Start Word and look around

Microsoft Word is a program for writing documents: letters, lists, notes, community notices, and other pages made mostly of words. Canada’s Skills for Success names Word as one of the common digital tools people use to complete a task (alongside other programs such as Excel). This course stays with Word. Number tables that calculate belong in *Microsoft Excel Basics*. Everyday device skills such as the Start menu itself are covered more fully in *Everyday Computers and Smartphones*. Workplace tone and longer writing craft belong in *Workplace Writing*. Resumes go deeper in *Job Search*.

To start Word on a Windows computer, Microsoft’s steps are: click the Start button, or press the Windows key, to open the Start menu; find Word in the list of applications; then click it. Microsoft says the startup screen appears and Word starts. The first time you start Word, a licence agreement might appear. Follow the on-screen choices with help from a tutor if you need it.

If you see recent files or template choices on the startup screen, look for a blank document if that option is there. Screens differ by version and by whether you are using desktop Word or Word for the web. This course teaches the desktop steps Microsoft publishes. Ask a tutor rather than guessing at a reset or an upgrade.

You do not need to buy a new computer. A library or council machine with Word is a valid place to practise. On a shared computer, use a practice file — not someone else’s letter.

Microsoft’s tour of the Word window names eight parts that are useful from the first day.

The title bar at the top shows the file name of the document you are editing and the name of the software. It also includes the usual Minimize, Restore, and Close buttons. The Quick Access Toolbar holds frequent commands such as Save, Undo, and Redo. A small menu at the end of that toolbar lets you add other commands if you want to later — you do not need to customise it today.

The File tab is the place for commands that act on the document itself rather than on the words inside it. Microsoft lists New, Open, Save As, Print, and Close there. The ribbon is the wide strip of tools you use while writing. Microsoft notes that the ribbon’s appearance changes with the size of the monitor: Word may compress or rearrange the controls on a smaller screen. The Home tab on the ribbon is where you will find most everyday text formatting in later lessons.

The large white edit window shows the contents of the document. A scroll bar moves your view up or down. The status bar at the bottom shows information about the document. A zoom slider changes how large the page looks on screen without changing the printed size of the words. If the page looks tiny on a library monitor, try zoom before you change the font.

It helps to keep two ideas apart. The File tab looks after the whole file: starting a new document, opening one you saved, saving a copy, printing, or closing. The ribbon looks after the words and the look of the page: fonts, styles, and (on other tabs) pictures or page setup. If you cannot find Bold, you are probably not on the Home tab. If you cannot find Print, look under File.

To quit Word, Microsoft says to click the X in the upper-right corner of the screen. If you changed the document since the last save, a message asks whether you want to save. Click Yes to save, No to quit without saving, or Cancel if you clicked X by mistake and want to stay. That Cancel choice is a kindness: it means you can back out of leaving. Lesson 3 will teach you how to save on purpose so you are not relying on that last-second question.

This course is not MOS training and not a promise of a job. The goal today is simpler: start Word, recognise the window, and leave without panic. Write down any new word — ribbon, File tab, edit window — and ask if a label on your screen does not match this lesson.

On a computer that has Word (yours, or a library or council machine):

1. Start Word from the Start menu.
2. Point to (without changing) the title bar, Quick Access Toolbar, File tab, ribbon, edit window, and zoom control.
3. If you typed anything, do not save private information. You may close with X and choose No, or Cancel if you want to stay.

Which part of the Word window was hardest to spot on the computer in front of you? Did a smaller screen squeeze the ribbon, as Microsoft says it might?