Microsoft Word: Text & Formatting Notes

Objectives: Microsoft Word: Text & Formatting Notes

Microsoft Word - Text Entry & Formatting Notes

Microsoft Word: Text Entry, Character & Paragraph Formatting

1. Core Editing & Text Entry
  • Typing & Selection Techniques: Click where you want to type, start typing. Select text by:
    • Click & drag mouse over text
    • Shift + arrow keys (keyboard)
    • Ctrl + A (select all)
    • Multi-cursor (Mac: Option + Click, Windows: no native multi-cursor, can use add-ins)
  • Nonbreaking Space & Hyphen: Prevent Word from splitting words at line breaks.
    • Shortcut for Nonbreaking Space: Ctrl + Shift + Space
    • Shortcut for Nonbreaking Hyphen: Ctrl + Shift + -
  • Special Characters, Symbols & Unicode:
    • Insert ā†’ Symbol ā†’ Choose symbol or enter Unicode.
    • Shortcut: Alt + code (Windows)
2. Character Formatting
  • Font & Size: Home ā†’ Font group ā†’ select font and size.
  • Color & Effects: Home ā†’ Font Color / Text Effects.
  • All Caps / Small Caps / Hidden Text: Home ā†’ Font Dialog Box ā†’ Effects section.
  • Advanced Typography: Ligatures, Stylistic sets:
    • Home ā†’ Font ā†’ Advanced tab ā†’ OpenType features ā†’ choose ligatures, stylistic sets
  • Shortcut Examples:
    • Bold: Ctrl + B
    • Italic: Ctrl + I
    • Underline: Ctrl + U
    • Font dialog box: Ctrl + D
3. Paragraph Formatting
  • Alignment: Left, Center, Right, Justify ā†’ Home ā†’ Paragraph group ā†’ Alignment buttons.
  • Line & Paragraph Spacing: Home ā†’ Paragraph group ā†’ Line and Paragraph Spacing.
    • Shortcut: Ctrl + 1 = Single, Ctrl + 2 = Double, Ctrl + 5 = 1.5 lines
  • Indents: Home ā†’ Paragraph ā†’ Indentation:
    • First line indent: Paragraph ā†’ Special ā†’ First line
    • Hanging indent: Paragraph ā†’ Special ā†’ Hanging
  • Keep with Next / Lines Together: Paragraph ā†’ Line and Page Breaks ā†’ check options to control paragraph breaking.
  • Widow / Orphan Control: Paragraph ā†’ Line and Page Breaks ā†’ check 'Widow/Orphan control' to avoid single lines at top/bottom of pages.
4. Lists
  • Bullets & Numbering ā†’ Home ā†’ Paragraph group ā†’ choose bullets or numbering.
    • Multilevel lists: Home ā†’ Paragraph ā†’ Multilevel List ā†’ choose style
    • Custom bullet/number: Right-click bullet/number ā†’ Define New
    • Restart/Continue numbering: Right-click ā†’ Restart numbering / Continue numbering
5. Borders, Shading & Highlighting
  • Home ā†’ Paragraph ā†’ Borders ā†’ choose border style or shading.
  • Highlighting: Home ā†’ Font ā†’ Text Highlight Color
  • Format Painter: Select formatted text ā†’ Home ā†’ Format Painter ā†’ select target text
  • Clear formatting: Select text ā†’ Home ā†’ Clear All Formatting (eraser icon)
6. Styles
  • Built-in Styles: Home ā†’ Styles ā†’ select style (Heading, Title, Normal)
  • Create/Modify/Manage styles: Home ā†’ Styles ā†’ Manage Styles
  • Style sets: Design ā†’ Document Formatting ā†’ Style Sets
  • Reveal Formatting: Shift + F1 ā†’ shows all formatting applied
  • Character vs Paragraph styles:
    • Character: affects selected characters only
    • Paragraph: affects entire paragraph
7. Themes
  • Theme Fonts, Colors, Effects: Design ā†’ Themes ā†’ choose preset or customize
  • Quick Styles: Home ā†’ Styles ā†’ Quick Styles
  • Document defaults: Design ā†’ Set as Default (Normal template)
8. Language Tools
  • Change case: Home ā†’ Font ā†’ Change Case ā†’ Upper, Lower, Sentence, Title Case, Toggle Case.
  • Find/Replace (advanced):
    • Ctrl + F = Find
    • Ctrl + H = Replace (can match formatting and special characters)
  • AutoCorrect & AutoFormat: File ā†’ Options ā†’ Proofing ā†’ AutoCorrect Options ā†’ customize rules
  • Math Autocorrect: File ā†’ Options ā†’ Proofing ā†’ AutoCorrect ā†’ Math AutoCorrect ā†’ enable in Word
9. Columns
  • Single / Multi-column: Layout ā†’ Columns ā†’ select number of columns
  • Column breaks: Layout ā†’ Breaks ā†’ Column
  • Balancing columns: Layout ā†’ Columns ā†’ More Columns ā†’ check "Equal column width"
  • Snaking columns: Insert continuous section breaks to create newspaper-like text flow
10. Equations
  • Equation Editor: Insert ā†’ Equation ā†’ choose built-in or type custom
  • Professional vs Linear: Design tab in Equation ā†’ choose display style
  • Numbered Equations: Use Equation field ā†’ Insert ā†’ Field ā†’ Equation ā†’ include numbering
  • Equation fields allow referencing and automatic updates

