Chapter 4

Basic Operations Using

MS Word - Part I

Learning Objectives

 Understand the Basic Operations of using Microsoft Word Office, including

Home Tab.

Introduction
Once you have created a new Word document, you begin typing in a document
at the location of the blinking vertical line called insertion point (cursor). The I-Beam is
the stationary line that looks like a large capital I. Moving the I-Beam onto text and
clicking changes it to the insertion point.
As you type a few lines of text, you’ll notice that you don’t need to press the
Enter key at the end of each line. The program automatically moves down (or “wraps”)
to the next line for you. Word calls this feature word wrap. You need only to press the
Enter key to start a new paragraph.
To capitalize, hold down the Shift key while typing the letter you want to
capitalize. If you make a mistake, you can delete what you typed and then type your
correction. You can use the Backspace key to delete characters that proceeds or to
the left of the insertion point. The Delete key deletes characters to the right of the
insertion point.
Working with Documents
A. Create a New Blank Document
By default, Word opens a new blank document when you start Word. To open a
new blank document while in Word, do the following:
1. Click the File tab.
2. Click New. The New Document screen appears. You can choose to work
with a blank document, a new blog entry, or a template.
3. To open a blank document, double-click Blank Document and a new blank
document appears.
Tip: The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + N.
B. Save a Document
To save a document in Word, do the following:
1. Click the File tab.
2. Click Save or click the Save button from the Quick Access Toolbar.
Note: Save is used to save the document for the first time. The Save As
dialog box appears.
3. In the Save in box, browse for the location where you want the document to
be saved.
4. In the File name box, type the name you want for the document.
5. In the Save As Type, select a file type you want for the document.
6. Click Save. The file name will appear at the title bar of the Word window.
Tip: The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl + S. C.
C. Save As a Document
The Save As option is used to save a copy of an existing document under a
different name or another file type. To save a file under a different name or file type,
do the following:
1. Click the File tab.
2. Click Save As.
3. In the Save in box, browse for the location where you want the document to
be saved.
4. In the File name box, type a new name for the document.
 5. In the Save As Type, select a file type you want for the document.
6. Click Save.
D. Open an Existing Document
To open an existing document in Word, do the following:
1. Click the File tab and click on Recent to look for your document in the
Recent Documents lists. If you don’t see your document there, you can
choose the Open command from the File tab or from the Quick Access
Toolbar. The Open dialog box appears.
2. In the Open dialog box, browse for the location where the document is
located. 3. Select the document to be opened and click Open. You can also
double-click the document to quickly open it.
Tip: The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+O.

Moving in the Text

The easiest and most common way, to move around a document is by using
the mouse. You simply move the mouse to move the I-Beam to where you want to
type. If your mouse has a scroll wheel, you can push or roll the wheel backward or
forward to move up or down the document in the window.
You can also use the scroll bars to move around the document window by
clicking the arrow at either end of the scroll bar to move the document up or down in
the window, or click the arrow at either end of the horizontal scroll bar to move the
document left or right.
In addition to using the mouse and the scroll bars, the following keys can be
used to move within the text:
Selecting Text
Before you can move, copy, delete, or change the formatting or placement of
existing text, you must first select the text you want to edit. When text is selected, or
highlighted, it appears on your screen showing through a colored (typically blue)
shading. Word allows you to select contiguous or non-contiguous text for editing. To
select text in Word, you can either use the mouse or the keyboard.

Insert and Overtype

While creating your document, you may find a need to insert text – place new text
between existing text. Alternatively, you may want to overtype text – replace current text with
new text.
With Word, inserting and overtyping a word, phrase, or even several paragraphs is
easy. Before you attempt to insert or overtype, you should check the mode you are in – Insert
or Overtype. When in Insert mode, you can insert text. When in Overtype mode, you can
overtype text. By default, Word is in Insert mode.
To switch to Overtype mode:
 Right-click on the Status bar and tick Overtype – Insert.
  Click on the Insert on the Status bar to switch to Overtype mode. Clicking it again will
switch you back to Insert mode.

Home Tab

The Home tab is the default tab in Microsoft Word. Home tab has five groups of
related commands; Clipboard, Font, Paragraph, Styles and Editing. It is helpful for
edit document style, font size, adding bullets and etc.

A. Clipboard

Copy, Cut and Paste

Word provides a number of different methods with which you can copy and
move text. Moving or copying text usually involves the Windows Clipboard, which
temporarily holds text you place on it. You use the Clipboard feature to move or copy
text from one place to another, thereby avoiding the need to retype it.

To copy/move and paste text using the Ribbon:

1. Select the desired text to be copied.

2. Click the Copy or Cut button in the Clipboard group on the Home tab.
 3. Place the insertion point to where you want the text to be copied.
4. Click the Paste button in the Clipboard group of the Home tab.

