WORD PROCESSING
(MICROSOFT WORD)
Word Processor
A Word Processor is application software that helps in creating a
document. It helps effortlessly change the way a document looks. It makes it easier to present ideas in a
coherent manner.
The need for Word Processors
Preferred Communication is Written Communication. Written text
such as: Letter, Memo, Report are collectively referred to as Documents. Word processors allow
typing text, making corrections without retyping the entire matter and there
are built-in features to make the text look attractive.
Features of Word Processors
Word Processing is the processing of manipulating character to
generate words, sentence, paragraph, document and so no.
Word Processors allow you to read and revise a document on screen,
change the formatting to get the desired visual effect, Increase productivity
by automating, produce as many copies as needed and save a document and work on
it later.
Different Word Processing Packages
Many word processing packages exist among which are; Microsoft
Word, Word Star, WordPerfect, Lotus Notes, Perfect Writer, Professional Write,
Shakespeare, etc. but here we are dealing with Microsoft Word.
Creating a Document
Click on Start Menu, All Programs, Microsoft Office and then
Microsoft Word or better still just click on the short cut icon on the desktop
if it has been created or that pined to the Start Menu.
Microsoft Word (Ms Word) is a word processing Application
specially designed for text-based documents. It is an electronic equivalent of
typewriter, paper, pen, eraser and even thesaurus (dictionary) as it is capable
of finding and correcting spellings.
Word simplifies the tasks associated with editing documents,
deleting text, inserting new text and document formatting.
HOW TO START THE MS WORD WINDOW
Before you learn how to use Microsoft Word, you
should know to open (load) and close (Exit) the application that is if you have
Ms Word already installed on the system. To Start Microsoft Word, follow the
steps below depending on the setting
If Word ICON is present on the Desktop
Place the cursor on the ‘MICROSOFT WORD ICON’
on the Desktop or Double on ‘MS WORD ICON’ or Click on ‘OPEN’ in the dialog
displayed as you wait for it to load.
OR
Go Through START Menu
Click on ‘START’ menu on the horizontal
bar lying below the screen
Place your mouse pointer/cursor on ‘ALL PROGRAMS’
Place your cursor on ‘MICROSOFT OFFICE’
and pause
Click on ‘MICROSOFT OFFICE WORD’ from the
list provided. Using either of the methods above, Ms Word will start executing
and the splash screen will appear as you wait for it to load to the Ms Window.
THE FEATURES OF THE MS WINDOW’S SCREEN
1. TITLE BAR: This is where the program title (Ms Word) displays on the
screen. It also contains ‘MINIMIZE’, ‘MAXIMIZE’ and ‘CLOSE’
all at the right end of the title bar.
2. MENU BAR: This is the bar where you can make several commands by clicking
on the Menus in the bar. These menus have sub-menu like ‘FILE’, ‘EDIT’,
‘VIEW’, ‘INSERT’, ‘FORMAT’, ‘TOOL’, ‘TABLE’,
etc.
3. TOOL BAR: This is the next bar to the Menu bar on the screen as well known
as ‘STANDARD BAR’ containing icons that help in making word processing
easy with the commands. In order to identify the command they represents, place
the mouse pointer directly over each icon and then pause to see what the icon
stands for.
4. SCROLL BAR: This is the vertical bar on the right side of the screen meeting
with the Status bar below the Ms Word Window.
Others are;
5. The Rulers
6. Document Window
7. Minimize Button
8. Restore/Maximize Button
9. Close Button
10. Status Bar
BASIC APPLICATIONS
The Shift-Key in Word Processing, using Microsoft Word
Press and hold the Shift key when you want to
select by typing from the two functions written on the same key on your
keyboard or if you want to enter a capital when needed.
SAVING YOUR TEXT/DOCUMENT
Click on ‘FILE’ in the Menu bar
Click on ‘SAVE’ a space for name of
document will appear then you choose which drive to save your work into after
naming, always create new documents under free name.
