Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word  Microsoft Word is a word processor developed by Microsoft Corporation. You can create, edit and print the documents according to your requirement. Auto correct, spelling and grammar checking, text formatting, mail merge, graphics, tables etc. are some of the features of MS-Word. The extension of Word file is doc and the executable file name of Word is winword.

Running Ms-word:
Start => Programs => Microsoft Word
OR  Start => Run => winword

Parts Of Ms-Word

1) Document Window: The window which appear when we start word and  where you enter and edit text.

2)  Title Bar: shows the name of the current document and the application you are working in.

3)  Menu Bar: contains Drop-down Menus

4)  Standard Toolbar:  contains shortcut buttons for commonly used menu commands such as “Open New Document”, “Open File”, “Save”, “Print”, Print Preview”, “Spell Check”, “Cut”, “Copy”, and “Paste”.

5)  Formatting Toolbar:  contains shortcut buttons for commonly used format menu commands such as font formats, and text position.

6)   Rulers:  help you position text or objects and let you set margins, tabs, and indents.

7)  View Buttons:  shortcut buttons which allow you to change the way your document is viewed in the window.

8)  Status Bar:  contains page information such as page number, and cursor position.

9)  Insertion Point:  a blinking vertical line that displays the position where information to be typed will appear.

10)  Horizontal Scroll Bar: allows you to move the document in the window left or right.

11)  Maximize Button: enlarges the window to full screen size and then becomes the Restore button. We can use alt+spacebar+x  from keyboard.

12)  Restore Button: makes the window smaller. We can use alt+spacebar+r  from keyboard.

13)  Minimize Button: reduces the window to a button on the Task Bar. We can use alt+spacebar+n  from keyboard.

14)   Close Button:  closes the window or application.  We can use alt+spacebar+c  from keyboard or we can use Atl+F4 to close the Word.

15)  Vertical Scroll Bar:  allows you to move the document in the window up or down.

16)  Scroll Buttons:  Vertical and Horizontal buttons allow you to move the document in the window one line or column at a time.

17)  Page Up/Down Buttons:  allow you to scroll through your document a page at a time.

  Main Menus

1) Drop-down menus from the Menu Bar display commands.

2)  Icons:  can also be found on the Standard or Formatting Toolbars.

3) Expand Button:  only the most often or most recently used commands appear on the drop-down menu.  By clicking on the Expand Button, or after a short pause, the menu will expand to show all the commands.

4)  Unavailable Command:  commands that are not currently necessary, or are not currently an option to be used, are grayed out.

5)  Right-pointing Arrow:  indicates an available sub-menu.

6)  Ellipsis:  indicates that you will see a dialog box when you select that command.

