MS Word Shortcut Keys

Ctrl + N = New Document Ctrl + H = Replace

Ctrl + P = Print Ctrl + B = Bold
Ctrl + S = Save Ctrl + I = Italic
Ctrl + Z = Undo Ctrl + U = Underline
Ctrl + Y = Redo Ctrl + L = Align Left
Ctrl + C = Copy Ctrl + E = Align Center
Ctrl + X = Cut Ctrl + R = Align Right
Ctrl + V = Paste Ctrl + J = Align Justify
Ctrl + F = Find Ctrl + A = Select All/Highlight All

Lesson 3.1: Creating, Editing, and Formatting Documents

Creating Documents
Creating a document means entering text using the keyboard or the dictation function
associated with speech-recognition software. Word processing software has three features that
affect this process–the cursor, scrolling, and word wrap.
Cursor. The cursor is the movable symbol on the display screen that shows you where you may
next enter data or commands. The symbol is often a blinking rectangle or an I-beam. You can
move the cursor on the screen using the keyboard’s directional arrow keys or a mouse. The
point where the cursor is located is called the insertion point.
Scrolling. Scrolling means moving quickly upward, downward, or sideways through the text or
other screen display. A standard computer screen displays only 20-22 lines of standard-size
text. Of course, most documents are longer than that. Using the directional arrow keys, or the
mouse and a scroll bar located at the side of the screen, you can move (“scroll”) through the
display screen into the text above and below it.
Word Wrap. Word wrap automatically continues text to the next line when you reach the right
margin. That is, the text “wraps around” to the next line. You don’t have to hit a “carriage-return”
key or Enter key, as was necessary with a typewriter.
To help you organize term papers and reports, the Outline View feature puts tags on various
headings to show the hierarchy of heads–for example, main head, subhead, and sub-subhead.
Word processing software also allows you to insert footnotes that are automatically numbered
and renumbered when changes are made. The basics of word processing are shown in Figure
1.

Editing Documents
Editing is the act of making alterations in the content of your document. Some features of
editing are insert and delete, undelete, find and replace, cut/copy and paste, spelling checker,
grammar checker, and thesaurus. Some of these commands are in the Edit pull-down menu
and icons on the toolbar.
Insert & Delete. Inserting is the act of adding to the document. Simply place the cursor
wherever you want to add text and start typing; the existing characters will be pushed along. If
you want to write over (replace) text as you write, press the Insert key before typing. When
you’re finished typing, press the Insert key again to exit Insert mode. Deleting is the act of
removing text, usually using the Delete key or the Backspace key. The Undo command allows
you to change your mind and restore text that you have deleted. Some word processing
programs offer as many as 100 layers of “undo,” so that users who delete several paragraphs of
text, but then change their minds, can reinstate the material.
Find & Replace. The Find, or Search, command allows you to find any word, phrase, or
number that exists in your document. The Replace command allows you to automatically
replace it with something else.
Cut/Copy & Paste. Typewriter users who wanted to move a paragraph or block of text from one
place to another in a manuscript used scissors and glue to “cut and paste.” With word
processing, moving text takes only a few keystrokes. You select (highlight with the mouse) the
portion of text you want to copy or move. Then you use the Copy or Cut command to move it to
the clipboard, a special holding area in the computer’s memory. From there, you use Paste to
transfer the material to any point (indicated with the cursor) in the existing document or in a new
document. The clipboard retains its material, so repeated pastes of the same item will work
without your having to recopy each time.
Spelling Checker. Most word processors have a spelling checker, which tests for incorrectly
spelled words. As you type, the spelling checker indicates (perhaps with a squiggly line) words
that aren’t in its dictionary and thus may be misspelled, as shown in Figure 2. Special add-on
dictionaries are available for medical, engineering, and legal terms.

In addition, programs such as Microsoft Word have an Auto Correct function that automatically
fixes such common mistakes as transposed letters–replacing “teh” with “the”, for instance.
Grammar Checker. A grammar checker highlights poor grammar, wordiness, incomplete
sentences, and awkward phrases. The grammar checker won’t fix things automatically, but it will
flag (perhaps with a different-color line) possible incorrect word usage and sentence structure,
as shown in Figure 3.
Thesaurus. If you find yourself stuck for the right word while you’re writing, you can call up an
on-screen thesaurus, which will present you with the appropriate word or alternative words.