GENERAL KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS
Keyboard Shortcuts are used in order to save
time and as well makes your work easier and faster. The first twenty-six (26)
keyboard shortcuts are;
Control + A: Select All/Highlight All
Control + B: Bold
Control + C: Copy
Control + D: Font Menu/Duplicate Object
Control + E: Centralized Text
Control + F: Find
Control + G: Go-To
Control + H: Replace
Control + I: Italic/Slat Form
Control + J: Justify Text
Control + K: Insert Hyperlink
Control + L: Align Left
Control + M: Indent (Specify Line/Paragraphing)
Control + N: New Page
Control + O: Open Existing File
Control + P: Print Document
Control + Q: Close for Internet Window
Control + R: Align Right
Control + S: Save New Document
Control + T: Ruler Adjustment
Control + U: Underline
Control + V: Paste
Control + W: Close Active Window
Control + X: Cut
Control + Y: Re-Do Action
Control + Z: Un-Do Action
SPECIAL KEYBOARD SHORTCUT IN MS WORD
Control + F2: - For Print Preview
Alt +
F4: - Close Active Window/Shut Down when desktop
Alt +
F: - Open File Menu
Alt +
E: - Open Edit Menu
Alt +
V: - Open View Menu
Alt +
I: - Open Insert Menu
Alt +
O: - Open Format Menu
Alt +
T: - Open Tools Menu
Alt +
A: - Open Table Menu
Alt +
W: - Open Window Menu
Alt +
H: - Open Help Menu
Control +
]: - Increase Font Size
Control +
[: - Decrease Font size
Control +
‘+’: - Sub-Script
Control + End Key: - Go-to end of the page
Control + Home
Key: Go-to beginning of the page
Control + Shift + D: - Double Underline
Shift +
F3: - Change text case
Shift + Arrow
Right: Highlight Rightward
Shift + Arrow
Left: Highlight Leftward
Control + Shift + A - Change all highlighted text to capital letters
SETTING LINE SPACING
To control the line space, you will firstly
highlight the text and Right Click on the Highlighted text then a dialog box
display and then choose ‘PARAGRAPH’ from the options provided and
another dialog box will be displayed with many options as well you will then go
to line space to make your choice varying from single line to multiple where
you will have to state the number of your choice. Keyboard Shortcuts to some
line space are as follows;
Control + O: Add or Remove one Line Space
Control + 1: Single Line Space
Control + 2: Double Line Space
Control + 5: One and a Half (1.5) Line Space
TEXT ALIGNMENT
These enable the User to place the typed text on
the Left OR Right, Center OR Justify them. To perform any of these action
firstly;
Highlight the text
Click on Format in the Menu bar
Then Click on Paragraph, a dialog box will be
displayed and from the options displayed, you will see ‘Alignment’ and from
them make your choice.
OR
Highlight the text and use the Keyboard
Shortcuts, either Control E, L, J or R depending on what you need.
Alignment of lines for written text is the most important
convention followed;
When a line is justified, word automatically spaces the words so
that each line starts and ends one below the other.
HOW TO PREVIEW YOUR WORK
This shows you how exactly your work will like
look after printing. Before think of this you must have be through with the
document that typing, editing and setting paper size and margins and then
Click on File on the Menu bar
Click on Print Preview and you are satisfied
close the Preview to go back to the Print Layout.
Print Preview
Print Preview Toolbar
Print Dialog Box
OR
Use the Keyboard shortcut to save much of your
time that is
Control + F2: For Print Preview and
Control + W: To close the Print Preview Window
SCROLLING THROUGH YOUR DOCUMENT
One can scroll through a document in many ways
depending on the volume of pages available some of the ways are;
Click on the Up and Down Arrow Key on the
Keyboard.
OR
Press the Page-Up and Page-Down on your
Keyboard.
OR
Press and hold down your mouse on the scroll bar
by the left side of the window.
