Microsoft Word Tutorial 2003/2002
By Denise Etheridge

You can use this free online tutorial to learn Microsoft Word 2003 or 2002 (Word XP). Click here to start. If you are using Word 2007, click here for our Word 2007 tutorial.

Table of Contents

Lesson One: Getting Familiar with Microsoft Word

Microsoft Word is a word processing software package. You can use it to type letters, reports, and other documents. This lesson introduces you to the Word window. You use the Word window to interact with Microsoft Word.

• The Microsoft Word Title Bar
• The Microsoft Word Menu Bar
• Microsoft Word Toolbars
• The Ruler
• Document View 
• Text Area 
• Exiting Microsoft Word 

Lesson Two: Things You Need to Know About Microsoft Word

Before you get started with Word, there are a few concepts with which you need to be familiar. This lesson explains those concepts.

• Click
• Options
• Highlighting Text
• Highlighting Menu Items
• Placing the Cursor
• Menu Commands Using the Alt Key
• Shortcut Notations
• Starting a New Paragraph
• Exiting Microsoft Word

Lesson Three: Microsoft Word Basic Features

You are now ready to learn how to create a Word document. This lesson covers typing, using the Backspace key, using the Delete key, inserting text, bolding, underlining, and italicizing.

• Typing and Using the Backspace Key
• The Delete Key
• Inserting Text
• Overtype
• Bold, Underline, and Italicize with Micosoft Word
• Save File and Exit Microsoft Word

Lesson Four: More Microsoft Word Basic Features

The features in Word can make your work easier, make your documents more attractive, and/or enable you to work more efficiently. This Microsoft Word lesson teaches you how to open a file, cut, copy, paste, use AutoText, use spell check, use Find and Replace, and work with fonts. All of these features either make your work easier or make your document more attractive.

• Open File
• Cut and Paste
• Copy and Paste
• AutoText
• Spell Check
• Find and Replace
• Font Size
• Fonts
• Save File and Exit Microsoft Word

Lesson Five: Working with Paragraphs

When you type information into Microsoft Word, each time you press the Enter key Word creates a new paragraph. You can format paragraphs. For example, you can indent the first line of a paragraph, you can set the amount of space that separates paragraphs, and you can align a paragraph left, right, center, or flush with both margins. In this lesson, you will learn about the various formats you can apply to a paragraph.

• Space Before and Space After
• Line Spacing 
• First-Line Indent
• Indentation
• Alignment
• Hanging Indent
• Save File and Exit Microsoft Word

Lesson Six: Tab Key, Bulleting, Numbering, Undo, Redo, Printing, and Help

If you have lists of data, you may want to bullet or number them. When using Microsoft Word, bulleting and numbering are easy. The first part of this lesson teaches you to bullet and number. After you have completed your document, you may want to share it with others. One way to share your document is to print and distribute it. In this lesson you will learn how to print your documents.

• The Tab Key
• Bullets and Numbering
• Undo & Redo
• Save File
• File Close
• Open New File
• Printing

Lesson Seven: Microsoft Word Tables

By using a table, you can organize your data into rows and columns. In this lesson you learn how to work with tables.

• Creating a Table
• Moving Around a Table
• Entering Text into a Table
• Selecting a Row and Bolding the Text
• Right-Aligning Text
• Adding a New Row to the End of the Table
• Adding a New Row Within the Table
• Resizing the Columns
• Adding a New Column to a Table
• Sorting a Table
• The Sum Function
• Deleting a Column
• Deleting a Row
• Recalculate
• Merge Cells
• Table Headings
• Converting Text to a Table
• Splitting a Table
• Table AutoFormat
• Save File