Documentation and MS-WORD:

🔷 What is Microsoft Word?

Microsoft Word is a word processing software application developed by Microsoft
Corporation. It allows users to create, edit, format, and print written documents such as
letters, reports, essays, resumes, and more. Microsoft Word is widely used in educational
institutions, businesses, and for personal writing tasks because of its powerful features and
user-friendly interface.

🔷 Purpose of Microsoft Word:-

The main purpose of Microsoft Word is to provide users with a platform to produce
professionally formatted text documents. It simplifies the process of writing and editing by
offering various tools and functions that improve productivity and presentation.

🔷 Key Features of Microsoft Word:-

1. Text Editing and Formatting:

Microsoft Word allows users to type and edit text easily. You can choose different font
styles, sizes, and colors to enhance the appearance of your writing. You can also apply
formatting options such as bold, italic, and underline. Additionally, Word lets you align text
(left, center, right, justify), adjust line spacing, and create bulleted or numbered lists.

2. Page Layout and Design:

With Word, users can customize the layout of their documents. You can set the page
margins, choose the page orientation (portrait or landscape), and insert headers, footers,
and page numbers. This helps in organizing the content neatly and professionally.

3. Inserting Objects and Multimedia:

Microsoft Word supports the insertion of various elements such as images, tables, charts,
shapes, and hyperlinks. These features make it easier to present complex information in a
visual format. For example, you can insert a table to show data, or an image to support the
text content.

4. Spell Check and Grammar Tools:

One of the most helpful features of MS Word is its built-in spelling and grammar checker.
This tool automatically underlines spelling and grammatical mistakes and suggests
corrections. It helps users write correctly and improves the quality of their writing.

5. Templates:

Microsoft Word includes a wide variety of pre-designed templates for common document
types such as resumes, cover letters, business letters, reports, and brochures. These
templates help save time and ensure the document has a professional design.

6. Collaboration and Sharing:

With cloud integration through OneDrive, users can save documents online and collaborate
with others in real-time. Multiple people can work on the same document simultaneously,
which is useful for team projects and group work.

7. Saving and Exporting Options:

Documents created in Microsoft Word can be saved in multiple formats, including .docx,
.pdf, .txt, and more. This flexibility allows users to share their documents with others in a
format that is easy to open and view.
🔷 Common Uses of Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is used for a wide range of purposes, including:

 Writing school essays and research papers

 Creating resumes and job application letters
 Drafting official letters and business documents
 Preparing meeting agendas and minutes
 Designing flyers, brochures, and invitations
 Writing books, reports, and manuals

🔷 Availability of Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is available as part of the Microsoft Office Suite, which
includes other applications like Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. It can be used
on:

 Windows and macOS computers

 Mobile devices (Android and iOS)
 Web browsers through Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)
 Microsoft Word Interface

The Microsoft Word interface is designed for document creation and editing:
 Title Bar: Displays the document title and quick access to minimise,
maximise, and close options.
 Ribbon Tabs: Organised into functional tabs such as Home, Insert, Layout,
and Review—each containing related tools and commands.
 Workspace: The main area where users type and format the document
content.
Microsoft Word Tabs Explained
Now let us discuss the tabs and components of the MS Word. Using these tabs,
you can perform different types of operations on your documents, like you can
create, delete, style, modify, or view the content of your document.

1. File:
It contains options related to the file, like New(used to create a new document),
Open(used to open an existing document), Save(used to save document), Save
As(used to save documents), History, Print, Share, Export, Info, etc.
2. Home:
It is the default tab of MS Word and it is generally divided into five groups, i.e.,
Clipboard, Font, Paragraph, Style and Editing. It allows you to select the color,
font, emphasis, bullets, position of your text. It also contains options like cut,
copy, and paste. After selecting the home tab you will get below options:
3. Insert:
Add content such as tables, images, hyperlinks, charts, word art, date/time,
header/footer, shapes, text boxes, equations, and more to your document.

