MICROSOFT WORD NOTES

WORD PROCESSORS
A word processor is an application software that enables a user to create, save, edit, format and
print text documents.
Advantages of Word Processors
 It is able to create documents faster and with ease.
 It is able to correct errors easily.
 It stores and retrieves documents easily.
 Documents produced are of high quality.
 It can open several files or documents simultaneously.
 It provides online help.
 It provides formatting facilities which enhance the appearance of the text.
Disadvantages of Word Processors
 It creates overreliance of its use.
 It is expensive to acquire and to maintain.
 It requires skilled personnel.
 It is dependent on electricity/ power.
 It is prone to virus attacks and destruction.
Features of Word Processors
1. Inserting text: Allows you to insert text in the document.
2. Delete Text: Allows you to erase characters, numbers, lines and paragraphs across the
document.
3. Cut and Paste: Allows you to remove (cut) a section of text from one place in a document and
insert (paste) somewhere else in the document.
4. Copy: Allows you to duplicate a section of text.
5. Page size and margin: Allows you to define various page sizes and margins.
6. Search and Replace: Allows you to direct the word processor to search for a particular word or
phrase then direct the word processor to replace one group of characters with another anywhere
in the document.
7. Word Wrap: The word processor automatically moves to the next line when you have filled
one line with a text, and it will readjust text if you change the margins.
8. Print: Allows you to send a document to a printer to get a hard copy.
9. Headers and Footers: Allows you to create personalized words on documents at the top or
bottom of a page.
10. Page Numbering: Word processor automatically keeps track of page numbers so that the correct
number appears on each page.
11. Font Specifications: Allows you to change fonts within the document.
12. Mail Merge: It creates customized letters from a form, letter and list of names and addresses.
13. Spelling Checker: Spelling can be checked for individual words, for the marked text or the
entire document.
Purpose of Word Processing
Mostly, word processors are used for writing letters, reports, projects, books, essays,
memos, curriculum vitae, etc.
Examples of Word Processor Programs
1. Microsoft Word
2. Word Perfect
3. Word Pro
4. Open Office Writer
5. Word Star
6. AmiPro
MICROSOFT WORD (MS WORD)
Ms Word is the most common word processor that allows you to combine text, graphics
and other objects to create documents.
Loading Ms Word/ Starting Ms Word
1. Click Start button.
2. Choose All Programs.
3. Click Microsoft Office.
4. Click Microsoft Office Word 2003/2007/2010.
Saving a Word Document
1. Click Office Button.
2. Click Save As.
3. In the File Name box, type the name of the file.
4. Click Save.
Retrieving a Word Document
To retrieve is to open an existing word document from the computer.
Procedure
1. Open the location where you saved the document.
2. Locate the document name.
3. Then right click on it and click Open.
Saving Word Document with a Password
1. Click the Office Button.
2. Click Save As.
3. Click Tools.
4. Click General Options.
5. Type the Password to open and click OK.
6. Re-enter the password, then click OK.
 PARTS OF MICROSOFT WORD WINDOW
1. Title Bar: It displays the title of the currently running application or task.
2. Menu Bar: Provides a drop down list of commands that one can use to perform a task
e.g. Home, Insert, View, Review, etc.
3. ToolBars: Contains buttons and boxes that allow you to perform tasks more quickly
than using the menu bar.
4. Rulers: Used to set tab stops, Indent paragraphs, adjust column width and change
page margins.
5. Status Bar: Displays information about the program running e.g. page number,
number of words, etc.
6. Work Area: This is the area where you can enter text or graphical objects.
7. Scroll Bars: These are horizontal or vertical bars on the borders of a window that the
user drags to scroll upward, downwards, to the right or left of a document.
8. Minimize button: Reduces a window to become a button on the task bar.
9. Maximize button/ Restore: It stretches the window to cover the entire screen or
restores it to its original size respectively.
10. Close button: It is used to close any open program.
HIGHLIGHTING/ SELECTING TEXT
(a) Selecting with a mouse
1. To select a word, place the insertion pointer on the word then, double click it.
2. To select the entire line, position the mouse pointer on the left margin until it changes
to an arrow, and then click once.
3. To select a paragraph, place the pointer at the beginning or end of the paragraph, then
drag it over the text to be selected and release the mouse button at the end of the text
you wish to work on.

