An Introduction to MS Word

One of the most widely used programs of Microsoft Office suite, MS Word is a word processor developed
by Microsoft.

An introduction to MS Word, its features, and its uses, have all been discussed in detail, in this article. Also,
a few sample questions based on this MS Office program have been given further below for the reference of
candidates preparing for competitive exams.

Since MS Word is one of the most used programs of the Office Suite, some basic information regarding its
creation and development has been given below:

 Charles Simonyi, a developer, and Richard Brodie, a software engineer, were the two creators of MS
Word
 This program was initially named “Multi-Tool Word” but later, was renamed MS Word
 It was introduced in 1983.
 Word for Windows is available standalone or as a part of the MS Office suite.
 MS Word for Mac was introduced by Microsoft as Word 1.0 in 1985
 The extension for any word file is “.doc or .docx.”

Basics of MS Word
Let us first understand some basic aspects of Microsoft Word.

What is MS Word?

Used to make professional-quality documents, letters, reports, etc., MS Word is a word processor developed
by Microsoft. It has advanced features that allow you to format and edit your files and documents in the best
possible way.

Where to find MS Word on your personal computer?

Follow these simple steps to open MS Word on your personal computer:

Start → All Programs → MS Office → MS Word.

What are the uses of MS Word?

MS Word enables users to do write-ups and create documents, resumes, contracts, etc. This is one of the
most used programs under the Office suite.

How to create an MS Word document?

To create an MS Word doc, follow the steps mentioned above to open Microsoft Word. Then once the
program is open, click on “File” followed by “New”. This opens a new doc where something new can be
created.
Since it is used by people of all age groups, in schools, in colleges, and for official purposes, having proper
knowledge of Microsoft Word is a must.

Also, from a competitive exam perspective, one must be well aware of this topic.

Features of MS Word
Now let us read more about the features and components of an MS Word doc file in detail.

 Home
This has options like font color, font size, font style, alignment, bullets, line spacing, etc. All the basic
elements that one may need to edit their document are available under the Home option.

 Insert
Tables, shapes, images, charts, graphs, header, footer, page number, etc. can all be entered in the document.
They are included in the “Insert” category.

 Design
The template or the design in which you want your document to be created can be selected under the Design
tab. Choosing an appropriate tab will enhance the appearance of your document.

 Page Layout
Under the Page Layout tab comes options like margins, orientation, columns, lines, indentation, spacing,
etc.

 References
This tab is the most useful for those who are creating a thesis or writing books or lengthy documents.
Options like citation, footnote, table of contents, caption, bibliography, etc. can be found under this tab.

 Review
Spell check, grammar, Thesaurus, word count, language, translation, comments, etc. can all be tracked under
the review tab. This acts as an advantage for those who get their documents reviewed on MS Word.

Apart from all the above-mentioned features, the page can be set in different views and layouts, which can
be added and optimized using the View tab on the Word document. Margins and scales are also available for
the benefit of the users.

When compared with MS PowerPoint, MS Word is more of reading while PPT is more of a visual and
graphical representation of data.

Uses of MS Word
Given below are the different fields in which MS Word is used and simplifies the work of an individual:

 In Education: It is considered one of the simplest tools that can be used by both teachers and
students. Creating notes is easier using MS Word as they can be made more interactive by adding
shapes and images. It is also convenient to make assignments on MS Word and submit them online.
  In Workplace: Submitting letters, bills, creating reports, letterheads, and sample documents, can all
easily be done using MS Word

 Creating & Updating Resume: One of the best tools to create your resumes and is easy to edit and
make changes in it as per your experience.
 For Authors: Since separate options are available for bibliography, table of contents, etc., it is the
best tool that can be used by authors for writing books and adjusting it as per the layout and
alignment of your choice.

Sample MS Word Question and Answers

Some sample questions and answers with the competitive exam perspective have been given below. Refer to
these for assistance.

Q 1. How can you open the column dialogue box?

1. Alt+O+C
2. Alt+A+C
3. Alt+R+C
4. Alt+C
5. Alt+ctrl+C
Answer: (1) Alt+O+C

Q 2. Which is the default alignment in MS Word?

1. Right
2. Centre
3. Left
4. Justify
5. None of the Above
Answer: (3) Left

Q 3. “Ctrl + =” is used for _________

1. Change Alignment
2. Subscript
3. Superscript
4. Change font to Bold
5. None of the above
Answer: (2) Subscript

Q 4. A combination of which shortcut keys to use to split a table?

1. Ctrl+shift+enter
2. Ctrl+enter
3. Shift+enter
4. ctrl+alt+S
 5. alt+S
Answer: (1) Ctrl+shift+enter

Frequently Asked Questions on Microsoft Word

Q 1. Which formatting features can be added to the MS Word document?

Ans. The common formatting features which are available on MS Word include:


 Font Style, Size and Colour</li

 Header and Footer

 Insert Images

 Add tables and bulleted lists

 Set a page layout

 Add Word Art

The basic feature of why people choose MS Word over any other text editor is that it makes the document
more visually interactive and appealing.

Q 2. What is Microsoft Word used for??

Ans. MS Word can also help you organize and write documents more efficiently. When the document is
created in Word, the user can choose to start from a blank document or let a template do much of the work
for the user. From then on, the basic steps in creating and sharing documents are the same.

Q 3. What are the basic functions of MS Word?

Ans. Given below are the basic functions of Microsoft Word:

 Creating text documents

 Editing and Formatting the existing documents
 Making a text document interactive with different features and tools
 Graphical documents, comprising images
 Used by Authors and Researchers
 Detect grammatical errors in a text document

Q 4. What is the extension of an MS Word file?

Ans. An MS Word file is always saved with the extension of .doc or .docx.
.
Q 5. What are the five basic fields of application for MS Word?
Ans. Using Microsoft Word, one can create resumes, reports, and write letters. Authors can use it to write
their books and researchers for writing a thesis. Apart from this, it can be used as a simple text editor.