Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools

Using Microsoft Word

Text Tools
In addition to the editing tools covered in the previous section, Word has a number of other tools to
assist in working with text documents. There are tools to help you find and correct mistakes in your
spelling, tools to fix up common typing errors, tools to automatically insert frequently used words &
phrases and of course tools to print your work

Spell Check
A spell checking utility has long been a standard component of Word
Processors. The spell checker in Word has improved in many ways over the
years with increased reliability and increased ease of use. It has also been
expanded to include additional proofing tools such as a grammar checker and
can be configured to check in different languages when required. You can
even customise the dictionary Word uses to check your spelling so that it
recognises words and abbreviations that may be unique to your organisation.
There are several ways to use the spell checker in Word. You can run the
spell check utility to check your whole document or sections of your document for errors. There
is also an automatic spell check which identifies errors as you type so you can quickly correct them.

Caution The spell checker is a useful tool but it’s not perfect, so don’t rely on it as the final authority
on correct spelling. It’s no substitute for careful proof-reading and good spelling skills. Also,
it does miss mistakes from time to tame (it didn’t pick up the mistake in that last word for
example). It’s only intended as a tool to help you identify likely errors.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
Spell Checking a Document
1) Open the document called The Man From Snowy River. This document contains the famous
Australian poem but there are some spelling errors in the text. You will be able to spot some of
them easily because Microsoft Word will place a wavy red line under any words that it can’t find
a match for in the built-in dictionary. If any possible problems with grammar are detected, there
will be a double blue underline.
2) The first word spelt incorrectly is movement. You will see a red line under that word. Click your
right mouse button on that word and a shortcut menu will appear similar to the example shown
below. The menu will show some suggested corrections for the spelling of the word. Other
options in the menu will allow you to ignore the word or add it to the internal dictionary.

3) Click on the first suggestion to change the spelling of the word. The word will change and the red
underline will be removed.
With a long document, it is sometimes quicker to use the spelling and grammar tool rather than
checking each mistake one by one.
4) Click after that word to ensure no text is selected (otherwise the spell check will only check
within the selected text).
5) Select the Review tab from the Ribbon at the top of the screen.

6) Click the Spelling and Grammar icon at the left edge of the Review Ribbon. You can
also activate this tool by pressing the [F7] key. The Spelling pane will appear on the
side of the screen.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools

At the bottom of the Spelling pane you can see the dictionary currently being used for the check (in the
example above, UK English is the dictionary being used). The first error found after the insertion point
will be shown in the top half of the pane, which should be a mistake in the word riding. Some suggested
corrections for the word will be shown underneath.
7) Since the first suggestion is the correct one, click the Change button to make the correction. The
next mistake will now be located.
Another mistake will be found with the word horsemen. This same spelling mistake actually occurs
several times in the document. Rather than correct each one, you can tell word to correct it here and
everywhere else where the mistake occurs.
8) Click the Change All button to fix the error. Four mistakes changed in one go!
9) Continue through the rest of the document, correcting or ignoring errors as appropriate. For
words like Stockwhip that are identified as errors, you may like to click the Add to Dictionary
button so that the word will be recognised in future.
10) When there are no more errors detected, the following message will appear.

11) Click OK to complete the check.

Tip When potential errors have been detected anywhere in your document, an icon will
display in your status bar. You can click that icon to locate and fix errors.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
You can change what language is used to check the spelling of your document.
12) Select the Review Ribbon, click the Language icon and then click Set Proofing Language.

A list of available languages will appear.

Clicking the Set as Default button when a language is selected in the list will mean that the language
you select will become the default language for Word documents you create in the future.

Note There are several different choices for English including English (U.K.), English (U.S.) and
English (Australia) (aren’t we supposed speak UK English in Australia?). The Australian
English dictionary is provided as it includes Australian place names, expressions etc. It also
seems to think we spell some words using US spelling (such as organize). For this reason
some people prefer sticking with the UK English dictionary.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
Using the Thesaurus
If you’d rather not call a spade a spade then Word’s built in Thesaurus can help you find synonyms
(different words with similar meanings) for that word. This can help if you don’t want to keep on using
the same word to describe the same thing.
1) If The Man From Snowy River is not still open re-open it.
To use the Thesaurus, you can enter a word to look up and then Word will find alternatives. You can
also select a word before opening the Thesaurus and Word will use the selected word to find
alternatives.
2) Click the Find option on the ribbon Home tab or press [Ctrl] [F].
Type the word homestead to look for it in the document.
3) Make sure the word is selected once it is found.

4) Select the Review tab on the Ribbon.