SUBSCRIPT AND SUPERSCRIPT COMMAND AND NAIRA SIGN
These commands enable one to customize some text
that cannot be typed directly from the Keyboard e.g. Log10, X2, 5/2 or N, for Naira sign;
Type the letter ‘N’ thereafter Highlight
the letter ‘N’
Click on Format in menu bar and then Click on
Font (the keyboard shortcut for the two is Control + D) a dialog box displays,
thereafter
Click on Double Strikethrough and ‘OK’, for
Superscript and Subscript, follow the same steps and click on Superscript and
Subscript respectively.
TEXT MODIFICATION
One can modify his/her text to one’s desire by
applying some commands which enable him/her to alter the default setting of the
system. These steps can be followed;
Font Dialog Box
FORMATTING
This is a command which allows one to give the
type document different effect by changing the outlook.
v Highlight the letter(s), word(s) or the text(s)
you wish to change.
v Click on ‘FORMAT’ menu in menu bar and
click on ‘FONT’ from then you can change font name, size and style that
is putting it in ‘BOLD’ ‘ITALIC’ ‘UNDERLINE’ as well all
these can be done by using the Keyboard Shortcuts or locating the shortcuts on
the ‘STANDARD’ bar.
Enhancing the Fonts
To make the text look more emphasized, make the text as Bold.
Click on 
after selection of the texts to bold.
Text can also be made Italic. Click on 
after selection of the texts to
italize.
Important text can be underlined, where different line formats can
also be applied. Click on 
after selection of the texts to
underlined.
Smart Tags
Smart tags identify specific type of data. Click on Tools ® Autocorrect options.
Click on the tab of Smart Tags.
CHANGING OF LINE SPACING
Line spacing is the space between a line of text
and another, to change yours from the default setting all you need to do is
click on the drop-down arrow of Line Spacing button on the Tools bar and select
either 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 or 3 depending on what need. You can follow the step use
on setting line spacing done earlier.
NUMBERING AND BULLETS
The bullets are the black circular spots used to
indicate each step in a textbook as used in this. To use any;
Click on where you want to start bulleting
Click on Format in the Menu bar
Click on Bullets and Numbering (dialog box
displays)
Click on Bullets button in the dialog box
Select your choice of bullet by clicking on any of the boxes that
displays style and then click on Ok
Incase you want to use numbers instead of
bullets, just click on Number button in dialog box.
Pressing ‘ENTER’ key on the keyboard after
a text automatically continues the bulleting or numbering.
HOW TO INSERT SYMBOLS
This enables you to add units and mathematical
symbols to your text for instance ≤, ≥, ÷, l, p, å, etc.
Click on the point you wish to place the symbol
Click on Insert in the Menu bar
Click on Symbol (dialog box displays)
Use the dialog box to select the symbol you need
and click on insert and after that click Ok button.
COPYING AND CUTTING TEXT(S)/OBJECT(S)
Copy commands will duplicate an object/text
without changing the original one which cut commands will move the original
text from its original place to a new place. To copy a text firstly,
Highlight the text
Press and hold the left button of your mouse on
the text and then drag it to where you want to place the text and then release
the button.
OR
Highlight the text
Right click on the highlighted text (dialog box
displays)
Click on copy
Click on where you want it to be placed and
Right click (dialog box displays)
Click on paste
Also you can edit by dragging and dropping.
Redo and Undo
UNDO negates the last action while REDO repeats the last action.
KEYBOARD SHORTCUT: Highlight the text after that press and hold down Control key
and press ‘C’ and place your cursor in the new location and after
placing the cursor press and hold down the Control key and press ‘V’.
PAGE NUMBERING
This command is used when you have two or more
pages of typed documents that you wish to differentiate them by its numbers, to
insert this;
Click Insert in the Menu bar
Click page Number (dialog box displays)
Click on the drop-down arrow to select from the option under
position where you wish to place the numbering, it can be either Bottom of Page
(Footer) or Top of Page (Header).