4. Draw:
It is the third tab present in the menu bar or ribbon. It is used for freehand
drawing in MS Word. It provides different types of pens for drawing as shown
below:
5. Design:
It is the fourth tab present in the menu bar or ribbon. The design tab contains
document designs that you can select, such as documents with centered titles,
offset headings, left-justified text, page borders, watermarks, page colour, etc.,
as shown in the below image:

6. Layout:
It is the fifth tab present on the menu bar or ribbon. It holds all the options that
allow you to arrange your Microsoft Word document pages just the way you
want them. It includes options like set margins, display line numbers, set
paragraph indentation, and lines apply themes, control page orientation and
size, line breaks, etc., as shown in the below image:
7. References:
It is the sixth tab present in the menu bar or ribbon. The references tab lets you
add references to a document, then create a bibliography at the end of the text.
The references are generally stored in a master list, which is used to add
references to further documents. It includes options like, Table of Contents,
Footnotes, Citations & Bibliography, Captions, Index, Table of Authorities, smart
look, etc. After selecting References tab, you will get the below options:

8. Mailings:
It is the seventh tab present in the menu bar or ribbon. It is a least used tab in
the menu bar. This tab is where you would create labels, print them on
envelopes, do mail merge, etc. After selecting mailing, you will get the below
options:
9. Review:
It is the eighth tab present in the menu bar or ribbon. The review tab contains,
commenting, language, translation, spell check, word count tools. It is good for
quickly locating and editing comments. After selecting a review tab, you will get
the options below:

10. View:
It is the ninth tab present in the menu bar or ribbon. View tab allows you to
switch between single page or double page and also allows you to control the
layout tools It includes print layout, outline, web layout, task pane, toolbars,
ruler, header and footer, footnotes, full-screen view, zoom, etc. as shown in the
below image:
 Creating and Editing a Document

✅ Creating a Document in Microsoft Word

There are several ways to create a new document in MS Word, depending on how you're
accessing the program (desktop, web, or mobile). Below is the general method using
Microsoft Word on a computer:

🔹 Steps to Create a New Document:

1. Open Microsoft Word:

o Click on the Start menu (Windows) or Launchpad (Mac), and
open Microsoft Word.
o You can also double-click the Word shortcut on your desktop, if
available.
2. Select a New Document Option:
o Once Word opens, you’ll see the Start screen.
o Click on “Blank Document” to start with an empty page.
o Alternatively, you can choose a template (e.g., resume, report,
letter) from the list if you want a pre-designed format.
3. Start Typing:
o A new document window will open. You can now begin typing or
inserting content such as images, tables, or charts.
4. Save the Document:
o Click File > Save As.
o Choose the folder or location where you want to save the file.
o Enter a file name and click Save.
o By default, it will be saved as a .docx file.

🗑️ Deleting a Document in Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word itself does not delete files directly. To delete a Word document, you need to
do it through your computer’s file system (File Explorer on Windows or Finder on Mac).

🔹 Steps to Delete a Word Document (on Windows):

1. Close the Document:

o Make sure the document you want to delete is not open in Microsoft Word.
2. Go to File Explorer:
o Press Windows + E to open File Explorer.
 o Navigate to the folder where the document is saved (e.g., Documents,
Desktop, etc.).
3. Find the File:
o Locate the Word document you want to delete. It will usually have a .docx
extension.
4. Delete the File:
o Right-click on the file and select Delete.
o Or select the file and press the Delete key on your keyboard.
5. Empty the Recycle Bin (Optional):
o To permanently remove the file from your computer, right-click the Recycle
Bin and select Empty Recycle Bin.

🔹 Steps to Delete a Word Document (on Mac):

1. Close the document if it’s open.

2. Open Finder.
3. Navigate to the location of the file.
4. Right-click on the file and select Move to Trash.
5. Empty the Trash to permanently delete the document.

📝 Tip:
 If you're using OneDrive or Microsoft Word Online, you can delete documents
directly from your browser:
o Go to onedrive.com, log in with your Microsoft account.
o Find the document, right-click it, and select Delete.