First, we got acquainted with Microsoft Office in an informative way, check it out here; then we covered its installation, as seen in the previous post, check it out here; and we mastered the basics of creating, opening, copying, and deleting Microsoft Word documents. We also wrote something about ourselves in the document and created a simple to-do list, describing step-by-step what we did. This way, we introduced our first lesson in the Microsoft Word tutorial and learned how to write simple, unformatted text in a document and save it. This post represents the second lesson in the Microsoft Word tutorial, where we will introduce you to the keyboard and shortcuts commonly used in Microsoft Word.
Did you know that many computer users today don't think much about the keyboard when buying a computer? The same goes for knowing how to work efficiently in Microsoft Word. We hope this tutorial will highlight the importance of this for many users, making them more efficient in any text-related work in the future. But first, let's take a little trip back in time. Before the advent of the Windows operating system, or to be more precise, before graphical interfaces, computer users were limited to text editors used in the DOS operating system. Such text editors didn't have any of the text formatting tools that Microsoft Word offers today. We will learn about text formatting in Microsoft Word in the next lesson.
As for the past, text editors like the blue text editor that came on diskettes as part of the DOS operating system could only work with plain text. However, the creativity and strong desire to show others what you could do on a computer made those documents beautifully crafted; even ASCII codes were used to draw something in the text editor. At that time, keyboard shortcuts were also used, and much more frequently than today's computer users use and know them. Today, Microsoft Word offers capabilities for document creation and text formatting that you couldn't have even imagined in those days. Therefore, it is essential to pay attention to and have a thorough understanding of the keyboard you use and the most commonly used keyboard shortcuts.
Unlike many users who don't use a computer extensively, like those whose job involves heavy computer use, especially those typing various official texts or programmers writing hundreds of lines of code, these users know exactly what kind of keyboard they need. For example, we use a PC for various things, but when it comes to writing texts for this blog or using Microsoft Word, a laptop works best for us due to the laptop keyboard. Mechanical keyboards or the large keyboards with big keys that gamers use can slow down typing when dealing with a lot of text. For those who think any keyboard will do, consider the strain on your fingers. Newer laptops have backlit keyboards, which are great for working at night or in low light.
If you live in Serbia, for example, you have the option to choose keyboards in Serbian or English. However, if you want a keyboard in German, that's a different story. Even if such keyboards are made in Germany and the box shows a German layout, when you buy them in Serbia and open the box, you might find the keys labeled in Serbian instead of German. Some users prefer Cyrillic keyboards, and they can be found, although we've never personally seen a laptop with a Cyrillic keyboard. In any case, choosing the right keyboard is crucial, and it's important to pay attention and choose one that makes typing as comfortable and productive as possible for you.
Uncovering the Secrets of the Keyboard: Functions and Meaning of Individual Keys
If you look at any computer keyboard, you will notice that it consists of:
- Control keys
- Function keys
- Typing or Alphanumeric keys
- Navigation keys
- Numeric keypad
- Indicator lights
However, what are keyboard shortcuts and what are they for? In addition to the alphanumeric keys that you probably know how to use; we will concentrate on function, control and navigation keys which are also used as shortcuts for easier work in Microsoft Word. When we use Microsoft Word and say shortcuts, we generally mean keyboard shortcuts. Pay attention when you hear someone say shortcut in the IT sense; it can also refer to Shortcuts – icons on the Desktop.
For our second lesson, open Microsoft Word, create a new blank document. Name it 02. Keyboard overview and shortcuts and save it in the microsoft_word_tutorial directory. If you don't know how to do it, watch the first lesson here. If you succeeded, type the following text:
Text formatting in Microsoft Word
Keyboard
- Control
keys
- Function
keys
- Typing
or Alphanumeric keys
- Navigation
keys
- Numeric
keypad
- Indicator
lights
Now we will familiarize ourselves with the keys that you
will use often and with the keyboard shortcuts. Move back one line and type the
following text:
Some useful function keys on the keyboard
Enter - serves to separate two paragraphs and moves the cursor to
a new line
Tab – serves to move a paragraph or more when they are selected by
8 characters to the right.
Tab + Shift - serves to move a paragraph or more when they are
selected by 8 characters to the left.
Space - serves to create a space for one character to the right
Backspace - serves to delete one character to the left
Delete – serves to delete one character to the right or the entire
selected text
Shift - it is used as an additional key for some keyboard
shortcuts, e.g., if you type in lowercase letters and hold down the Shift key,
the letters will be printed in uppercase letters, or vice versa if you have
Caps lock on.
Insert - when it is on, it allows you to override letters into
words
As we can see, with the Enter key, while typing, we move to the next line. If you press the Enter key twice, you'll move to the next line and also create an additional blank line, effectively making one empty line while typing some text.
The Tab key moves the cursor 8 characters to the right. This is similar to typing 8 spaces or pressing the Space key 8 times. If the cursor is in front of some letters, words, sentences, or an entire paragraph, everything will shift 8 characters to the right. If you select some letters, words, sentences, or entire paragraphs across several lines, everything selected will be moved 8 characters to the right.
However, what if you want to do the opposite? What if you want to
indent a paragraph 8 characters to the left? Simply hold down the Shift key and
press Tab, and your paragraph will indent 8 characters to the left.
The Space key is the largest and most frequently used key on the keyboard. It creates a space of one character. For example, if you place the cursor somewhere in a word, the Space key will insert a space at the cursor's location, separating the word.
The Backspace key is used to delete characters one by one from right to left. If you select a word and press Backspace, it will delete everything you selected, just like the Delete key.
The Delete key, in addition to deleting selected text, deletes one character at a time from left to right.
The Shift key is mostly used as a modifier key for shortcuts, like when we used it earlier to indent a paragraph 8 characters to the left. In Microsoft Word, it is often used when typing in lowercase and you need to type an uppercase letter. In that case, simply hold down the Shift key and type the letter or entire words you want to be in uppercase.
The same goes for the opposite situation when typing in uppercase with Caps Lock enabled and you want to type a lowercase letter.
The Insert key is used when you want to overwrite a character or word. When this key is enabled, you will simply replace each subsequent character that is behind the cursor. However, you can test this key in the Command Prompt; it doesn't work in Microsoft Word.
But, how to use the navigation keys for more efficient typing? The navigation keys allow us to move and jump throughout the document. So, move back one line and type the following text:
Home - places the cursor at the beginning of the line
End - places the cursor at the end of the line
Page Up - scrolls the document page up
Page Down - scrolls the document page down
Ctrl + Home - places the cursor at the beginning of the
document
Ctrl + End - places the cursor at the end of the document
Cursor arrows - move the cursor up, down, left and right on the screen
As for cursor arrows, which are often used in computer games, you simply move around the document with them; up, down, left and right for each character. As we progress through the lessons, we will learn other keyboard shortcuts. You can see how this Microsoft Word tutorial lesson looks like in the following video.
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