Microsoft Word's really not very different from most word processors in the way it retrieves current documents, and most common editing tasks will be familiar to anyone who's worked with a word processor in Microsoft Windows. Let's go over some of the basics.
There are several ways to open the document already saved in Microsoft Word. You might remember the File tab and the Quick Access Toolbar from the previous lesson. Either of those can be used to retrieve a document:
In Word 2010, you'll be taken to the familiar Windows Explorer to find the file you're looking for. Simply navigate to the correct drive and folder, double-click on the file name, and you're in.
In Word 2016, here's what you'll get when you click on the File tab:
The default view shows your most recent documents (convenient!). But you can navigate to your OneDrive cloud account or a local or network drive to find any document you need.
For those of you who prefer to use the keyboard over the mouse, here's a quick shortcut key to take you directly to the File > Open area: CTRL-O (hold down the Control key and type the letter "O" for Open).
The Quick Access Toolbar works just like File > Open. Simply click on the open folder icon:
... then navigate to the correct folder in Windows Explorer (either on your PC or on your network and double-click on the file name to retrieve it.
The Open File icon should be in your Quick Access Toolbar by default. If it is not, just click on the drop-down arrow at the end of the QAT and make sure Open is checked in the list:
Click here for a more detailed demonstration of how to customize your Quick Access Toolbar.
Let's Review
Here's what we've covered in this tutorial:
- Opening an existing document using the File tab
- Opening a document with a shortcut key
- Opening an existing document using the Quick Access Toolbar
The next tutorial in this series will cover ...
Next time, we'll cover basic keyboard commands you can use while typing, Insert versus Overtype mode, and multiple ways you can select text for formatting or copying/moving. See you in the next lesson!