Understanding the Word Interface

The Ribbon

The Ribbon is the toolbar at the top of Word. It's organized into tabs:

Home Tab

• Styles - Apply formatting consistently (Normal, Heading 1, etc.)

• Alignment - Left, center, right, or justify text

• Spacing - Control space before/after paragraphs and line spacing

• Lists - Create bulleted or numbered lists

  Insert Tab

• Tables - Organize data in rows and columns

• Page Break - Start a new page

• Table of Contents - Auto-generated from headings

  Layout Tab

• Margins - Space around the edges of the page

• Page Size - Letter or A4

  References Tab

• Table of Contents - Insert and update

• Captions - Label figures and tables

  View Tab

• Navigation Pane - See document outline

• Ruler - Visual guide for margins and indents

  The Page Canvas

  The center area shows your document as it will appear when printed. This is where you:

• Type and edit text

• Click on elements to select them

• Apply formatting from the Ribbon

  The Styles Pane

  On the right side, you'll see the Styles pane showing:

• Available styles

• Which style is applied to the selected text

• Quick access to apply styles

  Status Bar

  At the bottom, the status bar shows:

• Current page number

• Total page count

• Word count

  Getting Started

  In the exercises that follow, you'll practice: