An Introduction to MS Word

One of the most widely used programs of Microsoft Office suite, MS Word is a word processor
developed by Microsoft.
Since MS Word is one of the most used programs of the Office Suite, some basic information
regarding its creation and development has been given below:

 Charles Simonyi, a developer and Richard Brodie, a software engineer, were the two creators
of MS Word
 This program was initially named “Multi-Tool Word” but later, was renamed as MS Word
 It was introduced in 1983
 The extension for any word file is “.doc or .docx.”
What is MS Word?
Used to make professional-quality documents, letters, reports, etc., MS Word is a word processor
developed by Microsoft. It has advanced features which allow you to format and edit your files
and documents in the best possible way.
How to create an MS Word document?
To create an MS Word doc, follow the steps mentioned above to open Microsoft Word. Then
once the program is open, click on “File” followed by “New”. This opens a new doc where
something new can be created.

The Various components presents in MS-Word screen are as follows: -

1) Office Button: - It is located at the top of left corner of the Word window. It has
various options such as New, Open, Save, save as, Print, Prepare, Send, Publish & Close.

2) Quick Access: - It is located next to the Office Button. It provides easy access to access
commands and can be customized to one’s need.

3) Ribbon: - Present below the Office Button, it contains a group of easy to use commands. It has
seven Tabs and on clicking a particular Tab its ribbon appears.

4) Ruler: - It helps to set Margins and Indents.

5) Work space: - It is a place where MS-Word works are done.

6) Scroll Bars: - The Scroll Bars enable to scroll the document horizontally and vertically.

7) Status Bar: - It is located at the bottom of the window. It displays information such as page
number, word count, document view, zoom, etc.
Features of MS Word
Now let us read more about the features and components of an MS Word doc file in detail.

 Home
This has options like font colour, font size, font style, alignment, bullets, line spacing, etc. All the
basic elements which one may need to edit their document is available under the Home option.

 Insert
Tables, shapes, images, charts, graphs, header, footer, page number, etc. can all be entered in the
document. They are included in the “Insert” category.

 Design
The template or the design in which you want your document to be created can be selected under the
Design tab. Choosing an appropriate tab will enhance the appearance of your document.

 Page Layout
Under the Page Layout tab comes options like margins, orientation, columns, lines, indentation,
spacing, etc.

 References
This tab is the most useful for those who are creating a thesis or writing books or lengthy documents.
Options like citation, footnote, table of contents, caption, bibliography, etc. can be found under this
tab.

 Review
Spell check, grammar, Thesaurus, word count, language, translation, comments, etc. can all be tracked
under the review tab. This acts as an advantage for those who get their documents reviewed on MS
Word.
Apart from all the above-mentioned features, the page can be set in different views and layouts, which
can be added and optimised using the View tab on the Word document. Margins and scales are also
available for the benefit of the users.

Uses of MS Word
Given below are the different fields in which MS Word is used and simplifies the work of an
individual:

In Education: It is considered as one of the simplest tools which can be used by both teachers
and students. Creating notes is easier using MS Word as they can be made more interactive by
adding shapes and images. It is also convenient to make assignments on MS Word and submitting
them online
In Workplace: Submitting letters, bills, creating reports, letterheads, sample documents, can all
easily be done using MS Word. Also, creating a Doc file and converting it into PDF is a more
suitable option, so it is highly recommended.

Creating & Updating Resume: One of the best tools to create your resumes and is easy to edit
and make changes in it as per your experience
 For Authors: Since separate options are available for bibliography, table of contents, etc., it is
the best tool which can be used by authors for writing books and adjusting it as per the layout and
alignment of your choice
NAMING A DOCUMENT
To make easy to identify and locate document, word allow long file name (up to 225 character)
including space, however a document name cannot contain the following.

Characters: -

a) forward slash (/) b) back slash (\) c) greater and smaller sign (>), (<)
d) asterisk (*) e) period (.) f) question mark (?) g) quotation (““)
h) pipe symbol () I) colon (:) j) semi colon (;)

Some of the very important tools with keyboard shortcut keys to be memorized:-
Keyboard shortcut Key Tools
Ctrl + X – Cut-----to remove from the original place
Ctrl + C – Copy-----to create a duplicate copy
Ctrl + V – Paste-----to paste the original or duplicate file
Ctrl + Z – Undo-----to revert back your actions or undoing
Ctrl + Y – Redo-----to retrieve back your erased or deleted file
Ctrl + A - Select All---to select all the content
Ctrl+N – New Document----to open a new document in MS word
Windows + D – To view Desktop
Windows + E - To open windows explorer
Windows + Tab – To preview open windows and application
Alt+Tab – To change or to switch windows

***By default, the font color is black, font size is 11 and the font face is Calibri (Body)
***To Apply any tools to a given sentence text or paragraph always select the required area
or field
In MS word we have four alignment tools named as
CTRL + L= To align the selected text to Left
CTRL + E= To align the selected text to Center.
CTRL + R= To align the selected text to Right
CTRL + J= To align the selected text to Justify

In MS Word we have font style named as

CTRL+B= Bold to make text bolder, darker and thicker
CTRL+I= Italic to make your text italicize or in angular
Press CTRL+U to underline the selected text