(b) Selecting with the keyboard

1. To select one word, move the insertion pointer to the beginning or end of the word then
press Shift + Ctrl + Right arrow key.
2. To select one line, press Shift + Down arrow key or Shift + End.
3. To select the entire document, press Ctrl + A.
DELETING TEXT
To delete a character or a word to the left of the insertion pointer:
1. Place the insertion pointer on the right side of the word.
2. Press the Backspace key.
To delete a character or a word to the right of the insertion pointer:
1. Place the insertion pointer on the left side of the word.
2. Press the Delete key.
 COPYING AND MOVING TEXT AND OBJECTS
Copying means creating a duplicate of text or an object, while moving means changing
the position of text or an object in a document.
To copy a block of text:
 Highlight the text.
 Right click on the selection, then click Copy.
 Position the cursor where you want to copy the text.
 Right click then click Paste.
NB: To use the keyboard shortcut keys, press CTRL + C to copy, then CTRL + V to
paste.
To move text and objects (Cut):
 Highlight the text.
 Right click on the selection, then click Cut.
 Position the cursor where you want the text to be placed.
 Right click then click Paste.
NB: To use the keyboard shortcut keys, press CTRL + X to cut, then CTRL + V to
paste.
CHANGE FONT TYPE AND SIZE
 Highlight the text.
 Click Home tab.
 In the Font group, open the font dialog box.
 Under Font, click the font type required.
 Under Size, click the font size required.
 Click OK.
CHANGE FONT COLOUR
 Highlight the text.
 Click Home tab.
 In the Font group, open the font dialog box.
 Under Font colour, select the colour required.
 Click OK.
BOLDING TEXT
 Bolding makes the selected text appear darker than the rest of the text.
 Highlight the text.
 Click Home tab.
 In the Font group, open the font dialog box.
 Under Font style, click Bold.
 Click OK.
NB: To use the keyboard shortcut keys, press CTRL + B.

UNDERLINE TEXT
Underlining refers to placing a line at the base or bottom of a word or a phrase.
Procedure
1. Highlight the text.
2. Click Home tab.
3. In the Font group, open the font dialog box.
4. Under Underline style, select the line style required.
5. Click OK.
ITALICIZING TEXT
To italicize is to make the text slant forward.
Procedure
1. Highlight the text.
2. Click Home tab.
3. In the Font group, open the font dialog box.
4. Under Font style, click Italic.
5. Click OK.
CHANGE CASE
This refers to switching between different cases provided by Microsoft Word. These
cases are:
1. Sentence case: All the first characters in a sentence are in uppercase (capitalized)
2. Lowercase: All characters appear in lowercase.
3. Uppercase: All characters appear in capital letters.
4. Title case: All the first characters of each word in a sentence appear in capital.
5. Toggle case: It changes uppercase to lowercase and vice versa.
To change the case of text:
1. Highlight the text.
2. Click Home tab.
3. In the Font group, click the Change Case button.
4. Select the case required.
SUPERSCRIPT AND SUBSCRIPT
Superscript describes text that is slightly higher than other text on a line
while Subscript describes text that is slightly lower than other text on a line.
To make text superscript or subscript:
1. Highlight the character.
2. Click Home tab.
3. In the Font group, open the font dialog box.
4. Under Effects, select either Superscript or Subscript.
5. Click OK.

UNDO AND REDO

Undo reverses the most recently executed command while redo reverts back to the
cancelled action.
To undo or redo:
 Press Ctrl + Z to Undo, or press Ctrl + Y to Redo.
BULLETS AND NUMBERING
Bullets and numbers are used to mark steps in a procedure or items in a list.
To add bullets or numbers:
1. Highlight the text.
2. Click Home tab.
3. In the Paragraph group, choose either a Bullet format or a Number format.
DROP CAP
It is a large dropped initial capital letter in a word or a sentence.
To apply drop cap:
1. Highlight the first character in the sentence or paragraph.
2. Click Insert tab.
3. In the Text group, click Drop Cap.
4. Click Dropped or In margin.
ALIGNMENT
Alignment is the arrangement of text relative to the left margin, centre of page or the
right margin.
Types of Alignment
1. Left Alignment: Lines of text are lined up evenly along the left margin.
2. Right Alignment: Lines of text are lined up evenly along the right margin.
3. Center Alignment: Lines of text are centred unevenly between the left and right
margins.
Procedure for aligning text:
1. Highlight the text.
2. Click Home tab.
3. In the Paragraph group, open the paragraph dialog box.
4. Under Alignment, select the type of alignment required.
5. Click OK.

