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The Standard toolbar

This entire toolbar could become a floating window by double-clicking on the control bar at the far left end of this toolbar. That gives the following window, which can be placed anywhere on the screen:

This toolbar can be restored to its original position by clicking in the gray bar at the top and dragging it back to the top of the screen. Push the top of the window up to the bottom of the menu bar.

Function of commonly used buttons
	Creates a new blank document based on the default template		Opens or finds a file
	Saves the active file with its current file name, location and file format		Prints the active file - for more print options go to the File menu and select Print
	Print preview - Shows how the document will look when you print it.		Spelling, grammar and writing style checker
	Cut - Removes the selection from the document and places it on the clipboard		Copy - Copies the selected item(s) to the clipboard
	Paste - Places the content of the clipboard at the insertion point		Format painter - Copies the format from a selected object or text and applies to other objects or text
	Undo - Reverses the last command, use pull-down menu to undo several steps		Redo - Reverses the action of the Undo button, use the pull-down menu to redo several steps
	Displays the Tables and Borders toolbar		Insert a table into the document, or make a table of selected text
	Insert an Excel spreadsheet into the Word document		Columns - Changes the number of columns in a document
	Displays or hides the Drawing toolbar		Zoom - Enlarge or reduce the display of the active document

 

The Formatting toolbar

This entire toolbar could become a floating window by double-clicking on the control bar at the far left end of this toolbar. That gives the following window, which can be placed anywhere on the screen:

This toolbar can be restored to its original position by clicking in the gray bar at the top and dragging it back to the top of the screen. Push the top of the window up to the bottom of the menu bar.

Function of commonly used buttons
	Select the style to apply to paragraphs		Changes the font of the selected text
	Changes the size of selected text and numbers		Makes selected text and numbers bold
	Makes selected text and numbers italic		Underlines selected text and numbers
	Aligns to the left with a ragged right margin		Centers the selected text
	Aligns to the right with a ragged left margin		Aligns the selected text to both the left and right margins
	Makes a numbered list or reverts back to normal		Add, or remove, bullets in a selected paragraph
	Decreases the indent to the previous tab stop		Indents the selected paragraph to the next tab stop
	Adds or removes a border around selected text or objects		Marks text so that it is highlighted and stands out
	Formats the selected text with the color you click

 

The Drawing toolbar

This entire toolbar could become a floating window by double-clicking on the control bar at the far left end of this toolbar. That gives the following window, which can be placed anywhere on the screen:

This toolbar can be restored to its original position by clicking in the gray bar at the top and dragging it back to the top of the screen. Push the top of the window up to the bottom of the menu bar.

Function of commonly used buttons
	A pull down menu with several drawing options		Changes the pointer to a selection arrow
	Rotates the selected object to any degree		A pull down menu with several libraries of shapes
	Draws a line where you click and drag. Hold the Shift key down to make the line straight		Inserts a line with an arrowhead where you click and drag
	Draws a rectangle where you click and drag. Hold down Shift to draw a square		Draws an oval where you click and drag. Hold down Shift to draw a circle
	Draws a text box where you click and drag		Create text effects with Word Art
	Add, modify, or remove fill color from a selected object		Add, modify, or remove line color
	Formats the selected text with the color you click		Changes the thickness of lines
	Selects dash style for dashed lines		Select arrow style; placement and shape of arrowhead
	A pull down menu offers shadow choices		Add 3-d effects to rectangles or ovals

 

Customize the toolbars

Removing items from active toolbars

If any item on the toolbar is not useful to you it can be removed. I am going to use a floating copy of the Standard toolbar as an example:

In the above toolbar I plan to remove the Insert Hyperlink button

• From the View menu select Toolbar
• From the Toolbar submenu select Customize
• Click on the button you want to remove
• Click and drag the button until you see an x attached to the pointer
• Let go of the button and it is removed from the toolbar

 The same procedure can be used to move a toolbar button to a new location on any toolbar

Restoring items to an active toolbar

To restore any buttons that you removed from a toolbar follow this procedure:

• From the View menu select Toolbar
• From the Toolbar submenu select Customize
• Choose the Toolbars tab
• Click on the name of the toolbar
• Select the Reset button
• Click OK in the Reset Toolbar window

Adding buttons to a toolbar

A large number of toolbars can be added to the window from the View/Toolbar window. However, you may wish to add only a button or two to the open toolbars. There are some actions that I used regularly in Microsoft Works which are not listed on the commonly used toolbars in Word, such as:

• Insert date
• 1.5 space and double space

If you browse in the Customize window you may find other examples. In the example below I add the Date button from the Insert menu. The following steps will allow you to add any buttons to any menu:

• From the View menu select Toolbar
• From the Toolbar submenu select Customize
• Choose the Commands tab
• Select the name of the menu (I used Insert)
• Scroll in the right window to find the button
• Click and drag the button to the space on the toolbar where you want the button
• Release the mouse and the button is placed.

Changing the size of the window displaying the selected font

If I am using the font Arial there is more than enough room to display the font name on the Formatting toolbar. If more room is needed, the size of that window can be decreased. On the other hand, if I am using the font Times New Roman MT Extra Bold the size of the window will be too small to display the entire font name. Using the Customize menu, the window can be re-sized using the following steps:

• From the View menu select Toolbar
• From the Toolbar submenu select Customize
• When the Customize window appears click on the font name window
• When the black box outlines the window put your cursor on the right edge of the window
• When your cursor changes to a double-headed arrow click and drag

 

Using the Symbol toolbar button

I often use symbol characters in documents I produce. On my Macintosh I use Keycaps to find the symbols, and on my IBM I use the Character Map. However, Word has a toolbar button which is easier to use than either of those two applications.

Using the steps outlined above I added the symbol button (Greek letter Omega) from the Insert menu. One click on this button brings up a window with all available characters in a given font. Click once on a character to see an enlarged view. Double-click a character to insert it into the document

If you perform any task repetitively in Word, there is probably a button to use for the task. Search the Customize/Commands window to find what you are looking for.