Viewing the toolbars The toolbars in Microsoft Word provide easy access and functionality to the user. There are many shortcuts that can be taken by using the toolbar. First, make sure that the proper toolbars are visible on the screen. Click View Select Toolbars Select Standard, Formatting, and Drawing Other toolbars can be selected if you wish Name Icon Description New Blank Document Creates a new, blank file based on the default template. Open (File menu) Opens or finds a file. Save (File menu) Saves the active file with its current file name, location, and file format. Mail Recipient Sends the contents of the document as the body of the e-mail message. Print (File menu) Prints the active file or selected items. To select print options, on the File menu, click Print. Print Preview (File menu) Shows how a file will look when you print it. Spelling and Grammar (Tools menu) Checks the active document for possible spelling, grammar, and writing style errors, and displays suggestions for correcting them. To set spelling and grammar checking options, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the Spelling and Grammar tab. Cut (Edit menu) Removes the selection from the active document and places it on the Clipboard. Copy (Edit menu) Copies the selection to the Clipboard. Paste (Edit menu) Inserts the contents of the Clipboard at the insertion point, and replaces any selection. This command is available only if you have cut or copied an object, text, or contents of a cell. Format Painter (Standard toolbar) Copies the format from a selected object or text and applies it to the object or text you click. To copy the formatting to more than one item, double-click , and then click each item you want to format. When you are finished, press ESC or click again to turn off the Format Painter. Undo (Edit menu) Reverses the last command or deletes the last entry you typed. Redo (Edit menu) Reverses the action of the Undo command. Hyperlink Inserts a new hyperlink or edits the selected hyperlink. Tables and Borders Displays the Tables and Borders toolbar, which contains tools for creating, editing, and sorting a table and for adding or changing borders to selected text, paragraphs, cells, or objects. Zoom Enter a magnification between 10 and 400 percent to reduce or enlarge the display of the active document. Office Assistant The Office Assistant provides Help topics and tips to help you accomplish your tasks. Creating A New Document Click on File Select New To create a blank document, simply select Blank Document. To create a document based on one of the templates provided in Microsoft Word, select which one you would like to create and select OK Ctrl+N is the short to create new file   Formatting Text Highlight the text that you want to format by dragging your mouse over while holding down the left mouse button Change the text to your desire  Ctrl+D is the shortcut key for Format our text. Inserting a Table Click where you want your table to go Click Table at top of screen Select Insert Select Table Give your table dimensions Inserting a Picture Click where you want your picture to go Click Insert at top of screen Select Picture Select Clip Art or From File Select picture and click Insert Inserting Page Numbers and Date/Time Click Insert at top of screen Select Page Numbers and/or Date & Time   Alt+Shift+D is the short to insert current date. Spell Checking Your Document  and  Thesaurus Click Tools at top of screen Select Spelling and Grammar  of press F7 key from Keyboard To find the synonym of the selected word select Thesaurus from Language option from Tools Menu or we can use Shift+F7 keys from Keyboard.

TIP: SPECIAL SYMBOLS IN WORD 

Here is a Word question from  Kara T.:

"I have seen several tips about how to produce em dashes and en dashes. I would like to know when you use an em dash and when you use an en dash." 

An en dash is slightly longer than a hyphen. You would ordinarily use an en dash to separate letters and numbers. For example, you would use an en dash in the phrase "Figure I-A."

An em dash is even longer than an en dash. You would use it to set apart a phrase. For example, you would use em dashes in the phrase "He said--with almost everyone listening--that the speech was over." Not a good example, perhaps, but you get the idea. 

Now, how do you create en dashes and em dashes? If you haven't made any changes in AutoCorrect, you can create an em dash by simply typing two hyphens immediately after a word. Then you start another word without typing a space. The two hyphens turn into an em dash. 

To create an en dash (also using AutoCorrect), type a space after the last character before the en dash, then type two hyphens. Now, type another space and then type the next character. This produces an en dash between the two characters in   question. 

If you have changed AutoCorrect or   don't want to activate it, you can click where you want an em dash to   appear and hold down the Alt key while you type 0151 on the numeric   keypad to enter an em dash. Or you can hold down the Ctrl-Alt keys at   the same time as you type the minus sign (-) on the numeric keypad. To   enter an en dash, hold down Alt and type 0150 on the numeric keypad.

TIP: AUTOMATICALLY INSERT CAPTIONS WITH PICTURES IN WORD DOCUMENTS 

Here is a Word question from reader Warren C.: 

"At one time, I could have Word automatically insert a caption when I inserted a picture. Now I choose Insert, Caption and click OK, but nothing happens. Can you tell me how to recover this option?" 

You haven't lost the option, it just isn't activated. Open a blank document and choose Insert, Caption. When the Caption dialog box opens, click AutoCaption. This will open the AutoCaption dialog box. You now need to select the file types for which you want to have an automatic caption appear. For example, you might need to use an AutoCaption only with ClipArt pictures. If so, scroll down through the list and select the check box beside Microsoft Clip Gallery. 

After you make all your selections, click OK to close the dialog box and save your settings. Choose Insert, Picture, ClipArt and double-click a picture to insert it into the document. At this point, the caption should appear under the ClipArt picture. You can use the mouse to position the caption where you want it.

TIP: USE WORD'S BUILT-IN GRADIENTS WITH TEXT BOXES

Here is a Word tip from reader Susan W.:

"Many people are not aware of the fill effects available for use in Word text boxes. I have found it very effective to use some of the preset gradients in special documents. You can also use your own gradients."

