Microsoft Word 97 Tutorial

If you are looking for a Microsoft Word 97 tutorial, this is the site. Our Microsoft Word 97 tutorial provides the help you need to develop your Microsoft Word 97 skills. It covers text entry, formatting, spell check, bulleting, numbering, tables, and much more.

Lesson Four: More Basic Features

This lesson covers cut, copy, paste, autotext, spell check, find, replace, and fonts. To begin this lesson, open Microsoft Word.

Open File

To continue working on a file you previously saved, you must open the file. To open the file:

1. Click on File.
2. Highlight Open. Press Enter.
3. Make sure the folder you noted during the previous lesson displays in the Look In field.
4. The file is named "lesson3.doc." Type lesson3.doc in the File Name field.
5. Click on Open.
6. The file you created during the previous lesson should appear.

1. Click on File.
2. Look for the file name "lesson3.doc" near the bottom of the drop-down menu.
3. Click on "lesson3.doc."
4. The file you created during the previous lesson should appear.

In Microsoft Word, you can cut (delete) text from one area of the document and save that text so it can be pasted elsewhere in the document. When you cut text, it is stored on the Clipboard. Information stored on the Clipboard stays there until new information is either cut or copied. Each time you execute Cut or Copy, you replace the old information on the Clipboard with whatever you just cut or copied. You can paste Clipboard information as often as you like.

Exercise 1

Cut - Using the Menu

1. Type the following:

I want to move. I am content where I am.
2. Highlight "I want to move."
3. Click on Edit.
4. Highlight Cut. Press Enter.
5. Your text should now read:

"I am content where I am."

1. Place the cursor after the period in the sentence "I am content where I am."
2. Press the Spacebar to leave a space.
3. Click on Edit.
4. Highlight Paste. Press Enter.
5. Your text should now read.

"I am content where I am. I want to move."

1. Type the following:

I want to move. I am content where I am.
2. Highlight "I want to move."
3. Click on the Cut icon .
4. Your text should now read.
5. "I am content where I am."

1. Place the cursor after the period in the sentence

"I am content where I am."
2. Press the Spacebar to leave a space.
3. Click on the Paste icon .
4. Your text should now read.
5. "I am content where I am. I want to move."

1. Type the following:

I want to move. I am content where I am.
2. Highlight "I want to move."
3. Press Ctrl-x.
4. Your text should now read.
5. "I am content where I am."

1. Place the cursor after the period in the sentence: "I am content where I am."
2. Press the Spacebar to leave a space.
3. Press Ctrl-v.
4. Your text should now read.
5. "I am content where I am. I want to move."

Copy and Paste

In Microsoft Word, you can copy text from one area of the document and place that text elsewhere in the document. As with cut data, copied data is stored on the Clipboard.

Exercise 2

Copy - Using the Menu

1. Type the following:

You will want to copy me. One of me is all you need.
2. Highlight "You will want to copy me."
3. Click on Edit.
4. Highlight Copy. Press Enter.

1. Place the cursor after the period in the sentence: "One of me is all you need."
2. Press the Spacebar to leave a space.
3. Click on Edit.
4. Highlight Paste. Press Enter.
5. Your text should now read:

"You will want to copy me. One of me is all you need. You will want to copy me."

1. Type the following:

You will want to copy me. One of me is all you need.
2. Highlight "You will want to copy me."
3. Click on the Copy icon .

1. Place the cursor after the period in the sentence: "One of me is all you need."
2. Press the Spacebar to leave a space.
3. Click on the Paste icon .
4. Your text should now read:
5. "You will want to copy me. One of me is all you need. You will want to copy me."

1. Type the following:

You will want to copy me. One of me is all you need.
2. Highlight "You will want to copy me."
3. Press Ctrl-c.

1. Place the cursor after the period in the sentence "One of me is all you need."
2. Press the Spacebar to leave a space.
3. Press Ctrl-v.
4. Your text should now read:
5. "You will want to copy me. One of me is all you need. You will want to copy me."