LINE SPACING
Line spacing refers to the vertical distance between lines of text.
To change line spacing:
1. Highlight the text.
2. Click Home tab.
3. In the Paragraph group, open the paragraph dialog box.
4. Under Line spacing, select the type of spacing required e.g. single, double, etc.
5. Click OK.
INDENTATION
Indentation refers to moving the text away from the margin.
Types of Indentation:
1. First line Indent: This is where the first line is indent while the other lines are left along
the left margin.
2. Hanging Indent: The whole paragraph is indented except the first line.
3. Full Indent: The whole paragraph is indented.
Procedure for First Line and Hanging Indents
1. Select the paragraph to be indented.
2. Click Home tab.
3. In the Paragraph group, open the paragraph dialog box.
4. Under Indentation, in the Special list, select either First line or Hanging.
5. Click OK.
Procedure for Full Indent
1. Select the paragraph to be indented.
2. Click Home tab.
3. In the Paragraph group, click either Increase Indent or Decrease Indent button.
FIND AND REPLACE
To search for a particular word in a document, the user uses the Find feature which
automatically locates the word. To replace the word, the user uses the Replace option.
Procedure
1. Click Home tab.
2. In the Editing group, click Replace.
3. In the Find What box, type the word or phrase you want to find.
4. In the Replace With box, type the word or phrase to replace the target word.
5. Click Replace All.
6. Click Close.
HEADERS AND FOOTERS
Headers- Refers to text that is placed at the top of every page of a document.
Footers- Refers to text that is placed at the bottom of every page.
To insert a header or footer:
1. Click Insert tab.
2. In the Header & Footer group, click Header or Footer.
3. Click Edit Header or Edit Footer.
4. Type text or enter graphics in the Header and Footer position.
5. Click Close Header and Footer.

INSERTING PAGE NUMBERS

Page numbers are used to organise a large document for ease of reference.
To insert page numbers:
1. Click Insert tab.
2. In the Header and Footer group, click Page Number.
3. Click Top of Page or Bottom of Page.
4. Choose a page number design from the gallery of designs.
INSERTING COLUMNS
Columns are used to subdivide a page into several vertical sections.
To set columns:
1. Highlight the paragraph.
2. Click Page Layout tab.
3. In the Page Setup group, click Columns.
4. Click More Columns.
5. Select the number of columns required.
6. Click OK.
APPLYING PAGE COLOUR/ BACKGROUND
1. Click Page Layout tab.
2. In the Page Background group,click Page Color.
3. Click on the colour required.
SETTING PAGE BORDERS
1. Click Page Layout tab.
2. In the Page Background group, click Page Borders.
3. Click Page Border tab.
4. Under Setting, select either Box, Shadow or 3-D.
5. Select the border Style, Colour and Width.
6. Click OK.
ADDING TEXT WATERMARK
1. Click Page Layout tab.
2. In the Page Background group, click Watermark.
3. Click Custom Watermark.
4. Click Text Watermark.
5. Select or type the text that you want.
6. Click OK.
SPECIFYING PAGE ORIENTATION
The term page orientation refers to the positioning of the page in relation to the text. The
two available orientation are:
1. Portrait Orientation: Text and graphics are printed with the longest side placed
vertically.
2. Landscape Orientation: With landscape, text and graphics are printed with the
longest side of the page placed horizontally.
To select the page orientation:
1. Click Page Layout tab.
2. In the Page Setup group, click Orientation.
3. Click either Portrait or Landscape depending on the orientation you want.
SETTING MARGINS
Margins are blank spaces around the edges of the page.
To set up margins:
1. Click Page Layout tab.
2. In the Page Setup group, click Margins.
3. Click either Normal, Narrow, Moderate, Wide or Mirrored.
SETTING THE PAPER SIZE
By default, the paper size may be either Letter(216mm× 279mm) or A4( 210mm×
297mm).
To specify a paper size:
1. Click Page Layout tab.
2. In the Page Setup group, click Size.
3. Select the size of paper required from the paper size list e.g. Letter, Tabloid, A3,
A4, etc.
INSERTING SYMBOLS
A symbol is a special character that is not included on the standard keyboard.
To insert a symbol:
1. Move the insertion pointer to the position where the new symbol will be inserted.
2. Click Insert tab.
3. In the Symbols group, click Symbol.
4. Click More Symbols.
5. Select the symbol required then click Insert.
6. Click Close.

