North County Regional

Computer Classes

Microsoft Word:
What you will learn

• What a word processor is

• Basic parts of a Microsoft Word window

• Basic commands that can be accessed from the toolbars

• How to add or remove text from a document

• How to select text

• How to use formatting options to change the appearance of the text

• How to undo and redo changes

• How to copy and paste text

• How to use the spelling and grammar checker

• How to save a document

• How to preview a document before printing

 What a Word Processor Is
A word processor is a computer program used for the creation of a printed or electronic document.
Much like a typewriter was used to create documents in the past, word processors allow for the
composition of documents, but with much more flexibility. Because the document does not exist in any
physical form until it is actually printed, editing the content and visual appearance of that document is
very easy.
The three categories of word processors:
• Plain text editors allow you to edit your documents, but do not allow for any formatting (that
is, changing the appearance of the document, such as text style and size). All Microsoft
Windows computers include a plain text editor called Notepad.
• Rich text editors allow you to change both the content and the basic formatting (such as using
different fonts, or creating text that is bold or underlined). All Microsoft Word computers
include a rich text editor called Wordpad.
• High-end word processors allow you to edit and format very sophisticated documents, and
they have many more formatting options than are available in rich text editors. These computer
programs usually must be purchased separately, though one is often bundled with the software
that comes installed on new computers. Examples of high-end word processors include
Microsoft Word, Corel Wordperfect, and OpenOffice.

Basic Parts of a Microsoft Word Window

Title Bar Click here to close
Menu Bar the window

Standard
Toolbar

Formatting
Toolbar

Scrollbars

In accordance with the provisions of the ADA, this document may be requested in an alternate format.

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The Toolbars
Many of the commonly used editing and formatting commands can be accessed via the buttons and
drop-down menus on the standard toolbar and formatting toolbar, rather than using the menus on the
menu bar (although they can always be accessed that way as well).

Using Tool Tips

If you forget the function of a particular button, rest the mouse cursor
over the button to reveal the tool tip balloon that identifies it.

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Adding and Removing Text

When adding or removing text from your document it is important to know where the insertion point is
in the document. The insertion point indicates where the next character typed on the keyboard will
appear on the document, or where text will be removed. The insertion point is represented by a
vertical blinking black line. You can generally only move the insertion point to a part of the document
where you have already typed something, even if that is just blank lines or spaces. To add blank lines,
use the Enter key. To add blank spaces, use the space bar or Tab key. You can reposition the insertion
point by pressing the arrow keys on your keyboard or clicking with the mouse in the location where
you want to move the insertion point.

insertion point (appears

as a blinking bar)

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The keyboard
Backspace – Delete –
Tab – moves the insertion point removes text to removes text to
to the next tab stop, usually the left of the the right of the
located at ½” increments insertion point insertion point

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Shift – hold down to make a capital Spacebar – adds Enter – inserts a Arrow keys –
letter, or for the upper symbol on a blank space line break, ending moves the
keys with two characters the line of text insertion point
and continuing on in the direction
the next line of the arrow
Caps Lock – press once and all
alphabet keys pressed afterwards
will be in capitals, press again to
turn off Caps Lock

To delete text:
1. Position the mouse cursor in the location where you want to remove text.
2. Press the Backspace key to remove text to the left of the insertion point.
or
2. Press the Delete key to remove text to the right of the insertion point.

Selecting Text
Before you can apply formatting changes to text that has already been typed, you must select the text
you want to change. You can select any amount of text, from a single letter or word, up to an entire
document.

To select a part of the document:

1. Position your mouse cursor at the location where you want your selection to begin.
2. Hold down the left mouse button (do not let go until you have finished making your
selection).
3. Move your mouse cursor to the location where you want to end your selection, and then let
go of the mouse button. (Note: all the text between the beginning and ending point will
become highlighted to let you know you have selected that text)
(Note: if you select either too little or too much text, you must start over by unselecting your text
and making your selection again)

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To select all the text in a document:
• Click the ‘Edit’ menu and then click ‘Select All’.

To unselect text:
• Click once anywhere in your document.

Common Formatting Options

To change the visual appearance of a document, you can either set the format (the desired font style,
font size, bold, underline, etc.) before you start typing or, if you want to change text that is already
typed, select that text, then make the desired formatting changes. Remember: you cannot change text
that is already typed unless you first select that text!

Font: A font is like a typeface – it is the visual style of the lettering. You can select a font style from
the drop-down Font menu. (The default font is Times New Roman.) Click on the menu and scroll
through the list of available fonts. Click on the name of the font you want to use.