Formatting Documents with the Help of Templates & Wizards

In the context of word processing, formatting means determining the appearance of a
document. You can always format your documents manually, but word processing programs
provide a helpful device to speed the process up and make it more sophisticated. A template,
called a wizard in older Office versions, is a preformatted document that provides basic tools for
shaping a final document–the text, layout, and style for a letter, for example. Simply put, it is a
style guide for documents. Because most documents are fairly standard in format, every word
processing program comes with at least a few standard templates. When you use a template,
you’re actually opening a copy of the template. In this way you’ll always have a fresh copy of the
original template when you need it. After you open a copy of the template and add your text, you
save this version of the template under the filename of your choice. In this way, for example, in
a letterhead template, your project’s name, address, phone number, and web address are
included every time you open your letterhead template file. Among the many aspects of
formatting are these:
Font. You can decide what font–typeface and type size–you wish to use. For instance, you can
specify whether it should be Arial, Courier, or Freestyle Script. You can indicate whether the text
should be, say, 10 points or 12 points in size and the headings should be 14 points or 16 points.
(There are 72 points in an inch.) You can specify what parts should be underlined, italic, or
boldface.
Spacing & Columns. You can choose whether you want the lines to be single- spaced or
double-spaced (or something else). You can specify whether you want to be one column (like
this page), two columns (like many magazines and books), or several columns (like
newspapers).
Margins & Justification. You can indicate the dimensions of the margins–left, right, top, and
bottom–around the text. You can specify the text justification– how the letters and words are
spaced in each line. To justify means to align text evenly between left and right margins, as in
most newspaper columns. To left-justify means to align text evenly on the left. (Left-justified text
has a “ragged-right” margin, as do many business letters.) Centering centers each text line in
the available white space between the left and right margins.
Headers, Footers, & Page Numbers. You can indicate headers or footers and include page
numbers. A header is common text (such as a date or document name) printed at the top of
every page. A footer is the same thing printed at the bottom of every page. If you want page
numbers, you can determine what
number to start with, among other things.
Other Formatting. You an specify borders or other decorative lines, shading, tables, and
footnotes. You can import graphics or drawings from files in other software programs, including
clip art–collections of ready-made pictures and illustrations available online.
Default Settings. Word processing programs (and indeed most forms of application software)
come from the manufacturer with default settings. Default settings are the settings automatically
used by a program unless the user specifies otherwise, thereby overriding them. Thus, for
example, a word processing program may automatically prepare a document single-spaced,
left- justified, with 1-inch right and left margins, unless you alter these default settings.

Lesson 3.2: Output Options and Saving Documents

Most word processing software gives you several options for printing. For example, you can
print several copies of a document. You can print individual pages or a range of pages. You can
even preview a document before printing it out. Previewing (print previewing) means viewing a
document on-screen to see what it will look like in printed form before it’s printed. Whole pages
are displayed in reduced size. You can also send your document off to someone else by email
attachment if your computer has the appropriate communications link.

Saving Documents
Saving means storing, or preserving, a document as an electronic file permanently–on your
hard disk or a flash drive, for example. Saving is a feature of nearly all application software.
Having the document stored in electronic form spares you the tiresome chore of retyping it from
scratch whenever you want to make changes. You need only retrieve it from the storage
medium and make the changes you want. Then you can print it out again. (Always save your
documents often while you are working: don’t wait!)

Tracking Changes & Inserting Comments

What if you have written an important document and have asked other people to edit it? Word
processing software allows editing changes to be tracked by highlighting them, underlining
additions, and crossing out deletions. Each person working on the document can choose a
different color so that you can tell who’s done what and when. And anyone can insert hidden
questions or comments that become visible when you pass the mouse pointer over yellow-
highlighted words or punctuation. An edited document can be printed out showing all the
changes, as well as a list of comments keyed to the text by numbers. Or it can be printed out
“clean,” showing the edited text in its new form, without the changes.