Microsoft Word Basics

Opening MS Word

Opening MS Word works like any other Windows application.

Click the Start button and select Microsoft Word from the list of programs shown in the menu of available programs. Select Word by placing the mouse pointer on the icon or title and click it to begin. Note: There are numerous ways to accomplish almost every command in Windows.

Opening Word automatically creates a new document, OR once Word is running, you may select File and then select New, or simply click the Blank Page button in the Menu Bar in the upper left corner.

Exiting MS Word

Exiting MS Word also works the same for other Windows XP applications.

Click on File (left-hand corner on the Menu Bar), and then click on Exit, OR click on the red and white X button in the upper right corner of the screen (Title Bar).

Closing a Word Document

Closing a document allows you to close the document you are working on without closing MS Word.

Click on File (left hand corner on Menu Bar), then click on Close, OR close an open Word document by clicking on the BLACK X in the Menu Bar (upper right corner, second line).

Once the file is closed, you may start a New document, Open an existing document, or Exit as described above.

As with most Windows programs, MS Word will take care of your files when you Exit or Close. If you have open files with unsaved changes, Word will prompt you to save or abandon the changes in each file that was open before actually exiting.

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