To copy/move and paste text using the Context menu:

1. Select the desired text to be copied.

2. Right click on the selection and select Copy or Cut from the context menu.
3. Click on a location where you want the text to be copied.
4. Right click and select Paste from the context menu.

To copy/move and paste text using the keyboard:

1. Select the desired text to be copied.

2. Press Ctrl + C (Copy) or Ctrl + X (Cut) on the keyboard.
3. Click on a location where you want the text to be copied.
4. Press Ctrl + V to paste.

To copy and paste text by Drag and Drop:

1. Select the desired text to be copied

2. While holding down Ctrl key, click on the selection and drag and drop it to
where you want the text to be copied.

To move text by Drag and Drop:

1. Select the desired text to be moved

2. Click on the selection and drag and drop it to where you want the text to be
moved.

Using Format Painter

The Format Painter copies formatting from selected text or object and applies
it to another text or object. To use the format painter, do the following:

1. Select the text that contains the format you want to copy.
 2. Click the Format Painter button on the Clipboard group of the
Home tab. The mouse pointer becomes an I-Beam with a paint brush.
3. Select the text where you want to apply the formatting.

Tip: To apply formatting to multiple places in the document, double-click the Format
Painter button.

B. Font

Text Formatting

Fonts, which are families of design styles for the numbers, letters, and symbols
that make up text, can provide additional information to the reader. Fonts can, for
example, make your document appear mature and business-like or young and casual.
For many text attributes, Word offers a chance to try before you buy‖ with its Live
Preview feature.

The basic text formatting options are on the Home tab of the Ribbon in the
Font group. You can change font typefaces, sizes, styles, color and effects.

A. Changing Font Typeface and Size

1. Select the text to be formatted.

2. Click Home tab.
3. Choose an appropriate font typeface and size in the Font group.

Tip: To quickly increase or decrease font size, click the Grow or Shrink Font buttons.
You can also use the mini toolbar to format font typeface and size. To change font size using
the keyboard, press Ctrl + [ ] or Ctrl + Shift+< >.

B. Changing Font Style

1. Select the text to be formatted.
2. Click Home tab.
3. Choose an appropriate font style button in the Font group.
Tip: You can also use the mini toolbar to apply font style. To change font style
using the keyboard, press Ctrl + B for Bold, Ctrl + I for Italic and Ctrl + U for
Underline.
C. Changing Font Color

1. Select the text to be formatted.

2. Click Home tab.
3. Click the arrow next to the Font Color button and choose a color.

D. Changing Font Effect

1. Select the text to be formatted.

2. Click Home tab.
3. Choose an appropriate font effect button (strikethrough, subscript,
superscript) in the Font group.

Tip: To apply font effects using the keyboard, press Ctrl + = for (subscript) and Ctrl +

Shift + + for (superscript). To apply other font effects (as well as styles, sizes and
typefaces) click the dialog box launcher of the Font group or press Ctrl + D. This will
open the Font dialog box which contains all font formatting options.

E. Applying Text Highlight Color

The text highlight color make text look like it was marked with a highlighter pen. To
highlight text, do the following:

1. Select the text to be formatted.

2. Click Home Tab
3. Click the arrow next to the Text Highlight Color button and choose a
highlight color for the text
 F. Changing Text Case

Word provides a quick tool for switching text between uppercase and lowercase
letters. You can also format so the first letters of each line or each word becomes a
lowercase. The change case options are:

To change text case, do the following:

1. Select the text or paragraph to be formatted.

2. In the Font group of the Home tab, click the Change Case button and
choose one from the drop-down menu.

Tip: To quickly change the case of selected text, press Shift + F3. Pressing this key
toggles between change case options.

G. Clear Formatting

To return formatting to the default document settings, do the following:

1. Select the text from which you want to remove formatting.

2. Go to Home tab. In the Font group, click the Clear Formatting button. All
text and paragraph formatting choices return to the default setting with
the exception of highlighting. Any applied highlighting remains on the
selected text.

Tip: To quickly clear or remove formatting select the text and press Ctrl+ Spacebar
C. Paragraph

Paragraph Formatting

To Word, every time a user hits the Enter key, a new paragraph is created. A
paragraph can be several lines of text, a single word, or even no characters at all. A

useful tool for working with paragraphs in Word is the Show/Hide button in the
Paragraph group of the Home tab. This button toggles the display to show the
nonprinting characters that help you see what is going on behind the scenes in Word.
These characters do not print and will not appear in your printed document but do
affect the document layout.

A. Line Spacing

Line spacing controls the distance between individual lines of a paragraph.

Word offers six different line spacing options: 1) Single 2) 1.5 lines 3) Double 4) At
least 5) Exactly and 6) Multiple.