 Let's look at some details to see what Susan is talking about.

 Run Word and open a blank document. Choose Insert, Text Box and use the mouse to draw the box. Next, choose Format, Text Box. When the Format Text Box dialog box opens, click the Colors And Lines tab.

 Next, under Fill, click the arrow at the right side of the Color list box and click Fill Effects. When the Fill Effects dialog box opens, click the Gradient tab (if necessary).

 Now select the Preset radio button, then click the arrow at the right side of the Preset Colors list box and select a color scheme. To apply your selection and close the Fill Effects dialog box, click OK. Click OK again to close Format Text Box.

 When you choose a Fill Effect, make sure your text is still readable over the fill colors. If you want to select your own colors, while in the Fill Effects dialog box, select the Two Colors radio button and select your colors.

TIP: REPLACE LINE BREAKS IN A WORD DOCUMENT

Kim B. submitted this tip describing a method for eliminating all those line breaks that appear in many imported documents. 

"When you reformat a Web page in a Word document format, you generally have manual page breaks and manual line breaks. Although formatting can take a while, here is a method that can save some time. 

"Use Find And Replace to replace all double-carriage returns  (ApAp) with some nonsense text (I use the number 999). This will protect all the paragraph separations but not the end-of-line carriage returns. Now use Find And Replace to replace single carriage returns with a space. Finally, use Find And Replace to replace all the 999's with carriage returns. You should need no further editing of carriage returns." 

This works just fine. We would add only that you ought to use something other than 999, since that number could legitimately occur in a document. Perhaps you could use something like *..* or A**Z. It might even be worthwhile to do a search for whatever you've decided to use before you begin to modify your document. This way, you can be sure you won't replace part of the document text.

TIP: TEXT ALIGNMENT IN WORD 

Here is a Word question from  Walt E.: 

"I know pressing Ctrl-L will set a Word paragraph to left-justified, and Ctrl-R will produce right-justified text. But how do you center or fully justify text? Ctrl-C won't work."

 Here are the keystrokes that apply to text alignment:

 Ctrl-L = Left-aligned text 

 Ctrl-E = Centered text

 Ctrl-R = Right-aligned text

 Ctrl-J = Fully justified text

 For example, if you want to center existing text, you can click in the paragraph to center and press Ctrl-E

 Ctrl-C has special meaning to the Windows operating system, so Word doesn't use it for text centering.

CREATING TABLES IN WORD 97   

by Jim Pile 

Here is a Word question from reader Terri M.: "I read somewhere that you can create a table in Word by simply typing a few characters. Is this possible? How do I do this?"

Yes--you type a series of plus (+) and minus (-) signs. For example, if you type 

+---+---+

and press Enter, Word will create a two-cell table. 

If this doesn't work for you, the function is probably disabled. To enable it, choose Tools, AutoCorrect. When AutoCorrect opens, click the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Now select the check box labeled Tables and click OK to apply your settings and close the dialog box.

TIP: ENTER USER INFORMATION IN WORD 

by Jim Pile

 Here is a Word 97 question from reader Dianne F.: "I am using a computer originally issued to someone else. I would like to enter my own name into Word as the user. I have tried to do this with no luck at all. Can you offer a suggestion? Can it be done without reinstalling Office 97?"

You won't have to reinstall--just run Word and choose Tools, Options. When the Options dialog box opens, click the User Information tab. Enter your personal information, then click OK to close the dialog box and record the info.

DISPLAY THE WORD RULER ONLY WHEN NEEDED

John T. submitted the following tip: "I always keep the Word ruler turned off. However, at times I do need it--then I choose View, Ruler to turn the ruler on and the same to turn it back off again. 

"A friend recently told me about a trick for viewing the ruler without actually turning it on. All you have to do is move the mouse pointer to the area right under the Formatting toolbar. As long as the mouse pointer remains in this position, Word will display the ruler." 

