice the list of toolbars
22. To dismiss the menu, click the File menu.
Whether a menu falls under one of our categories or not, some menu items display a combination of buttons on their line, these are shortcuts. A shortcut is a key or a combination of keys that you press (simultaneously) to perform an action.
To see some of the shortcuts, on the main menu, click Edit and notice the shortcuts on Cut or Copy.