Font size: Open the font size menu by clicking the black triangle next to the font size box on the
formatting toolbar. Click the number of the font size you want to use.

Bold, italics, underline: The bold, italics, and underline feature buttons toggle on and off. Click on
the appropriate button on the Formatting toolbar, B, I, or U, to turn on the feature; click the button
again to turn it off.

Alignment: To align text, click on the appropriate button on the Formatting bar. ‘Align Left’ (the
default setting) aligns the text against the left margin; ‘Align Right’ aligns it against the right margin;
‘Center’ aligns it between the margins; ‘Justify’ inserts extra spaces between some words to make
paragraphs line up against both margins.

Numbering and Bulleting: The numbering and bulleting features will help you create a numbered or
bulleted list. When either feature is turned on, each paragraph will have a number or bullet placed in
front of it.

Indentation: The indentation buttons will either increase or decrease the amount of indentation of
whichever paragraph is selected.

Font color: Click the small, downward-pointing triangle next to the Font Color button to open a palette
of colors to choose from. If you have selected text to change its color, the color you chose will not be
displayed while the text is selected. Click outside the selected text to remove the highlighting, to see
the actual color.

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Undo and Redo
As you make changes to your document, Microsoft Word keeps track of the changes you make.
Clicking the Undo button will undo the last change you made. This can be especially handy if you
accidentally do something that changes your document and you aren’t sure what you did.

To undo a change:
• Click the Undo button on the standard toolbar.

To redo a change:
• Click the Redo button on the standard toolbar.

Copying and Pasting Text

Text can be copied from one document and pasted into another, or pasted repeatedly in the same
document, saving you the trouble of retyping redundant material.

To copy and paste text:

1. Select the text to be copied by clicking and dragging the mouse cursor across the text.
2. Click the ‘Edit’ menu and then click the ‘Copy’ command (or click the Copy button on the
standard toolbar).
3. Move the insertion point to the location where the text is to be pasted.
4. Click the ‘Edit’ menu and then click the ‘Paste’ command (or click the Paste button on the
standard toolbar).

Spelling and Grammar Checker

Microsoft Word has the ability to check your document for spelling and grammar errors. It can do this
while you are typing, in which case it will put a wavy line under any suspected errors. You can also
run a separate check feature that will scan your document for errors, present suggested fixes, and
apply any corrections you specify.

To run the spelling and grammar checker:

• Click the ‘Tools’ menu and choose ‘Spelling and Grammar’.
or
• click the Spelling and Grammar button on the standard toolbar.

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Spelling and Grammar Window
The sentence containing the possible error
is displayed here. Typos are highlighted in
Click ‘Ignore Once’ to
red, grammatical errors in green.
ignore this instance of
the highlighted word.

Click ‘Ignore All’ to ignore

every instance of the
highlighted word in this
document.

Click ‘Add to Dictionary’ to

add the highlighted word to
Microsoft Word’s dictionary.

Click ‘Change’ to change the

highlighted word to whatever
is selected in the list of
suggestions.

Suggestions for changes are

listed here.

Saving a Document
You must save your documents if you wish to be able to access them in the future. If you create a
document and then close the Microsoft Word program without saving your document first, the
document will be lost. It is a good idea to save your document frequently as you create it, just in case
your computer loses power or some other interruption causes the Microsoft Word program to stop.

To save a document:
1. Click the ‘File’ menu, and then
click ‘Save As…’
2. In the dialog box which appears,
change the ‘Save in:’ drop-down
menu to the location where you
want to save the document.
3. Type a name for the document
into the ‘File name:’ box.
4. Click the ‘Save’ button.

(Note: after you have saved the

document once, as you make changes
you can use the ‘Save’ command, which
will replace the old version with the new,
without asking for a name or location.)

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Print Preview
While editing a document, there may be features that appear on the screen (for example, red wavy
lines under suspected typos) that do not print out with the document. To see the document as it will
appear on the printed page, you can use the Print Preview feature.

To preview a document before printing:

1. Click the ‘File’ menu and then click ‘Print Preview’.
or
1. Click the Print Preview button
on the standard toolbar.

2. In the preview window that appears, use the zoom menu to change the size of your
document on the screen (this will not affect the printing of the document, just your view of
it on the screen). Click the ‘Close’ button when you are done.

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copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ or send a letter to Creative
Commons, 543 Howard Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.