Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Using Keyboard Shortcuts

Many common commands have keyboard shortcuts that you can use instead of the menus or toolbars . Some of these keyboard shortcuts are listed to the right of the commands in the menus. For example, the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+O appears to the right of the Open command in the File menu.

Make sure that you hold down the first key in a keyboard shortcut as you press the second key. For example, to issue the File, Open command with the keyboard, you press and hold down the Ctrl key as you press the letter O. If there are three keys in a keyboard shortcut, such as Shift+Ctrl+End, keep the first two held down as you press the third.

For a complete listing of keyboard shortcuts in Word's help system, search the help system for keyboard shortcuts , and then click the Keyboard Shortcuts topic in the results list. If you like, you can print the shortcuts and keep the list next to your computer for reference. (See "Getting Help" later in this hour .)

Working with Task Panes

By default, when you start Word the Getting Started task pane appears at the right edge of your Word window to give you a quick way to open a document, start a new document, or ask for help (refer back to Figure 1.6). This task pane is one of many that appear automatically when you perform certain actions, such as starting Word, inserting clip art in your document, or beginning a mail merge. Task panes typically contain information and options that are relevant to what you are doing. They give you a handy way of accomplishing tasks without leaving your document.

If you'd rather not see the Getting Started task pane on startup, choose Tools, Options to display the Options dialog box. Click the View tab, clear the Startup Task Pane check box, and click OK.

You can also deliberately display any of the task panes whenever you'd like. To do so, choose View, Task Pane (or press Ctrl+F1). The task pane that was most recently displayed will appear again. (Figure 1.21 shows the New Document task pane.) To switch to a different task pane, click the Other Task Panes button to display a list of the other task panes, and click the one you'd like to use. If you'd like to scroll through the various task panes that have been displayed so far in the current Word session, click the Back and Forward buttons . To quickly display the Getting Started task pane, click the Home button. When you want to close a task pane, click its Close button or press Ctrl+F1 again.

Figure 1.21. Task panes give you a convenient way of performing tasks without leaving your document.

You can display some task panes by clicking toolbar buttons. For example, the Research button on the Standard toolbar (the ninth button from the left) displays the Research task pane, and the Styles and Formatting button on the Formatting toolbar (the button on the far left) displays the Styles and Formatting task pane.

Controlling the Position and Size of the Word Window

You can change the appearance of the Word window in a variety of ways. You can make it disappear temporarily so that you can see what's behind it on the Windows desktop, or make it fill up the screen to give you more room to work. You can also move the Word window around on your desktop, or adjust its size.

Using the Control Buttons

The Control buttons appear in the upper-right corner of the Word window. The function of these buttons is the same for all Windows applications.

Click the Minimize button to temporarily hide the Word window, leaving only its taskbar button. To redisplay the Word window, click its taskbar button. If you want to make the Word window cover the entire desktop, click the Maximize button (see Figure 1.22).

As soon as the Word window is maximized, the Maximize button becomes a Restore button (see Figure 1.23). Click the Restore button to return (restore) the window to the size it was before you maximized it.

For information about using the Close button (the red X) and the Close Window button (the smaller, black X underneath the Close button), see "Closing Documents and Exiting Word" later in this hour .

Moving and Resizing the Word Window

If the Word window isn't maximized, you can move it around the Windows desktop or change its size.

To move the Word window, point to its title bar, drag the window to a different location, and release the mouse button.

To resize the Word window, point to the lower-right corner of the window. The mouse pointer becomes a diagonal black arrow, as shown in Figure 1.24. Drag in the desired direction to enlarge or shrink the window. (You can actually drag any edge or corner of the Word window to resize the window ”the lower-right corner is just the most convenient spot.)