How To Use Microsoft Word?

Open the program and press F1 or click on help and then Microsoft word help.

Give me a specific question of what you want to do and I can tell you how to do it.

I teach computers for a living and Word is my favorite program to work with. I create tables for everything, create word searches, calendars, letters and so on.

The first thing to do to use Word is to open it. You would go to the Start menu on your computer and click on the blue letter W which is the icon for Word, and it will probably say Microsoft Word next to it. This will open the program. Next, on your monitor you should see a clean "sheet of paper" in front of you to type on. Up in the top area above the "paper" are menu options for you to make your document look the way you want it to.
Under Format you can choose the Font Style you want to type with. A font is simply the way the letters look, such as script which is cursive, or a plain font. You can make a font BOLD, Italic (a letter or text leaning at a 15 degree angle) or Underlined. You can also align your text to the right margin which is where you would type the current date if you are creating a letter. You can center align text if you are adding a Title. You can left align your document for regular writing. These are just a few of the basics in using Word. Like I said, if you want something more specific, just ask.

There is one questions students always ask me about Word, and that is, "How do I go down to the next line?" The answer is to press the Enter Key.

When using real paper and pencil you can place the pencil anywhere on the paper to write. However, Word is not using real paper. It is imaginary. Though it shows a whole sheet of paper you cannot just "write" on it where ever you want to. In Word you will have to make the part of the paper available to write on by pressing the enter key or typing text.

If you go up in the menu and click on the Show/Hide tool, which looks like a backwards capitol letter P (the Paragraph symbol), it will show you the area of the paper you can type on. When you open a new document and turn on the Show/Hide tool, you will see only one Paragraph symbol. This first one is free and you cannot delete it. At this time this is the only place you can actually type on your "page". If you type a lot of words then your text may go down to the next line, in which case you now have two lines to type on.

You are probably confused by now. Let's try this: Open a blank document type your full name and click on Show/Hide, then try to move your cursor 4 inches below that and click to try to move your cursor there to type. You will see that your cursor will only be blinking on the line that your name is on. You cannot just type anywhere on a "page". Now, click the mouse at the end of your name, then press enter about 20 times. Next, click your mouse 4 inches below your name, and you will see that your cursor will be blinking where you are clicking. You just added 20 lines on your "paper" and now you can type on them.

Good luck and have fun writing!

Microsoft Word is very simple to use and has lots of features that allow you to customise your document. You have a selection of toolbars at the top, which enable you to alter the size of your text, change the style of you text, and alter the position of your text.

You first start off by creating a new blank document. Once you have text on the document, you can alter it to emphasize different  paragraphs or words. You can do this by using the buttons on the toolbar to embolden, italicise or underline words or paragraphs. You can make your text look effective by selecting a different font.

Microsoft Word also allows you to add pictures to your document, using Clip Art. You can access Clip Art by clicking on 'Insert', then 'Picture', then 'Clip Art'. Here you will be able to browse through different catagories. Once you have found a picture that is relevant to your document, click on it and then click  'Insert'. Once you have done this, you can alter the size of your picture and move it around until you are happy with it.

Microsoft Word also has a spellcheck, and, depending on what version you have, a thesaurus. You also have the choice of having an office assistant to help you with your work. These are animated characters that will alert you when they want to advise you on how to structure your sentences. The most notable office assistant for Microsoft Word is the Paper Clip.

You can also insert tables and add background colours and symbols. You can change the colour of your text, and even make the title of your work look creative by using WordArt, which allows you to curve your text in various shapes and add shadow effects. WordArt can be accessed by clicking on 'Insert', 'Picture', and 'WordArt'.