Cut and Copy both store information on the Clipboard. Each time you store new information on the Clipboard, the old information is lost. If you wish to store text permanently so you can use it repeatedly, use AutoText.

Exercise 3

1. Type the following:

AutoText information is stored permanently.
2. Highlight "AutoText information is stored permanently."
3. Click on Insert.
4. Highlight AutoText. Press Enter.
5. Highlight New. Press Enter.
6. Microsoft Word suggests a name. The suggestion is displayed on the screen. Change the name by typing AT in the field.
7. Click on OK.
8. Click anywhere in the text area to remove the highlighting.
9. Place the cursor between the period in the sentence you just typed and the paragraph marker (¶).
10. Press the Spacebar twice to leave two blank spaces.
11. Type AT.
12. Press F3.
13. Your text should now read:

"AutoText information is stored permanently. AutoText information is stored permanently."
Note: Whenever you need the text, simply type the name and press F3.

Word checks your spelling and grammar as you type. Spelling errors display with a red wavy line under the word. Grammar errors display with a green wavy line under the error.

Exercise 4

1. Type the following exactly as shown. Include all errors.

Open thr door for Mayrala. She is a teacher from the town of Ridgemont.
2. Highlight: "Open thr door for Mayrala. She is a teacher from the town of Ridgemont."
3. Press F7 or click on the Spelling icon  on the Standard toolbar.
4. "The" is misspelled so it is highlighted on the screen and noted in the Not in Dictionary box.
5. Word suggests correct spellings. These suggestions are found in the Suggestions box.
6. To change the word to the correct spelling, make sure "the" is highlighted in the Suggestions box. Click on Change.

Note: If the word is misspelled in several places in the document, click on Change All to correct all misspellings.
7. The name "Mayrala" is not in the dictionary, but it is correct. Press Ignore to leave "Mayrala" in the document with its current spelling. 

Note: If a word appears in several places in the document, click on Ignore All so you are not prompted to correct the spelling for each occurrence.
8. "Ridgemont" is not found in the dictionary. If you frequently use a word not found in the dictionary, you should add that word to the dictionary by pressing the Add button. Word will then recognize the word the next time it encounters it. Click on Add.
9. The following should appear on your screen: "Word finished checking the selection. Do you want to continue checking the remainder of the document?"
10. Click on No. If you wanted Word to spell-check the entire document, you would have clicked on Yes.

If you need to find a particular word or piece of text, you can use the Find command. If you want to search the entire document, simply execute the Find command. If you want to limit your search to a selected area, highlight that area and then execute the Find command.

After you have found the word or piece of text you are searching for, you can replace it with new text by executing the Replace command.

Exercise 5

Find - Using the Menu

1. Type the following:

Monica is from Easton. She lives on the east side of town. Her daughter attends Eastern High School.
2. Highlight: "Monica is from Easton. She lives on the east side of town. Her daughter attends Eastern High School."
3. Click on Edit.
4. Highlight Find. Press Enter.
5. Type east in the Find What field.
6. Click on Find Next.

Note that the "East" in Easton is highlighted.
7. Click on Find Next.

Note that "east" is highlighted.
8. Click on Find Next.

Note that the "East" in Eastern is highlighted.
9. Click on Find Next. The following message should appear: "Word has finished searching the selection. Do you want to search the remainder of the document?"
10. Click on No.
11. Click on Cancel.

1. Highlight: "Monica is from Easton. She lives on the east side of town. Her daughter attends Eastern High School."
2. Press Ctrl-f.
3. Follow steps 5 through 11 in the preceding section.

1. Highlight "Monica is from Easton. She lives on the east side of town. Her daughter attends Eastern High School."
2. Click on Edit.
3. Highlight Replace. Press Enter.
4. Type "east" in the Find What box.
5. Click on Find Next. Do not replace the "East" in "Easton."
6. Click on Find Next.
7. In the Replace With box, type west.
8. Click on Replace.
9. The "East" in Eastern is highlighted.
10. Click on Replace.
11. The following message will appear: "Word has finished searching the selection. Do you want to search the remainder of the document?"
12. Click on No.
13. Click on Close.
14. Your text should now read:

"Monica is from Easton. She lives on the west side of town. Her daughter attends Western High School."

