A Handy Guide to

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a word processor. A word processor is a computer

program that allows you to create, edit, store and print documents
containing text.

A word processor can be useful for planning, organising and presenting text in
different ways.

Key Vocabulary

Term Definition

align To arrange text or objects in a straight line.

bullet point A symbol, often circular, used to organise items in a list.

font A particular style, size, weight and colour of text characters.

format The style and layout of the information in a document.

justified text Text that is aligned to both the left and the right.

The way in which a page is displayed. This can be vertical

orientation
(portrait) or horizontal (landscape).
A way to make text flow around the boundary of an object such
text wrap
as an image.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Getting Started

The Microsoft word Interface

file menu menu toolbar sharing

font style
and size font shortcut toolbar /
formatting align ribbon
tools

zoom

Starting a New Document

Choose to start a Blank document. Go to File on the menu toolbar and

choose Save As. Select where on your computer you would like to save
your document and give your document a name so that you will be able
to find it again at a later date.

Page Setup

When you start a new document, the page orientation is automatically

set to portrait. You can change this to landscape if that works better for
the document you are going to create. Go to Layout on the menu toolbar
and choose Orientation.

Select Landscape and the orientation of your document will change.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Adding Text

When you start a new document in Microsoft Word, the cursor will be flashing to show the
starting position on the page. As you type, the text will automatically move down to the
next line when it reaches the right-hand edge of the page.

To start a new line in your document or add line spaces between lines or
paragraphs, press the Enter key on the keyboard.

To go back up a line or remove line spaces, make sure that the cursor is at
the beginning of the line and press the Backspace key on your keyboard.

To indent a new paragraph or move text across the page, position the
cursor to the left of the text and press the Tab key on your keyboard.
Use the Backspace key to remove indents.

A document in Microsoft Word is automatically viewed at 100% of its size. To see the whole
of your document, move the Zoom tool slider in the bottom right corner to the left to set the
size to a lower percentage. This is useful to see the layout of the text on the page.

Microsoft Word automatically checks the text in a document for grammar and spelling.
Incorrect words or phrases are underlined with a wavy red line. Right-click on an underlined
word to see a suggested alternative.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Formatting Text

A word processor allows you to choose the style and appearance of the text in your
document.

To format text, there are a set of Font tools on the shortcut toolbar.

Text colour
Bold

Italics Highlight
Underline

To format text, click and drag to highlight the text you want to change. The text will be
highlighted in grey to show that it is selected. Click on one or more of the format tools to
change the appearance of the text.

To remove formatting, highlight the text to be changed and click on the formatting tool again
to remove it.

Change the size of the text using the arrow to the right of the Font Size tool on the
shortcut toolbar. You can also click on the font size itself and change the value to be
smaller or greater.

Top Tip: Don’t forget to click and drag to select the text you want to change first.

Change the text font by clicking on the arrow to the right of the
Font tool on the shortcut toolbar. Choose a style from the ones
shown in the menu.

Top Tip: Don’t forget to click and drag to select the text you want
to change first.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Aligning Text

Align means to arrange text or objects in a straight line. A

word processor has an Align tool to help organise text quickly
and neatly. The Align tool in Microsoft Word is found on the
shortcut toolbar. Left-aligned is the automatic setting for a
new document as this is the most frequently used alignment.

Click and drag to select the text you want to align. Click on the appropriate Align button.
The different alignments are explained here:

Text is usually aligned in a straight line to the left of the document. This is the
case when you are writing stories or recounts.

Text can be aligned on a centre line. This can be useful for headings or for writing
poems.

Text can be aligned in a straight line to the right of the document. This is useful
when writing an address on a letter.

Text can be justified. This arranges the text with a straight line on the left and the
right hand sides of the document. This is often seen in printed story books.

Click on the Undo button if you want to remove the text alignment.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Positioning Images

To position and move images in Microsoft Word, you need to make

use of the Layout Options tool.

Click on an image to select it. Handles will appear around the edge
to show the image has been selected. These handles can be used to
resize the image.

A small icon will appear to one side of the image. This is the Layout
Options tool.

Click on the Layout Options tool to see the variety of options

for arranging the text and image in the document. This is
called Text Wrapping.

Choosing the top left option, known as Square Text Wrapping,

will allow the image to be moved freely around the document.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Numbered and
Bulleted Lists

It can sometimes be useful to organise text into a list. This could be a numbered list such as
in a recipe or a set of instructions. It could be a bulleted list that does not need to be in any
particular order, such as a shopping list.

To Add a Numbered List

Write the list using the Enter key on the keyboard to start a
new line for each new item in the list.

Click and drag over all the items in the list. They will appear
highlighted in grey.

Click on the Numbered list button on the shortcut toolbar.

The list will change to show a numbered list.

