Pariksha SaathiLesson 6 of 10 · Computer Knowledge
MS Word: Formatting, Tables, Mail Merge, Track Changes and Shortcuts
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MS Word and its window
Microsoft Word is a word processor, a program to create, edit, format and print documents; it is part of Microsoft Office and was first released in 1983. Since Word 2007 a document is saved as .docx by default (earlier versions used .doc), a template as .dotx and a document with macros as .docm. The window has the title bar, the Quick Access Toolbar, the Ribbon of tabs with grouped commands, the ruler, the document area and the status bar, which shows the page number and word count. The File tab opens the Backstage view with New, Open, Save, Save As, Print and Options.
Where commands live
Exams often ask which tab holds a command. Home has the Clipboard (Cut, Copy, Paste, Format Painter), Font, Paragraph, Styles and Editing (Find, Replace). Insert has Table, Pictures, Shapes, SmartArt, Chart, Hyperlink, Header, Footer, Page Number, Text Box, WordArt, Drop Cap, Symbol and Equation. Design has themes, Watermark, Page Color and Page Borders. Layout (Page Layout in older versions) has Margins, Orientation, Size, Columns, Breaks, indents and spacing. References has Table of Contents, Footnotes, Citations, Captions and Index. Mailings has Mail Merge, Envelopes and Labels. Review has Spelling and Grammar, Thesaurus, Word Count, Comments, Track Changes and Compare. View has the document views, Ruler, Zoom and Macros.
Formatting and styles
Character formatting changes the look of text: font, size, bold, italic, underline, colour, superscript and subscript. Font size is measured in points (72 points make an inch) and can be set from 1 to 1638. Paragraph formatting covers alignment (left, centre, right, justify), line spacing, indentation, bullets and numbering. Page formatting covers margins (the Normal setting is 1 inch on every side), orientation (portrait or landscape), paper size and columns. Format Painter copies formatting from one piece of text to another. A style is a named set of formats, such as Normal, Title or Heading 1; using heading styles lets Word build an automatic table of contents. Word's views are Print Layout (the default), Read Mode, Web Layout, Outline and Draft.
Tables, headers and footers
Insert, Table creates a grid of rows and columns whose boxes are called cells; cells can be merged or split, and pressing Tab in the last cell adds a new row. A Word table can have at most 63 columns. When a table is selected, the Table Design and Layout tabs appear. A header is text repeated at the top of every page and a footer at the bottom, typically holding the title, page numbers or date; they can be different on the first page or on odd and even pages. A footnote appears at the bottom of its page, while an endnote appears at the end of the document.
Mail merge
Mail merge creates many personalised copies of one document, such as letters, envelopes or labels. It joins a main document with a data source (a list of recipients in Excel, Access or Outlook contacts) through merge fields such as name and address. In the Mailings tab the steps are to choose the document type, select the recipients, insert merge fields, preview the results, and finish and merge.
Track changes and proofing
Track Changes (Review tab, Ctrl+Shift+E) records every insertion, deletion and formatting change so that a reviewer can accept or reject each one, and comments add notes in the margin. Spelling and Grammar runs with F7 and the Thesaurus with Shift+F7. A red wavy underline marks a possible spelling mistake and a blue underline (green in older versions) a possible grammar problem. Zoom ranges from 10 to 500 percent.
Shortcuts exams ask
Ctrl+B bold, Ctrl+I italic, Ctrl+U underline, Ctrl+E centre, Ctrl+L left, Ctrl+R right and Ctrl+J justify. Ctrl+N new, Ctrl+O open, Ctrl+S save, F12 Save As, Ctrl+P print, Ctrl+F find, Ctrl+H replace, Ctrl+G go to, Ctrl+K hyperlink, Ctrl+Z undo and Ctrl+Y redo. Ctrl+Enter inserts a page break and Shift+Enter a line break. Ctrl+1, Ctrl+2 and Ctrl+5 set single, double and 1.5 line spacing. Ctrl+] and Ctrl+[ increase and decrease the font size, Ctrl+D opens the Font dialog box, Shift+F3 changes case, Ctrl+= gives subscript and Ctrl+Shift+= superscript. Ctrl+Home and Ctrl+End jump to the start and the end of the document.
Key facts
- Default extension: .docx since Word 2007 (.doc earlier); template .dotx; document with macros .docm.
- Mail Merge is in the Mailings tab; Track Changes, Comments, Word Count, Thesaurus and Spelling are in the Review tab.
- Header, Footer, Page Number, Table, WordArt, Drop Cap, Symbol and Hyperlink are on the Insert tab; Watermark and Page Borders on the Design tab.
- Mail merge = main document + data source + merge fields; used for personalised letters, envelopes and labels.
- Font size is in points (72 points = 1 inch) and can be set from 1 to 1638; zoom runs from 10 to 500 percent.
- A Word table can have at most 63 columns; pressing Tab in the last cell adds a new row.
- Footnote: at the bottom of the page; endnote: at the end of the document; both are on the References tab.
- Ctrl+E centre, Ctrl+J justify, Ctrl+L left, Ctrl+R right; Ctrl+Enter page break; Shift+Enter line break.
- F7 spelling and grammar; Shift+F7 thesaurus; F12 Save As; Ctrl+Shift+E track changes; Shift+F3 change case.
- Ctrl+= subscript, Ctrl+Shift+= superscript; Ctrl+1 single, Ctrl+2 double, Ctrl+5 1.5 line spacing.
Quick revision
MS Word (1983): .docx since 2007, .dotx template; Ribbon tabs: Home (font, paragraph, styles, find), Insert (table, header, footer, WordArt, drop cap), Design (watermark), Layout (margins, orientation), References (contents, footnotes), Mailings (mail merge), Review (spelling F7, track changes Ctrl+Shift+E, comments), View; font size 1-1638 points; table up to 63 columns; zoom 10-500 percent; Ctrl+E centre, Ctrl+J justify, Ctrl+Enter page break.