5) Select the Thesaurus icon from the left end of the Review Ribbon to open the Thesaurus pane with
the Thesaurus. You can also press [Shift] [F7] to open the Thesaurus.
The Thesaurus will open and will automatically search for synonyms
for the selected word. Sometimes some antonyms (words that mean
the opposite) may also appear at the bottom of the list.
6) Click on the word ranch in the list.
7) Word will now look up the word ranch and list the results.
8) Click the Back button at the top of the list to return to the results
for homestead.

9) Move your mouse over the word farmhouse in the list. A small
arrow will appear to the right of the word.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
10) Click the arrow to display a list of options.

11) Select the Insert option. This will insert the word farmhouse. Since we already have a word
selected it will replace the selected word.
12) Click the cross in the top corner of the Thesaurus pane to close the Thesaurus results. You can
also close the Navigation pane if it is still open.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
AutoCorrect and AutoFormat
Microsoft Word includes an AutoCorrect feature which will automatically correct common mistakes as
soon as you type them. In addition to common typing and spelling errors, it can also correct common
mistakes such as the ones below.
• forgetting to write the first letter of a sentence as a capital letter.
• aCCIDENTALLY lEAVING tHE cAPS lOCK kEY tURNED oN
• Holding the shift key too long and ending up with TWo CApitals.
Another similar feature called AutoFormat can change the appearance of certain text you type.

Using the AutoCorrect Feature

1) Close any documents that are currently open (shortcut – [Ctrl] [F4]).
2) Create a new blank document by clicking New in the File tab or by using the [Ctrl] [N] keyboard
shortcut.
3) Enter the following line of text exactly as it appears below – including the errors.

autocorrect is a feature of MIcrosoft WOrd.

As you type the text, Word will automatically change the first letter of the sentence to a capital and
fixt up the incorrect capitalisation of the last two words. Note that the changes won’t be made until
you type a space or other punctuation character like a full stop, since that is when Word recognises
that the word you’ve typed is complete.
4) Move your mouse over the first word in the sentence. You will see a thin blue line appear under
the first letter where the correction was made.
5) Move your mouse pointer over that small marker and it will turn in to an icon with
an arrow. This is an example of a Smart Tag. Smart tags are a common feature in
Word and give you quick access to certain features.
6) Click on the arrow to view the options. These options allow you to undo the correction in case
you didn’t want it, or stop Word from making that particular correction in future. The options
may be different for other types of smart tags.

Note If AutoCorrect makes a correction that you don’t want, you can immediately Undo (explained
later in this section) and the correction will be reversed.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
7) Type all of the text below exactly as it appears including errors and note the corrections that are
made as you type.

microsoft Word can hlep yuo fix teh most common mistakes.
Try turning on your Caps Lock key before typing the following sentence.
If you have your Caps Lock key turned on while you type this, Word will fix the typing and turn your
Caps Lock key back off for you.
AutoCorrect and AutoFormat can also help you insert common symbols. Try typing the following and
see what happens.
:) --> <-- ==> <== (c) (r) (tm) 1/2 1/4 1st 2nd

8) You can change the AutoCorrect options to modify how it works or even add new words to the list
that can be automatically corrected. To view these options, go to the File tab on the Ribbon and
select Options.
9) Select Proofing from the categories on the left and then click AutoCorrect Options.

10) When you have viewed the options, click Cancel or press the [Esc] key to close without changes.
11) Save the current document with the file name Text Tools.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
AutoText
AutoText is a feature of Word which allows you to automatically insert frequently used text. The
amount of text could be anything from a single word to a whole page’s worth of text and can even
include non-text elements such as pictures. Some common words and phrases such as names of months
& days are already built in to Word’s AutoText feature and you can also add your own. Any new
entries you add will be available for use in all documents you create.

Using Built-in AutoText

1) Make sure the Text Tools document is still open and create a new line under the existing text.
2) Enter the following text.
The meeting will be on the first wedn
3) As you type the first few letters of a day of the week, a tip above the text will appear telling you
that you can have the word completed for you. Press the [Enter] key to complete the word and add
the additional text shown below.

The meeting will be on the first Wednesday of dece

4) Press [Enter] to complete the word December and add a full stop to complete the sentence.
5) Save the changes to the file ( [Ctrl] [S] ).

Creating an AutoText entry

1) Enter the following text in a blank line on your document (or if you live elsewhere use the name
of the state or region you live in).
Western Australia

2) Select the text you just typed.

3) Select the Insert tab on the Ribbon.
4) Click Quick Parts and then select AutoText from the menu that appears.

5) Select Save selection to AutoText gallery. You can also press [Alt] [F3] to add an Autotext entry from
selected text.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools

6) Click OK to confirm the name for the AutoText entry.