To Add a Bulleted List

Follow the instructions for creating a numbered list but this

time click on the Bulleted List button on the shortcut toolbar.

The list will change to show a bulleted list. The shapes in

front of each word are known as bullet points.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Inserting an Image

Adding images to a text document is a good way to make writing more interesting and
informative. You can add images from a web search or from a saved location on your device.

Click on Insert on the menu toolbar. Choose Pictures to upload

an image from your computer or Online Pictures to search for an
image on the World Wide Web.

To Upload From Computer

Click on Insert on the menu toolbar and click on Pictures. Clicking on this option will open
a new file explorer window. Search your computer to find the image to be added. Click on the
image and click on Insert at the bottom of the file explorer window.

The image will appear in the document. Click on the image to select it.
Click and drag on the round handles around the edge to resize the image.
The arrow above the image is the Rotate tool. Click and drag to rotate
the picture.

Text Wrap

A small square appears beside the image. This is the Layout

Options tool. Click on this to open up a selection of layouts.
These show how the text and image will appear together in the
document. This is called Text Wrapping. Choose the Square Text
Wrapping option to move the image freely around the document.

To delete the image, click to select it and press Delete on

the keyboard.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Inserting an Image

To Search the Web for an Image

Click on Insert and choose Online Pictures to search for images on the World Wide Web.
Clicking on this option will open an image search pane.

Type in keywords for the image you want to find and press the Enter key on the keyboard.
Click on the image that you want to add to the document and click on the Insert button that
appears at the bottom of the image search pane.

The image will appear in the document. Click on the image to select it.
Click and drag on the round handles around the edge to resize the image.
The arrow above the image is the Rotate tool. Click and drag to rotate
the picture.

Text Wrap

A small square appears beside the image. This is the Layout

Options tool. Click on this to open up a selection of layouts.
These show how the text and image will appear together in the
document. This is called Text Wrapping. Choose the Square Text
Wrapping option to move the image freely around the document.

To delete the image, click to select it and press Delete on the keyboard.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Inserting Word Art

Microsoft Word has a feature called Word Art. This

tool allows you to add some fancy and colourful text
to a document. It can be useful when creating posters
or leaflets.

Go to Insert on the menu toolbar and click on the

Word Art tool.

Choose one of the Word Art styles from the grid of

options that appears.

A box will appear on the page directing you to add

your text. Type your text into the box and click
anywhere on the document to exit Word Art.

To edit the Word Art text, simply click on it. Word Art
can be resized or rotated using the handles or it can
be moved around the document by changing the Text
Wrapping in the Layout Options tool at the side of
the box.

You can format the Word Art text to change its

appearance or shape and to apply visual effects.

When you click on a Word Art, a selection of

formatting tools will become available through a new
tab on the menu toolbar. Use the Shape Effects and
the Text Effects tools to change the Word Art style
and shape.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Inserting a Table

Adding a table to a document is a useful way to present information, such as a timetable or

the results of a science experiment.

Click on Insert on the menu toolbar. Click on Table.

Drag the cursor over the grid that appears, to highlight

the number or rows and columns you would like to
include in the table. Click when you have selected the
correct number. The table will appear on the document.

Click in each cell of the table to add data. The information in the table can be formatted
in the same way that text can be formatted. Click and drag to select the information and
choose from the options on the shortcut toolbar.

To remove a table, click on the Undo button or click and drag to select the
whole table. Right click on the table and choose Cut or Delete Table.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Proofing Tools

Microsoft Word has a number of Proofing tools to help you write accurately and check for
mistakes. Click on Review on the menu toolbar and you will see a group of Proofing tools on
the left-hand side of the shortcut toolbar.

Click on Thesaurus to get help with your vocabulary.

Highlight a word in the text that you would like to find a synonym
for. Click on Thesaurus and a thesaurus search pane opens at the side
of the document with suggestions of words you may like to use. Click
on the arrow at the end of one of the suggested words and choose
Insert to replace the word in your text with the new word.

Click on Spelling &

Grammar to check for
errors in your document.
Make sure that the cursor
is at the end of your text.

Top Tip: If you want to

Click on Word count to count how many words
check just one section of
and characters there are in your document.
your document, click and
drag to select the area Top Tip: If you want to count the words in just one
of text before clicking on section of your document, click and drag to select
Spelling & Grammar. the area of text before clicking on Word Count.

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A Handy Guide to Microsoft Word: Find and Replace

The Find and Replace tools can be a useful way to find a particular word in a long piece of
text or to make changes to a word that needs replacing. The Find and Replace tools can be
found on the right-hand side of the menu toolbar.

Click on the Find tool and type the word you want to find into search box of
the Navigation pane that opens at the left-hand side of the document.

Click on the Replace tool and use the dialogue box to search for a word and
change it to a new word.

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