To Changes the line spacing of a paragraph, do the following:

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the paragraph

2. Click the Home tab.
3. In the Paragraph group, click the Line Spacing button and choose
one from the drop-down menu.

Tip: To change line spacing using the keyboard, press Ctrl + 1 for Single, Ctrl + 5 for
1.5 lines and Ctrl + 2 for Double Line Spacing
B. Indentation

Indentation controls how far your text is from the page margin. You can control both
the left and right indentation. Paragraph indentation has four different options:

1. Left Indent: All the selected text is moved an equal amount from the left margin.
2. First Line Indent: Only the first line of a paragraph is moved from the left
margin. This is frequently used for the body of a paper, particularly when there
is no extra space between paragraphs.
3. Hanging Indent: Every line but the first line of a paragraph is moved from
the left margin. This is frequently used for glossaries and bibliographies.
4. Right Indent: All the selected text is move and equal amount from the right
margin.

To change the left and right indentation of a paragraph, do the following:

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the paragraph.

2. Click the Home tab.

3. In the Paragraph group, click the Decrease or Increase buttons.

Tip: You can also change paragraph indentation by selecting the Page Layout tab, in
the Paragraph group, Indent section, click on the arrows to adjust the Left and Right
indentation. Or open the Paragraph dialog box by clicking the dialog box launcher in
the Paragraph group of either the Home or Page Layout tab.

To indent the first line of a paragraph, do the following:

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the paragraph.

2. Open the Paragraph dialog box by clicking the dialog box launcher of the
Paragraph group of either
3. Home or Page Layout tab.
4. Choose First Line from the Special drop-down and set the amount of
indentation by clicking on the arrows on the By drop-down.
5. Click OK.
To apply hanging indent to a paragraph, do the following:

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the paragraph.

2. Open the Paragraph dialog box by clicking the dialog box launcher of the
Paragraph group of either
3. Home or Page Layout tab.
4. Choose Hanging Indent from the Special drop-down and set the amount of
indentation by clicking on the arrows on the By drop-down.
5. Click OK.

C. Paragraph Alignment

Paragraph alignment refers to how the left and right edges of a paragraph align
on a page. You can left-align, center, right-align and justify a paragraph. The four
options to format paragraph alignment are:

1. Align Text Left – Word’s default setting, starts every line at the left margin.
2. Center – leaves room at both margins when it moves to the next line.
3. Align Text Right – it squeezes all the text towards the right margin.
4. Justify – stretches text from the left to the right margin edges, so that both
edges have a clean, flush line.

To change paragraph alignment, do the following:

1. Place the cursor anywhere in the paragraph.

2. In the Paragraph group of the Home tab, click the desired
alignment from the alignment buttons.
3. You can also open the Paragraph dialog box by clicking the dialog box
launcher of the Paragraph group of either Home or Page Layout tab.
4. In the General section, choose one from the Alignment drop-down.
5. Click OK.
D. Lists

Word provides you with three basic types of lists: bulleted lists, numbered lists and
multilevel lists.

Creating a bulleted list

1. Type and asterisk [*] followed by a space. Word converts the asterisk to a bullet
symbol.
2. Type the first item in your list and press ENTER to continue the list.
3. To end the list, press ENTER twice.

Creating a numbered list

1. Type number 1 followed by a period then the first item in your list. Word
converts the list to a numbered list.
2. Press ENTER to continue the list.
3. To end the list, press ENTER twice.

Tip: You can also type your list first then select it. In the Paragraph group of the
Home tab, choose the desired list style

Creating a multilevel list

1. In the Paragraph group of the Home tab, click the Multilevel List button.
2. Type in the first item in your list.
3. To indent an item, press Tab. To remove the indent, press Shift + Tab.
4. To end the list, press ENTER twice.

Formatting lists
1. To change the bullet symbol or number format of a list, click the arrow to
the right of the list style button (in the Paragraph group of the Home tab) and
select a bullet or number format.
 2. If you don’t like the list of bullets or number formats in the gallery,
you can define a new bullet or number format by clicking on Define New
Bullet... or Define New Number Format... or Define New Multilevel List...
3. Select the bullet, number format or multilevel list you want to use.

D. Editing

Find and Replace

Word’s Find and Replace features are real time savers. The Find command is
useful when you want to seek out text that you may have trouble visually locating in a
document. To find a word or string of words quickly, follow these steps:

1. Click on the Home tab.

2. Click on Find button on the Editing group or press Ctrl + F.
3. Type the word for which you are searching in the “Find what” box of the
Navigation pane.
4. Press Enter key to start searching. The word or string will be highlighted. To
move through the results, click on the thumbnails of the matching text.

Once you've found a word or string of words, you can modify it by using the Replace
command. To replace a word or string with another, do the following:

1. Click on the Home tab.

2. Click on Replace button in the Editing group or press Ctrl + H.
3. In the “Find what” box, type the word you want to replace.
4. In the “Replace with” box, type in the replacement word or string.
5. Click the Replace to replace the currently highlighted text, or Replace All
button to replace all occurrences of the word.
6. Click the Close button.