Getting started with Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is word processing application primarily considered the office standard for word processing globally. It typically comes as part of the Microsoft Office suite, a package of several Microsoft applications, such as Outlook for emails and Excel for spreadsheets.
If you're new to Microsoft Word ('Word' for short), then chances are you're new to a lot of things in Windows. This article is for starting off with the absolute basics; in this article we'll explore:
- Opening Microsoft Word app
- Creating a new document
- Opening an existing Word document file
- The main interface
- Closing a document
- Closing the app
Opening the Microsoft Word app
The first thing to do is to find the application to open it. The blue Word application icon is typically 'pinned' to your taskbar on the bottom of your screen like this:
If you don't see it you can left click in the search bar and type in 'word':
Word will then appear in search results above. You can click on either of these two highlighted buttons below to open the application:
Tip: Once you've opened the app, right click on the blue Word app icon and select Pin to taskbar from the menu. Pinning the Word app to the taskbar will make it stay there after you close it:
Creating a new document
Once Word has loaded up you'll see this initial menu screen below. To start a brand new document click the highlighted option Blank document. There are also many different templates you can choose from here as well.
Opening an existing Word document file
If you have Word document or template file to work from you don't need to open the Word app first. Simply double click on the file icon (or left click it to select it and press Enter) and it will open in Word.A word document icon looks like this depending on where you're viewing it:
The main interface
This is the main Word interface you work from. It's made of different sections which we'll go through top to bottom.
Quick Access Toolbar
At the very top of the app is the Quick Access Toolbar has some options that are always available; on the left are options to save, undo, redo; in the centre is a searchbar to search for tools and options; on the right are options to minimise screen, maximise screen and close the application. If you're using Microsoft Office 365 then you'll also see a toggle for Autosave to the far left.
The Ribbon
The Ribbon is where you access tools and options to edit the document with. They are categorised under tabs for different purposes. Home is the most common tab you will use featuring tools for content control (Clipboard), font and paragraph formatting and styles. In time you may also find yourself using the other such as Insert for adding tables or images, Layout for altering the page or Review for quality assessing and collaboration with others.
Workspace
This is the main area in which you edit your document. The white area represents the page itself including its margins. You can add, edit or delete content on the page. The blinking insertion point line shows where your next action (e.g. typing) will happen. The grey area surrounding page is a neutral background space to help visualy seprate the page from the rest of the app window.
Status bar
The bar at the bottom of the window shows details about the document such as the page number, total pages, word count as well as the current language setting, accessibility, view options and the zoom tool.
Closing a document
You can close the current document but still keep the Word application open by clicking File > Close:
A quicker way is to use the keyboard shortcut holding down Ctrl and then pressing W:
Closing the app
You can close Word by pressing the X button in the far right corner on the Quick Access Toolbar. If you have made any unsaved edits Word will prompt you to save before closing.
