Word 2007: Setting Up Your Word Environment

 Word 2007: Setting Up Your Word Environment

Before you begin creating Word documents, you may want to set up your Word 
environment and become familiar with a few key tasks such as how to maximize 
and minimize the Ribbon, configure the Quick Access toolbar, display the ruler, 
etc.

Minimize and Maximize the Ribbon

• Right click anywhere in the main menu
• Select Minimize the Ribbon in the menu that appears. This will toggle the Ribbon on and off. 

Minimize the Ribbon 

The check mark beside ‘Minimize the Ribbon’ option indicates the feature is active. You may choose to use this option, if you prefer not to use the Ribbon, but use different menus and keyboard shortcuts. This has the advantage of giving you more screen space to work on the document. 

Add Commands to Quick Access Toolbar
• Click the arrow (customize quick access toolbar) to the right of the Quick Access toolbar.
• Select the command you wish to add from the drop down menu. The command will appear in the Quick Access Toolbar

  

   Adding Commands to Quick Access Toolbar 

You may want to add frequently used commands to your Quick Access Toolbar, to make the specific Word features more convenient to you. 

Display or Hide the Ruler

• Click the View Ruler icon over the scrollbar.

View Ruler Icon

The View Ruler icon is a toggle button that shows or hides the ruler. 

Customize the Status Bar

• Right click anywhere on the Status Bar.
• From the menu that appears, select the options that you want to see on the Status Bar. Each click on an option will toggle it between show and hide on the Status Bar. 

Customizing the Environment Using Word Options

The Word options menu allows you to customize Word 2007 according to your preferences. 

• Click the Microsoft Office Button
• Click on ‘Word Options’ button located at the bottom of the menu. 

When you click on ‘Word Options’ button, an extensive menu will open. It is has more than hundred configurable options, not including submenus!

You can set your preferences for Autocorrect, printing, saving, custom directories, colour scheme, spell check, grammar check, updating fields and much more. In addition this menu contains help options, such as repairing Microsoft Office or changing security settings. You may not be able to understand most of these options for now. We will take up some examples now and cover some more options while we progress through this unit.

 

Change the Colour of the Office Ribbon: 
a. Click the Office Button. 
b. Click the Word Options. 
c. On the Popular Tab, under Color Scheme, select the preferred colour. 
Change the Default Document Folder:
a. Click the Office Button. 
b. Click the Word Options. 
c. On the Save Tab, under Save Documents, click Browse button next to the Default File Location text box. 

d. Navigate to and click the folder you want to be your default. 

e. Click OK twice

Reorder Items on Quick Access Toolbar:

a. Click the Office Button. 

b. Click the Word Options. 

c. On the Customize Tab, under Customize Quick Access Toolbar, select the command and then use the up/ down arrow key to change its position on the bar.

Creating a New Document

You can create a new document as follows:

• Click the Microsoft Office Button. 
• Select New. The New Document dialog box appears. 
• Select Blank Document under ‘Blank and Recent’ section. It will be highlighted by default.
• Click Create. A new, blank document appears in the Word window.

You may also use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+N to create a new document. 

Opening an Existing Document

Opening an Existing Document

You can open an existing document in one of the following ways:

• Click the Microsoft Office Button.
• Select Open. Select the required document in the dialog box.

 OR

• Use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+O to select and open an existing document.

 OR

• If you have recently used document then
• Click the Microsoft Office Button.
• Choose from the Recent Documents section.

 OR

• Go to Windows Explorer. Find your document.

• Right mouse click on the document and select Open.

• Saving a Existing Document

• Click the Microsoft Office Button.

• Select Save from the menu.

 OR

• Use keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S

 OR

Use Save on the Quick Access Toolbar

On using any of these options, the document is saved in its current location with Word Processor the same file name. If you are saving the document for the first time, then Save 

As dialog box appears which accepts the document name and location (folder) where it is to be saved.

Using Save As Option

You may use Save As option as below:

• Click the Microsoft Office Button.
• Select Save As from the menu. The Save As dialog box appears.
• Select the location where you wish to save the document.
• Enter the name for the document
• Click the Save button

The Save As option can be used to:

• Create a backup copy of the document by saving it at another location or by different name.
• Save the document as a template
• Save the document in a format that is fully compatible with Word97-2003
• Save the document in other formats, for example PDF

Working with Multiple Documents

Multiple documents can be opened simultaneously if there is such a need. To see 

the list of open documents:

• Click on View tab of the Ribbon
• Click on Switch Windows in the Window group. A drop down list of all open documents is displayed.

The current document has a checkmark besides its name. You may select any 

document from the list to make it current.

 To close a document

Click the Microsoft Office Button.

Select Close from the menu.

The current document closes. The next document in the list becomes current. If there is no other open document, then only Word window is there.