1. Highlight "Monica is from Easton. She lives on the west side of town. Her daughter attends Western High School."
2. Press Ctrl-h.
3. Follow steps 4 through 13 in the preceding section, but type East in the Replace With box.

In Microsoft Word, you can change the size of your font (text). The following exercise illustrates changing the font size.

Change Font Size - Using the Menu

1. Type the following:

I am the smallest. I am a little bigger. I am the biggest.
2. Highlight "I am the smallest."
3. Click on Format.
4. Highlight Font. Press Enter.
5. Click on the Font tab, if it is not in the front.
6. Type 8 in the Size field, or click on 8 in the box below the Size field.
7. Click on OK.
8. Highlight "I am a little bigger."
9. Click on Format.
10. Highlight Font. Press Enter.
11. Click on the Font tab, if it is not in the front.
12. Type 14 in the Size field, or click on 14 in the box below the Size field.
13. Click on OK.
14. Highlight "I am a the biggest."
15. Click on Format.
16. Highlight Font. Press Enter.
17. Click on the Font tab, if it is not in the front.
18. Type 24 in the Size field, or click on 24 in the box below the Size field.
19. Click on OK.
20. Your text should now look similar to the following:

"I am the smallest. I am a little bigger. I am the biggest."

1. Highlight:

"I am the smallest. I am a little bigger. I am the biggest."
2. Press Ctrl-Spacebar to set the formatting back to the default.
3. Highlight "I am the smallest."
4. In the Font Size box  on the Tool Bar, type 8.
5. Press Enter.
6. Highlight "I am a little bigger."
7. In the Font Size box  on the Tool Bar, type 14.
8. Press Enter.
9. Highlight "I am a the biggest."
10. In the Font Size box  on the Tool Bar, type 24.
11. Press Enter.

In Microsoft Word, you can change the font (the "family" of type you use for your text). This feature is illustrated in the following exercise:

Change the Font - Using the Menu

1. Type the following:

Arial Courier Times New Roman
2. Highlight "Arial."
3. Click on Format.
4. Highlight Font. Press Enter.
5. Click on the Font tab, if it is not in the front.
6. In the box below the Font field, click on "Arial."
7. Click on OK.
8. Highlight "Courier."
9. Click on Format.
10. Highlight Font. Press Enter.
11. Click on the Font tab, if it is not in the front.
12. In the box below the Font field, click on "Courier."
13. Click on OK.
14. Highlight "Times New Roman."
15. Click on Format.
16. Highlight Font. Press Enter.
17. Click on the Font tab, if it is not in the front.
18. In the box below the Font field, click on "Times New Roman."
19. Click on OK.
20. Your text should now look similar to the following:

"Arial Courier Times New Roman"

1. Highlight "Arial Courier Times New Roman."
2. Press Ctrl-Spacebar. Ctrl-Spacebar sets the formatting back to the default.
3. Highlight "Arial."
4. Click to open the Font pull-down menu  on the Formatting toolbar.
5. Click on "Arial."
6. Next, highlight "Courier."
7. Click to open the Font pull-down menu on the Formatting toolbar.
8. Click on "Courier."
9. Next, highlight "Times New Roman."
10. Click to open the Font pull-down menu  on the Formatting toolbar.
11. Click on "Times New Roman."
12. Your text should now look similar to the following:
13. "Arial Courier Times New Roman"

Save your file by following these instructions:

1. Click on File.
2. Highlight Save As. Press Enter.
3. Specify the correct folder in the Save In field.
4. Name your file by typing lesson4.doc in the File Name field.
5. Click on Save.

Note: This document will contain Lesson Three and Lesson Four.
6. Click on File.
7. Highlight Exit. Press Enter.