How to use Word Documents

Microsoft Word has become the ubiquitous software application of choice for most business now. If you’re creating a word-processed file then the Word document is one of the most easily recognised and most compatible formats to use. The flexibility and range of features that Microsoft Word offers is truly amazing. There’s much more to word than simple text though.

The first thing to mention is a point of safety. The seeming simplicity of Word files is actually a front for a very complex document that can do a number of things. Some of the facilities that Word offers can be used for less than honorable purposes to spread viruses and the like. If you receive a Word document from someone you don’t know or can’t verify the origins of a file make sure you are running some kind of virus protection or security application. This way you can be sure you’re not opening yourself up to the less salubrious elements of the net. If you’re creating a Word document then you’ll not need to worry about the security aspects.

Identify a Word Document

The easiest way to identify a word document is the file extension. Each file is ended with a full stop followed by three letters. A word document’s extension is .doc though if it’s a template it will be .dot. A template file is a word document that you use like a normal word processing document but it is pre-filled with often used data such as a letter head. You can call your file anything you like in-front of the .doc extension.

Keeping it Simple

Though Word can do an impressive number of things there’s no need to worry about getting to know the application as it’s still very simple to use on the surface. The basic window is analogous to a blank sheet of paper and it’s here that you put your work. It’s a really simple but very effective way of making the whole process very easy to understand. Mostly all the commands are in plain English that do exactly what you would expect. You have complete control over the design of text from colour to shape and spacing. If you want to you can even add graphs and charts to a Word document. Pictures are also easy to insert. In fact all you have to do to get a graphic on your page is click on it with your mouse and drag it to the open document. Word will insert the images into the document without altering the original or affecting your computer in any way.

Get on with Word

A word document is nothing to be scarred of. The application is very simple to use with a little experimentation you can really make your documents impressive. The shear range of things that Word can do make it so much more than a word processor but then if all you want is a page of text then Word is brilliant at that too. Remember to secure yourself against malicious Word documents and everything should be fine.