TIP: MOVE TEXT IN WORD DOCUMENTS

 REVISITED by Jim Pile

 In one of our tips, we reported that you can select text, then hold down Alt-Shift and use the keyboard arrow keys to move the selected text around in the document. Reader Kyle E. has a comment about that 

tip: "You recently said that you could select text in Word and use the arrow keys to move the selected text to wherever you want in a document. This is correct--up to a point. Your tip implies that you could move a single word using this method, and you can't. You can only use this method to move a paragraph. In fact, if you select a single word, the program will automatically select the entire paragraph when you press an arrow key."

 Kyle is correct. Thanks for the added information, Kyle.

TIP: WORKING WITH GUTTERS IN WORD 

 Reader Dan M. has a Word question:

 "I have to do a newsletter that will eventually be bound (rather crudely, but bound nonetheless). I need to make sure the binding won't block any of the text. I have noticed that books have a larger margin near the bound edge. Is there an easy way to do this in Word?"

What you need is a gutter--the extra margin space you see in books and magazines. To create gutters in your document, open the document and choose File, Page Setup. When the Page Setup dialog box opens, use the Gutter spin box to set the extra amount of space you need. As a starting point, we suggest trying 0.5 inches. 

If you are going to print single-sided pages, this is all you need to do. Just click OK to close the dialog box and apply your settings. However, if you are going to produce double-sided pages (printing on both sides) then you need to select the Mirror Margins check box before you click OK.

By default, the gutter will apply to the entire document.

LINKING TEXT BOXES IN WORD 97

Jack R. has a Word text box question:

"I am sure I read somewhere that you can link two Word text boxes so  that when you fill one with text, Word will move to the second text box and continue. Could you discuss this in a tip?"

 Yes, you can link text boxes. Try this: Open a blank Word document and click the Text Box tool in the Drawing toolbar (its icon looks like a page of text). Use the mouse to draw the first text box, then click the Text Box tool again and use the mouse to draw a second text box.

Now click the text box to which you want to start adding text. Then, in the Text Box floating toolbar, click the Create Text Box Link button (the icon resembles a chain link). At this point, the mouse cursor will turn into a cup. Now click in the second text box.

Finally, start adding text in the first text box. You'll find that after the first box fills up, text begins to appear in the second, linked box.

SWITCHING BETWEEN WORD DOCUMENTS

Here is a Word tip from Todd N.:

 "I often switch between several open documents in Word 97. To make the switch easier, I placed a button in the Word toolbar to do the switch for me. 

"To do this, run Word and choose View, Toolbars, Customize. When the Customize dialog box opens, click the Commands tab. In the Categories list, select All Commands. Now, move to the Commands list and use the mouse to drag the NextWindow command to the Word toolbar. Click OK to accept the default name and close the dialog box.

"When you click the new NextWindow button, Word switches to another loaded document."

FIND AND REPLACE DOUBLE SPACES IN WORD 

Willie E. has a Word question:

 "I have to edit documents that come to me on floppy disks from a variety of people. Many of these authors use two spaces after a  period. Since I must use only one space after a period, this poses a problem. Although these documents aren't so very long, it takes a long time to go through each and get rid of the extra spaces. Is there some way to get Word to automatically replace the double spaces with single spaces?" 

Yes, there is. Press Ctrl-H to open the Find And Replace dialog box. 

In the Find What entry box, enter a period followed by two spaces. Now move to the Replace With entry box and enter a period followed by one space. Click Replace All, and Word will straighten out the spacing for you.

The only problem with this method is that Word may replace some double spaces you want to keep. Entering the period followed by the spaces may cut down on problems, since you will replace the extra space only after a period.

DEALING WITH AUTOFORMAT IN WORD 97

John M. has a Word 97 question:

 "Whenever I enter a fraction, such as 1/2, Word 97 replaces this fraction with the fraction symbols. Some copies of my Word documents get converted to text later, and these symbols don't appear. Is there a way to get Word to stop making this replacement?" 

There sure is. Run Word and choose Tools, AutoCorrect. When the AutoCorrect dialog box opens, click the AutoFormat As You Type tab. Under Replace As You Type, deselect Fractions (1/2) With Fraction Character (1/2). Click OK to close the dialog box and save your new selection.

