Moving around in a Word document

There are different ways to move around in your document.
One way is to use the scroll bars with the Mouse.
Another way is with the keyboard. You can move quickly through your document as you write and edit using keys such as Home, Page Up, Page Down, and Ctrl.

Moving with scroll bars using the Mouse

• See Windows Components (from the Win 2000 Intro) and The Word Window for images of the parts of a Windows screen and of a Word screen that will help you with some terminology if you have forgotten.

1. Open an existing document that has at least 2 pages if you have one.  If not, click HERE and save it as a Word file.

2. In the Vertical Scroll Bar on the right side of your screen click the Scroll Box, and drag it up and down.

3. Click in the vertical scroll bar on the right side of the screen but not in the Scroll Box and watch the screen jump down or up an entire screen, rather than just one line at a time.

4. Click the Scroll Arrows. They are the little up and down arrows at the top and bottom of the scroll bar. Your screen will move up or down one line at a time.

5. In the Horizontal Scroll Bar, do the same things, only watch your screen move horizontally.

6. At the bottom of the vertical scroll bar, click the Previous/Next Page buttons. Your document will jump to the next or previous page.

7. Close the document without saving changes.

Moving through a document using the keyboard

1. Open an existing document that has at least 2 pages if you have one.  If not, click HERE and save it as a Word file.
   
   If you have a standard keyboard, to the right of the main part, between it and the number pad, you'll find four arrow keys, and above them, six keys labeled: Insert, Home, Page Up, and on the next row down: Delete, End, Page Down.
    
2. Press Ctrl+End  to move to the end of the document.
   
   Ctrl should be at the bottom left and bottom right of the standard keyboard's main keys.
    

3. Press Ctrl+Home  to move to the beginning of the document.

4. Press Ctrl+Shift+up-arrow to move and select text line by line to the document beginning.

5. Press Ctrl+Shift+down-arrow to move and select text line by line to the document end.

6. Click anywhere in the document text, and press Home to move to the start of a line.

7. Click anywhere in the document text, and press End to move to the end of a line.

8. Close the document without saving changes.

The Document Map

The Document Map is a useful tool for navigating through large documents with headings, like a major research paper.

Use the Office Assistant, as demonstrated below, to find out more about it.

The Page Setup Dialog Box
On the File menu, click Page Setup,	or ....
	In the Print Layout View... Double-click the dark gray area of the vertical ruler (on the left) or the dark gray area of the horizontal ruler (across the top):

Establishing or adjusting the margins

Each document can have different margins, depending on the type of paper you plan to use, or the particular printer you have to print to.

• For example, letterhead paper can have graphics on the top, the side, or the bottom; you’ll want to adjust your margins to ensure that the text of your letter does not print in the area of the paper with graphics.
• Arty paper that has fancy borders or artwork taking up significant parts of the paper. You may not want to print on top of those things.
• Ink-jet printers and Laser printers have different tolerances for margins.

Note
You can type numbers in a text box to change the values, instead of using the arrow keys.
This can be useful if you are familiar with a certain format and have learned the numbers that apply.

To establish or adjust the margins:

1. Open an existing document if you have one.  If not, click HERE and save it as a Word file.

2. On the File menu, click Page Setup.

3. Click the Margins tab.
   
   
    

4. Change the Top, Bottom, Left, and Right margins to 1.8" by clicking the small up and down arrows.

5. In the Apply to box, click Whole document.

6. Look at the image in the Preview area to view the margins.
   
   Now try different numbers:
    

7. Change the Top margin to 5.3" by clicking the small up and down arrows.

8. Change the Bottom margin to 2" by clicking the small up and down arrows.

9. Change the Left and Right margins to 0.8" by clicking the small up and down arrows.

10. Look at the image in the Preview area to view the margins.

11. Click OK.

12. Close the document without saving.

    You are likely to need to change the paper size sometime, and it's not uncommon to need to print with the paper oriented sideways. The most common paper sizes are letter and legal. If you go into the Page Setup dialog box you can investigate the various sizes in the Paper size drop-down window. If you want to print with the paper oriented horizontally the long way, that's called "Landscape," with the regular way being called "Portrait."

Setting the paper size and orientation

1. Open an existing document if you have one. (To open a Word document with a paragraph to use, Click HERE and save it as a Word file.)
2. On the File menu, click Page Setup.
3. Click the Paper Size tab.
4. Click the Landscape button to select a horizontal orientation, and then click the Portrait button to observe the change in the preview window, then change the orientation back to Landscape.
5. In the Paper size box, select Letter 8½ x 11 in.
6. Look at the image in the Preview area to verify orientation.
7. Click OK.

Establishing default layout for documents

If you would like Word to use the margins and paper size settings you just selected whenever you open a new document, you can change the default settings:

Changing Page Setup defaults

1. Open an existing document if you have one.  (To open a Word document with a paragraph to use, Click HERE and save it as a Word file.)
2. On the File menu, click Page Setup.
3. Click the Margins tab.
4. Change margins to whatever you want for your new documents always.
5. Click Default.
6. A Window opens up and asks you a question: You would Click Yes to confirm or No to reject your choice.
7. You would click OK to close the Page Setup dialog box and save your new default, but you can click Cancel so that your changes don't get saved, also.

To print your document using the current settings:

Click the Print button on the Standard Toolbar.

To print your document with new settings, or when you don't know how the settings have been left:

1. Click File menu, then Print... 
   -or -
   the keystrokes [Ctrl+P]

   • You can also click Print Preview.

   This opens the Print Dialog Box

   with Printer, Page Range, Copies, Zoom, and other settings...