HOW TO INSERT PAGE BORDER
Click on Format in the Menu bar
Click on Borders and Shading (dialog box appears with Border, Page
Borders and Shading Buttons)
Click on Page Border
Click on Shadow or Box under setting
Click on the up and down arrow of the scroll
bar to view various kinds of styles
Click on your choice of style and Apply
Click on the drop-down arrow under ‘APPLY TO’
Click on ‘THIS SECTION’ –First page only
Page Border Dialog Box
Borders Dialog Box
Shading Dialog Box
HEADER AND FOOTER
These enable you to write either at the top or bottom
of typed document for identification. To do these,
Click on view in the Menu bar
Click on Header and Footer (Header and Footer
toolbar displays)
Type your text in the space provided at the top
of the page for Header or scroll down to the bottom pf the page to type in the
space provided for the Footer.
Header & Footer Toolbar
NOTE: The toolbar displayed
can be used to Format, Insert Page Number, Date, Time, etc as Header or Footer.
Clicking on the buttons that represents these
commands automatically carries out the task after which you click on close
button in the Header and Footer Toolbar.
Where the document contains many Pages, Header
and Footer will automatically insert the text on all the Pages contained
therein.
SETTING OF MARGINS AND PAPER
SIZE
For the purpose of different works and selection
of paper size and setting of margin are of highly important, to achieve these,
the following steps are to be followed;
Click in File in the Menu bar
Click on Page Setup (dialog box displays Margin, Page, Layout,
Portrait and Landscape)
To set margin
Click on Margin
Make your selections under Top, Left, Bottom and
Right using the Up and Down arrows under each. When setting Margin for more
than one page, select how you want it to look like after printing under Page
and preview under Print Preview.
Landscape and Portrait
The upright/vertical display of one’s work on a
paper is known as Portrait which the horizontal display is known as Landscape
Different Orientations
Page Layout Options
TABLE IN MS WORD
Click on Table in the Menu bar, place your cursor in Insert and
pause
Click on Table in the next characters displayed, type the number
of columns and rows you need in the dialog box displayed
Or
Click on the arrows in front of Number of rows/columns buttons to
select the number.
Click Ok
How to increase the number of columns after drawing your Table
Click on the last row of the Table and press the
‘TAB’ key to insert columns automatically until you have the required
number needed.
How to delete a Table
Highlight the part you want to remove
Click on Table on the Menu bar
Click on Table
Cells
A single rectangle or square in a table is
called CELL. You can add to cells, split cells and merge cells as you wish.
How to select Cell
Place your mouse pointer at the middle of the
left side of the cell ensure that the pointer changes to a black solid arrow
and then click.
How to select Cells in a row
Press and hold down your mouse pointer on the
first cell and drag rightward to select.
How to Add Cells
Click on the cell next to where you want to
insert new cell(s)
Click on Table in the Menu bar
Place your mouse pointer on insert and pause
Click on cell from the characters displayed
(dialog box appears)
Click on Shift cell right, Shift cell left, Insert entire row or
Insert entire column depending on what you need.
Click Ok
How to enter data in a Table
As we type in Ms Word Window, place your cursor
on the cell and enter your text, you can either use the ‘TAB’ key or
arrow key to move to the next row/column.
How to create/draw Chart in Ms Word
Data can be represented on Charts in Ms Words as
done in Mathematics and Economics for rate of occurrence in event.
Select the Table after typing your information
Click on Insert in the Menu bar
Place your mouse pointer on picture
Click on Chart from characters displayed
Sorting of information in Ms Word
You can arrange your entries in a well organized
manner either in ascending or descending order.
Highlight the Table
Click on Table in Menu bar
Click on sort from the characters displayed
(dialog box display)
Click on either Ascending or Descending order
Click Ok
Inserting Text Boxes
Text box is a movable, resizable container for text or graphics.