CREATING WEB PAGES IN WORD 

Several readers have asked about the practicality of creating a Web  page using nothing but Word. As long as you don't want to create a complex page, Word is a very practical tool for this purpose.

 To get started, run Word and open a blank document. Now choose File, Save As HTML. Give your new document a name and click Save. Word will go into HTML mode, and you can proceed with your Web page design. Note that in HTML mode, not all Word 97 features are available. For example, if you choose Insert, Picture, you'll find that WordArt is not available. 

After you have added some text and graphics to your Web page, save it, then click the Web Page Preview button in the Word toolbar (its icon resembles a map of the world under a magnifying glass). This will open your document in Internet Explorer.

HYPHENATED NAMES IN WORD 

John M-A. has a question:

 "I now have a hyphenated last name (since my marriage in August), and have run across a Word problem I had never thought about before. What happens is that Word often splits my name onto two lines. Is there a way to get Word to put my entire last name on a single line?"

Suppose your name is Julian Carrington-Smith. What you do is type the name up to the hyphen, then press Ctrl-Shift-hyphen (-) and type the second part of the name. When you press Ctrl-Shift-hyphen, the hyphen that appears will look like an em-dash. This is not a problem, since the hyphen will print properly.

AUTOCORRECTING PARTIAL WORDS IN WORD 97

 We recently said Word's AutoCorrect feature will not work with partial words. Several readers sent examples of how to get Word's AutoCorrect to handle partial words.

Word 97's AutoCorrect will not deal with partial words. Try this: Choose Tools, AutoCorrect and type "toin" in the Replace entry box, then type "tion" in the With entry box. Click Add, then OK. Now type 

actoin

in your document--you will find that Word does not correct the spelling to "action." 

Word 2000 will correct partial words, as one reader pointed out, but Word 97 will not.

ADDING A WORKSHEET TO A WORD DOCUMENT

 Here's a Word suggestion from reader Dwayne B.:

"If you use Word most of the time, as I do, you might find it convenient to create an Excel worksheet right in a Word document. Why run Excel and then copy and paste if you don't have to?

 "To insert the Excel worksheet, click where you want the sheet to appear in your Word document and choose Insert, Object. When the Object dialog box opens, click the Create New tab. Now select Microsoft Excel Worksheet from the list and click OK to insert the worksheet.

 "You can now do whatever you like with the worksheet. Just to test it out, enter

 1 2 3

 in cells Al through A3. Now click cell AS, type =sum(al:a3)

 and press Enter. Cell AS should display 6 at this point. Click

 anywhere outside of the worksheet, and it will turn into what looks like a normal Word table. 

"To modify your worksheet data, just double-click to open it as a worksheet again.”

A WORD TABLE TEMPLATE  

Here is a word question from reader Barry H.:

"I frequently use tables in Word 97 and sometimes would like to have a column with a default value in each cell. For example, a column entitled Partner would contain Smith for all entries in the column since that individual is my partner 90 percent of the time. I would then only have to change the cell value for 10 percent of the entries. Is there a fill command or technique for setting a default value in a table's cell? 11  

Since you need the default values 90 percent of the time, why not make a template? Just open a new blank document and insert your table (choose Table, Insert Table). After you get the table laid out to your satisfaction, fill in the default columns. Finally, choose File, Save As. When the Save As dialog box opens, type a name for your template and click the arrow at the right side of the Save As Type list box. From the list, select Document Template. Then click Save to close the dialog box and save your new template.  

To use the template, run Word and choose File, New. When the New dialog box opens, click your new template's icon and click OK.

CHECK THE STYLE IN WORD 

Here is a Word tip from reader Nan V.:

"If you have a long document and would like to check the styles you used, just press Shift-F1. The cursor turns to a question mark and a pointer. Click in the text you want to know about, and Word opens a dialog box telling you all about the style (its font, formatting, and so on)."  

This feature is called What's This, and you can also open it by choosing Help, What's This. Press Esc to turn off the option.