Microsoft Word Basics

Getting Started
● Open word. You may choose a blank document, or browse a template
that’s right for you. Blank or unformatted documents are best to use at
this stage of instruction.

● The blue column on

the left shows your
most recent saved
files. You may select
one of these to
resume work on a
saved document.
 Margins
Cursor
Page

Scroll bar

Zoom
Page and word count
Read modes
 Quick save
Undo
Redo Quick print Quick Access toolbar
Print preview
New document Customize toolbar

You may add frequently used tools to

your quick access bar by right clicking
the tool button and selecting “add to
Quick Access toolbar”
 Home toolbar: font style & clipboard
Font name Font size Automated Clear all
cases formatting
Clipboard: use to copy and paste, or
ctrl+c and ctrl+v

Strikethrough
Bold Italic
Underline Text effects
Text color
Superscript
Highlight

Subscript
Home toolbar: format paragraphs
Numbered list

Bulleted list Multilevel list

Increase and decrease

indentation

Left, right, center, Line spacing Table drawing tools

justified alignments
Home toolbar: editing tools

Find, ctrl+f for PCs and Command-F for Macs,

allows you to find words within the text

Replace words with

other words in your
text

Choose how to
select portions of
your text
Now you
know your You can ignore the stylized presets to the
right of your home toolbar for now as
basic tools! they can be cumbersome to customize
 Insert/add media
Add a preset cover
page Insert image files
saved to your Add shapes such as
computer arrows

Grab a screenshot
(for PCs press the
Prtscn key, then
paste your clipboard
contents. For Macs
press Command +
shift + 4 to copy, and
Create a table of then paste your
columns and rows Add infographics clipboard contents)
Add a blank page
between pages of
text Search images when
Break your chapter
or subheading of connected to the
text to the next page internet with a Bing
image search
 Insert/add media
Search for or embed
online videos
Insert Wikipedia content Bookmark select Add headers,
portions of your text footers, and page
for easy reference numbers

Hyperlink portions of your

Add or manage apps text for reader’s reference
(e.g. subsections in legal
documents)

Add comments for

Link your text to outside
multireader editing (to
sources with a URL
delete comments go to the
(for example:
Review/editing tab)
www.youtube.com)
 Insert/add media
Add a moveable text
box to your article or Add a signature or
graphic design timestamp your
document
Custom text-image Open math or
headings symbol menus

Automate format
templates for Add another file or Embed .swf files for
recurring, stylized document to your sound clips
text (such as Add an epigraphic current document throughout your text
captions or asides) letter or word to
begin your article or
chapter
 Page layout options
Divide text into Your menu listing names
Manually adjust the
columns Page break of image files that appear
spacing before and
in the document for quick
Paper dimensions after paragraph
toggling
breaks

Margin adjustment
in print inches Position images within
text, select style of Align, group, or
Manually adjust the “wrapping” text around rotate images
Portrait or landscape dimensions of images, and select the
Number each line of
orientation indentations order in which multiple
text, and hyphenate
each line item in list layers of images will
appear. To test this
function, upload an image
to your document.
As you add
tables and
They will be highlighted and color-coded as shown above.
images, more To stick to our basic agenda, we will skip these accessories
for now. But if you’re interested, many of the functions

tab menus
include basic photo editing for more graphic documents, or
table editing, which gives you a greater range for
infographic presentations. Test out the tools as you would

appear with
any of the tools and effects described throughout this
dossier.

various tool
options
 References/works cited

Insert footnote or Add and link indexed Formatting settings

Add and manage
endnote items for legal documents
sources

Add a formatted
Hyperlink portions of
bibliography
Jump to next text
according to what
Add a preset, footnote in your text type of document
formatted table of you’re drafting
contents, and
update an existing
table using the Insert captions
Display menu of all
buttons to the right. below images
notes
 Review/edit
Track changes that
have been made
Find synonyms for
throughout the
words you’ve used too
Always check creation and editing Compare and
often throughout your
spelling & grammar! of your document combine revisions of
document
(very useful!) same document
Translate and adjust
language settings

Accept or reject
Count total words in changes that have
document Add, delete, and been made by other
toggle through Control editing
editors
Define a word by document’s capabilities (it’s a
highlighting and comments by privilege not a
clicking this button multiple users right!)
 View options
See next slide (17)
Read Split or add
Edit Show ruler Automate
document as documents and Arrange your split
document as measurements or frequently used
if it were a toggle between windows, or
it will look grid to give you tasks by creating a
pdf or epub each synchronize
when printed spatial relations on series of commands
file scrolling
the page and instructions

Draft returns Navigate your

you to regular document View the Toggle
Edit text edit as with quick document between your
Magnify or
document as opposed to searches one or two documents
broaden your
it will look outline mode pages at a
view of the
when printed time, adjust
document
page width
 Outlining is a simple way of creating a list or taxonomy Outlining
When this is checked, it shows your
stylized/designed text, rather than the
Quickly refer to each level of your list normal text format, which looks more like
the text of this explanatory caption Insert other documents into or create
documents of portions of your outline

When this is checked, it shows the first line only of the level you
have selected. The higher the level, the more lines are shown.

Start by typing your first and second lines. Then drag the minus
symbol at the head of the line right to subordinate the second
line to the first line
 Problems w/multi-user comments

It is difficult to manage or delete comments from

the Insert tab. Instead, delete user comments
from the Review tab.
 Problems w/track changes
If you’re having trouble turning track changes off, be sure that it is unlocked.

This is what Track Changes looks like. The blue is unedited text, the
crossed-out red has been deleted by an editor, and the underscored red
word to the left of the deleted word is the word the editor chose to replace
the previous word. All red underscored words are additions made to the
original text.