It is used to add text or graphics. Click on Text Box icon on Drawing toolbar.
It can be resized with the help of sizing handles, can be dragged to different
locations.
ARTISTIC TEXT
Working with WordArt, ClipArt and Autoshapes in
Ms Word, these commands are used for artistic text, pictures and shapes.
WordArt
Click on Insert in the Menu bar, Place your
cursor on picture
Click on WordArt from the characters displayed
Select a WordArt style of your choice form the
list
Click Ok
Type your word/text e.g. ‘COMPUTER’.
Click Ok
WordArt Text
Click on the text typed, place your mouse
pointer on any of the bullets surrounding the text and drag the mouse to modify
by increasing or decreasing the size.
OR
WordArt
Text Resizing (Decreasing and Increasing)
WordArt Shape
This command is used for automatic modification
of ‘WordArt’ text
Click on the WordArt text
Click on ‘WordArt Shape’ button in the ‘WordArt’
toolbar
FIG 2.3: WordArt
Text Shape
ClipArt
This command is used to place or insert object
into a typed document, for example as we are discussing about computer, we can
use this to import Computer as a figurative reference;
Click on Insert in the Menu bar
Place your cursor on Picture
Click on ClipArt
Click on the Space under search for type the
category name of what you need e.g. Computer
Click ‘GO’
ClipArt Object
AutoShapes
This command can be used to place signal in
addition to the text in order to pass complete information.
Click in Insert in the menu bar
Place your cursor on Picture
Click on AutoShapes (AutoShapes Toolbar
displays)
These represents lines, connector, basic shapes, block arrows,
flowchart, stars, and many more
Clicking on any button will display all the
shapes contained in them
Click on the space created for the drawing, press and drag system
on the circular spots/bullets surrounding the shape to enlarge it and press and
hold down your mouse pointer and drag to move it to your place of choice.
FIG
2.5: AutoShapes
Object (Ribbon)
DESIGNS IN MS WORD
You can design logo, cover pages of a book and
several other things using Ms Word. The major requirement for this is the
drawing toolbar.
How to design in Ms Word
Firstly, Right click in the toolbar
Click on Drawing from the characters displayed
Click on ‘SUN’ or any other shape
Click on the space created for the drawing of
the shape
Press and drag your left mouse button on the bullets surrounding
the shape created to either enlarge or decrease
Click on the drop down arrow of the Fill Colour
Icon in the toolbar (you can either choose your colour click on more Fill
Colours in the Colour Chart displayed in order to customize your shape)
FIG
2.6: AutoShapes
Object (Sun)
Where you wish to use more than a colour
Click on Fill Effects in the colour chart
Click on gradient button in the dialog box
displayed
Click on two colours button, select colour 1 and colour 2 by using
the down arrows in their respective space
Click on any style of shading under shading
styles
FIG
2.7: AutoShapes
Object (Sun with different Colour)
HOW TO ADD TEXT TO DESIGN
Right click in the shape created
Click on Add Text
Enter your text, Format it and reposition it as
you wish.
FIG 2.7: AutoShapes
Object (with text in it)
HOW TO CHANGE THE COLOUR OF TEXT
Highlight the text typed
Click on the drop-down arrow of Font color in
the Drawing Toolbar and select.
FIG
2.8: AutoShapes
Object (with text in it)
Switching between two or more open files
Two or more word documents can be opened at a given time. To
switch between the two of them, click on Window option on the main
menu. From the list of the
names of the files, click on the file name you want to view.
Zoom Options
Office Assistant
When you have a question about a Microsoft Office feature, you can
ask the Office Assistant. It provides Help topics
and tips on tasks you perform. If the Assistant is not visible, click on ‘Show
the Office Assistant’ in the Help menu.
Word Count
Indicates the word count in a current document, to carry it out
Click on View ==> Toolbars ==> Word Count. To Recount, click on Recount button
anytime.
Click Ok
