Word Processing

Unit 1: Introducing Word

Lesson 1: Entering and Exiting the Application.

How do you save your document and quit Word?

When you first create a document in Microsoft Word it only exists in the computer's memory. That means when you turn the computer off or the power to the computer is interrupted you will lose your document because the computer's memory requires power to function. In order to save your document between sessions, or periodically save your document while you are working, you will need to save your document to a diskette. A diskette doesn't require power to retain information that has been saved to it.

Saving a document for the first time. Saving a document for the first time is a distinguished event because the first time you save a document you need to specify the name and location. The menu command to save a document for the first time is File/Save As... This command will bring up a dialog box that allows you to specify the name and location (or folder) for saving your document. Note that in the Save As dialog box a default location is specified. If you don't change the default location, this is the folder or directory where your document will be saved.

In the Save As dialog box the down arrow key is used to specify the location, and the File name text field is used to specify the name. Run the simulation below for a detailed look at the use of the Save As dialog box.

Saving a document while you work. Once you save a document for the first time (or you have loaded an existing document from a diskette) you can skip the Save As... command and dialog box, and use the much simpler Save command. There are three methods for saving a document that has already been given a name and location:

The menu command File/Save. Select the Save command from the File menu.
The accelerator key Ctrl-S. Press and hold the Ctrl key followed by the S key.
The Save button on the toolbar . Click this toolbar icon using the mouse.

The simulation below demonstrates the use of the Save As command. Things to notice are:

Before the document is saved for the first time it doesn't have a name and the document title bar shows "Document 8."
The Save As dialog box is used to specify both the location and name of the document that is being saved.
In this example, the default folder in the Save As dialog box is the "My Documents" folder on the C: diskette drive. The location for saving the file is changed to the diskette in the A: drive.
The title of the document changes after the document has been saved.

Saving a document

Quitting Microsoft Word. To quit Microsoft Word, select the Exit command from the File menu. If you have any documents open with unsaved changes it will ask you if you want to save your changes. Alternately, you can click the icon on the application title bar.