7) Press [Enter] to create a new paragraph in your document.
8) On a new line, type the first couple of your AutoText entry
9) When you have typed enough for Word to recognise the entry, you can press [Enter] to complete
the entry. You can also type as little as the first two letters and then press [F3] for Word to
complete the entry. Try either method and then save the changes to the document.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
Undo
When people begin using Microsoft Word for the first time, it usually doesn’t take too long for people
to discover the Undo feature. While you are working, Word keeps track of the changes you made. You
can use the Undo function to undo the last change you made. Using the undo feature again will undo
the previous change you made and so on through the history list. If you have used the Undo feature to
backtrack through the history list you can use the Repeat feature to ‘redo’ what you have undone. This
may all sound a little confusing but it should be easier once you have tried it out. The Undo feature is
available from the Quick Access Toolbar or a keyboard shortcut.
1) Make sure the Text Tools document is still open.

2) Locate the Undo icon on the Quick Access Toolbar above

the Home tab. Clicking on the icon itself will undo the last
change you made in the document.
3) Click the arrow next to the Undo icon to display the history
list. You can click on an item in the list to undo everything
back to that point.
4) Press [Enter] to create a new paragraph in the document.
5) Type your name on the new line.
6) Press [Ctrl] [Z] to undo the typing.
7) Press [Ctrl] [Y] to redo the typing.
8) Save the changes to the document.

Note There is an icon for the Repeat command next to the undo icon that can be used for
restoring changes, but it is only available when you have used the Undo command to remove
a change.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
Previewing and Printing a Document
Since the majority of documents created by a word processor are intended to be printed, it is important
for the process to be as quick and easy as possible. Assuming your computer has at least one working
printer available, it is simple to print copies of a document whenever you need to. You can also preview
how a document will look when it’s printed. That may seem unnecessary in a WYSIWYG (What you
see is what you get) program, but the print preview makes it easier to see how the document will look
on full pages without spell-check underlines, rulers and the other editing aids that normally display on
the Word screen.
In Older version of Word many of these options were found under different areas such as Print, Print
Preview and Page Setup. In Word 2010 and more recent versions the print options have been brought
together in one central location.

Using Print Preview

1) Open the Word 2016 document.
2) From the File tab select Print or press [Ctrl] [P].

The left section of the screen will show a list of options related to printing while the right section of
the screen will show a preview of how the document will look when it is printed.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools

3) Click the buttons along the bottom or use the scrollbar down the side to view
different pages in the preview (the scrollbar will only appear if the document has more pages
than you can view in the preview at once).
4) Try the zoom options on the bottom right to zoom in and out on the pages. The button on the far
right will zoom to fit a whole page.
The print and page setup options are described below.
Prints the document using the selected settings.

Select the number of copies to be printed.

Select from a list of available printers. Clicking Printer
Properties will display options that will vary depending on the
printer selected. These could include finishing options like
stapling and print quality.

Select from various page options such as print current page

only or print odd numbered pages.
You can also enter specific pages in the space provided.
E.g. enter 1, 4, 6-9 to print page 1, page 4 and pages 6 to 9.

These options may depend on the capability of your printer.

The first options allows you to choose double sided printing
options.
Collate allows you to specify how multiple copies of a
document will be printed.
Lets you choose between Portrait Orientation (upright page
where height is greater than width) or Landscape Orientation
(sideways page where width is greater than height).
Selects paper size. Make sure your printer is capable of
printing the selected paper size. E.g. you can select an
envelope size but not all printers are capable of printing on
envelopes.
Allows you to adjust the page margins. Page margins refer to
the blank spaces on the top and side edges of the page.
Allows you to print more than one page on each sheet of
paper.

5) Once you have viewed each of the options, click the return button to close the Printer
Options.
Tip You can open the print options by pressing [Ctrl] [P] and you can press [Esc] to close the
options.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools

Customising the Quick Access Toolbar

The quick access toolbar contains several icons that can be useful for quick an easy printing.
1) Click the arrow on the end of the Quick Access Toolbar to display a list of icons that can be turned
on and off.

2) Select Print Preview and Print from the list. This will add an icon that you can click on to display
the options explained on the previous page.
3) Display the toolbar customisation options again and select Quick Print. This will add an icon that
you can click on to print the document without displaying the options first. This can be useful
if you want to print a copy of the document quickly to the default printer without specifying
number of copies etc.

Tip You can double click on the blank space

between pages in your document to hide
the top and bottom margins for ease of
editing on screen. Double clicking again on
the line between pages will show the hidden
margins again.

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Using Microsoft Word 2016 4 - Text Tools
Shortcuts Covered in This Section

Alt F3 Create a new AutoText entry from the selected text.

Ctrl P Display the printing options / Print a document.

Ctrl Y Repeat the last change.

Ctrl Z Undo the last change.

F3 Complete an AutoText entry.

F7 Spelling and Grammar Check.

Shift F7 Thesaurus

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