2. If the settings in the Print dialog box are okay, click Print.

-or-

• Choose the Printer.
• Choose a Page Range.
• Choose the number of Copies.
• "Print what" (see image below)

• "Options" button for several more options.
• "Properties" button to see options specific to the printer you chose above:

Below is one example, from a Hewlett-Packard 2200 All-In-One printer, of the type of dialog box that opens up when you click properties..  Other styles and brands will give you different choices, but most will have a look that is not drastically different than this one.  If your printer does color, you can usually choose to print in grayscale. You can set page orientation, paper size, etc.

• Click the Print Preview button, or
• click File, Print Preview.
  • In Print Preview, you can Print, change the Page Setup, change the margins, and other tasks.
• To exit Print Preview, click Close, in the Print Preview toolbar.

• Click File, Web Page Preview to preview your Word document as a Web Page.

Envelopes and Labels

Create an Envelope

1. Open Word to a new document that you might be preparing to type a letter in.
2. Click Tools> Envelopes and Labels...
3. Click Envelopes tab.
4. Type Delivery address.
5. Verify or type return address.
6. OR Check Omit to leave off the return address.
7. Click Add to Document to add to the file you're working in and automatically print it when you print the document,
   -or-
   Click Print.

Create Mailing Labels

1. Open Word to a new document that you might be preparing to type a letter in.
2. Click Tools> Envelopes and Labels...
3. Click Labels tab.
4. Type Address,
   -or-
   Check Use return address.
5. Click Full page of the same label radio button to print a full page of identical address labels.,
   -or-

• Click Single label,
• Click Row increment box and enter row number to print on,
• Click Column increment box and enter column number to print on.

Selecting text, and modifying it

Entering and modifying text is very easy in Word.
To enter text, just start typing.
The following sections look at how you Select, Replace, Delete, and Copy text.

Useful Grief-avoiding Hint! The keystrokes Ctrl+z will Undo previous actions. More useful is the Undo button on the Standard toolbar, because you can pull down a list and UNDO several past actions at once.

• Selecting text is a common task in Word. It is not the same as Highlighting, which is discussed in another lesson.
  The following three sections discuss selecting words, sentences, and paragraphs.
• You don't have to scroll to select entire words, sentences, or paragraphs.  This makes it easier for you for much of your normal formatting.  You still have to scroll if you have a very specific area that you want to select, but that isn't limited to discernable words, sentences, or paragraphs.
• To see Word's determination of what is a paragraph, click on the Show/Hide button:  
   
• That backwards-P symbol will be seen everywhere in your document you pressed your Enter key.  It will NOT be present where Word automatically wrapped sentences as you typed.  That symbol shows you what Word considers a paragraph.  It is NOT the same thing your English teacher taught you about paragraphs!  It is for formatting purposes within Word, not for good grammar or good writin'.

Select One Word without scrolling across or through it

1. Open this Word document: Click HERE and save it as a Word file to your desktop.
2. Place the insertion point in a word (that means Click on the word) and click the left mouse button twice,
   -or-
   more simply, Double-click the word to select that word.

Select One Sentence without scrolling across or through it

1. Open this Word document (unless you opened it above and it's still open or already on your desktop): Click HERE and save it as a Word file to your desktop.
2. Press Ctrl,  and Click (that is, click the left mouse button) once in any sentence to select the entire sentence.

Select One Paragraph without scrolling across or through it

1. Open this Word document (unless you opened it above and it's still open or already on your desktop): Click HERE and save it as a Word file to your desktop.
2. Triple-Click anywhere in the paragraph.  It is all selected.

Copying, Cutting, and Pasting text with keystrokes and the mouse

1. Open this Word document: Click HERE and save it as a Word file to your desktop.

2. Select any word or sentence.

3. Press Ctrl+c to copy the selected text.

4. Position the insertion point at the end of the paragraph.

5. Press Ctrl+v to paste the copied text.

6. Press Ctrl+v to paste the copied text again.

7. Select another word or sentence.

8. Press Ctrl+x to cut that selection.

9. Position the insertion point at the end of the paragraph.

10. Press Ctrl+v to paste the words you just deleted.

11. Close the document without saving these changes.

Moving, copying, and pasting text with the mouse: DRAG & DROP

You can Copy and Paste text, or Move text, using just the Mouse or the Mouse and one finger on the Ctrl key.

1. Open this Word document: Click HERE and save it as a Word file to your desktop.

2. Select the title, Stellar Evolution.

3. While still pointing at your selection, the cursor turns into an arrow. Click and hold the mouse button down, then move the arrow to the end of the paragraph and release the button. 
    You should have noticed that a little box appeared on the bottom end of the arrow.
   
   NOTE: This is called Click and Drag, or Drag and Drop.  You will often be told to click and drag an object or text.
    

4. Select the title, Stellar Evolution, again.

5. You are going to Drag and Drop the title back to its previous location, at the top of the document, but this time hold down the Ctrl key while you drag. You should have noticed that when you pressed  the Ctrl key, a little + plus sign appeared on the edge of the little box.   This is to indicate that you are copying, not cutting.

6. Close the document without saving.

The shortcut keys you have just used are also in the Edit menu. Also, the toolbar has buttons to help you cut, copy, and paste text and graphics in your document. You may want to repeat some of the last exercise using the toolbar buttons, but shortcut keys are often the fastest way to copy and paste.

Paste Special

Paste Special provides additional options for pasting selected text or objects.
The Result box at the bottom will briefly explain the option you click on.

1. Open a Word document.

2. Cut or Copy some text or object.
3. Click Edit, Paste Special...
4. Select one of the formats (shown above)
5. Click OK.

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Last UPDATED 01/29/06