These steps allow anyone, even beginners, to fully understand and use text entry, character & paragraph formatting, lists, styles, themes, language tools, columns, and equations in Microsoft Word.

Microsoft Word Notes: Text & Formatting

Microsoft Word: Text & Formatting Notes

1. Typing & Selection

Typing in Word is simple. Just click anywhere in the document and start typing.

Selecting text is important because formatting works on selected text only.

Methods to select text:
  • Click and drag your mouse over the text.
  • Double-click a word to select it.
  • Triple-click a paragraph to select the whole paragraph.
  • Use keyboard shortcuts:
    • Ctrl + A: Selects the entire document.
    • Shift + Arrow Keys: Selects text character by character.
2. Character Formatting

Character formatting changes how individual letters or words appear.

Key options:
  • Font: Choose a type of letters (e.g., Arial, Times New Roman).
  • Size: Adjust the height of your letters (e.g., 12pt, 14pt).
  • Color: Change the text color.
  • Effects: Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough.
  • Small Caps: Converts lowercase letters to small uppercase letters for style.
Example:

Type hello world ā†’ Select it ā†’ Apply Small Caps ā†’ It becomes HELLO WORLD (with smaller uppercase for lowercase letters).

3. Paragraph Formatting

Paragraph formatting affects the alignment and structure of your text block.

Options:
  • Alignment:
    • Left (Ctrl + L) ā€“ Aligns text to the left.
    • Center (Ctrl + E) ā€“ Aligns text to the center.
    • Right (Ctrl + R) ā€“ Aligns text to the right.
    • Justify (Ctrl + J) ā€“ Aligns text evenly on both sides.
  • Line Spacing: Adjust space between lines (e.g., single, 1.5, double).
  • Indents: Space from the left/right edge of the page.
  • Widow/Orphan control: Prevents a single line of a paragraph from being left alone at the top or bottom of a page.
4. Bulleted & Numbered Lists

Lists help organize information clearly.

Types:
  • Simple Bullet List: ā€¢ Item 1 ā€¢ Item 2 ā€¢ Item 3
  • Numbered List: 1. Item 1 2. Item 2 3. Item 3
  • Multilevel List:
    • 1. Item 1
      • a. Sub-item 1
      • b. Sub-item 2
  • Custom Bullets: Use symbols, images, or icons instead of default bullets.
5. Styles & Themes

Styles save time by applying a set of formatting to text quickly.

Example:
  • Heading 1 ā€“ Large, bold title style.
  • Heading 2 ā€“ Smaller sub-title style.
  • Normal ā€“ Standard paragraph text.

Themes change the color, font, and look of the entire document consistently.

Steps: Go to Design ā†’ Themes ā†’ Choose Theme

6. Columns & Equations

Columns: Split text into multiple columns (like newspapers).

Steps:

  • Select text ā†’ Layout ā†’ Columns ā†’ Choose 2, 3, or more columns.

Equations: Insert math or scientific formulas easily.

Steps:

  • Place cursor where equation is needed.
  • Insert ā†’ Equation ā†’ Type formula (e.g., xĀ² + yĀ² = zĀ²).

Reference Book: N/A

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