INSERTING DATE AND TIME

1. Click where you want to insert the date or time.
2. Click Insert tab.
3. In the Text group, click Date & Time.
4. Click on one of the Available formats.
5. Click OK.
INSERTING WORDART
1. Click Insert tab.
2. In the Text group, click WordArt.
3. Click the WordArt style that you want.
4. Type your text in the Text box.
5. Click OK.
INSERTING SHAPES
1. Click Insert tab.
2. In the Illustrations group, click Shapes.
3. Click on the shape you want to insert.
4. Drag and place the shape on the document.
INSERTING CLIPART
1. Click Insert tab.
2. In the Illustrations group, click Clip Art.
3. In the Search for text box, type a word or phrase that describes the clip art that you
want.
4. Click Go.
5. In the list of results, click the clip art to insert it, or right click the clip art then
click Insert.
INSERTING TEXT BOX
1. Click Insert tab.
2. In the Text group, click Text Box.
3. Click Draw Text Box.
4. Click in the document, and then drag to draw the text box the size that you want.
INSERTING A CHART
1. Click where you want to insert the chart.
2. Click Insert tab.
3. In the Illustrations group, click Chart.
4. In the Insert Chart dialog box, click a chart, and then click OK.
5. In MS Excel, type the data that you want into the cells.
6. Click the Close button of Ms Excel.
ZOOMING A DOCUMENT
This is a method of resizing a document.
To zoom a document:
1. Click View tab.
2. Click Zoom.
3. Adjust the zoom percentage.
4. Click OK.
TABLES
A table is a feature in Ms-Word made of rows and columns that is used to organize and enhance
display of information.
 Uses/ Functions of Tables
1. Used to organize and present information.
2. Used to align numbers for calculation purposes.
3. Can be used to create different forms such as Invoice, Calendar, etc.
Creating a Table
1. Click where you want to insert the table.
2. Click Insert tab.
3. In the Tables group, click Table.
4. Click Insert Table.
5. Specify the number of Columns and Rows required.
6. Click OK.
Inserting a Row
1. Place the cursor where you want to insert a row.
2. Right click, then point to Insert.
3. Click either Insert Rows Above or Insert Rows Below.
Inserting a Column
1. Place the cursor where you want to insert a column.
2. Right click, then point to Insert.
3. Click either Insert Columns to the Left or Insert Columns to the Right.
To adjust a Row/ Column Width
1. Position the mouse pointer on the row or column boundary until the mouse pointer changes to an
arrowed cross.
2. Drag the boundary to the required size.
Deleting a Row
1. Place the cursor on the row you want to delete.
2. Right click, then click Delete Cells.
3. Click Delete entire row, then click OK.

Deleting a Column
1. Place the cursor on the column you want to delete.
2. Right click, then click Delete Cells.
3. Click Delete entire column, then click OK.

Merging Cells in a Table

This refers to combining more than one cell in a table.
To merge cells:
1. Select the cells to be merged.
2. Right click, then click Merge cells.
Splitting Cells in a Table
This refers to subdividing a cell or cells into more cells.
To split cells:
1. Select the cells to be split.
2. Right click, then click Split cells.
3. Specify the number of rows and columns that the selected cells will be split into.
4. Click OK.
Formatting Borders and Shading
1. Right click inside the table.
2. Click Borders and Shading.
3. Click Borders tab, then click All.
4. Choose the Style, Colour and Width required.
5. Under Apply to, click Table.
6. Click OK.
Performing Arithmetic Calculations in a Table
1. Click in the cell the result is to be displayed.
2. Click Layout tab.
3. In the Data group, click Formula.
4. Type a formula e.g. =SUM(LEFT)
5. Click OK.

MAIL MERGING
Mail merging is the process of generating personalized letters, labels or envelopes by combining
a main document e.g. a letter with an existing data source or address book.
The three main tasks in creating a merged document are:
a) Create a main document, e.g. a letter.
b) Create or get the data source, i.e. the address book.
c) Merge the two files to a new document, printer or e-mail.
Procedure for creating a merged document:
1. Open or create a main document such as a letter. The main document contains the information
you want to distribute.
2. Click Mailings tab, then click Start Mail Merge.
3. Click Step by Step Mail Merge Wizard.
4. In the Mail Merge task pane, click Letters.
5. Click Next: Starting document.
6. Click Use the current document.
7. Click Next: Select recipients.
8. Click Type a new list, and then click Create.
9. Type the list of recipients then click OK.
10. In the File name area, type a name, then click Save.
11. In the Mail Merge Recipients dialog box, click OK.
12. Under Step 3 of 6, click Next: Write your letter.
13. Click Insert Merge Field, then place the merge fields in their respective positions in the
document.
14. Under Step 4 of 6, click Next: Preview your letters.
15. Under Step 5 of 6, click Next: Complete the merge.
16. Under Step 6 of 6, click Edit individual letters.
17. Under Merge records, click All, then click OK.