How to edit a document in MS Word ? | MS Word

 Introduction

Word offers different views and you can work in any view while editing documents. The changes made in one view will also be reflected in other views. In this post, we shall discuss different views of a document you can work with also the methods for editing them.

Displaying Different Views of a Document

The type of work that you do will help you to determine the best screen view as per your needs. There are different views available in Word. These are:

• Print Layout View
• Full Screen Reading View
• Web Layout View
• Outline View
• Draft View

There are two ways so that you can change the view. These are:

• Click the view tab, in the Document Views group, and switch to any view you wish to see the document.
• Click view buttons that are found on the right side of the status (see figure 1.1).

Editing text in Print Layout View

This is the default view. Print Layout is used to see how text, graphics and other elements, such as header, footer, etc., will look on the printed output. This view is useful for editing headers and footers, for adjusting margins, and for working with columns and drawing objects.

(figure 1.1) Print Layout view

⇒To work in Print Layout view, do this:

Click the view tab, in the Document Views group and click Print Layout command. Alternatively, click from the status bar icons. (see figure 1.1). 

Editing text in Full Screen Reading View

Full screen view displays as much of the typing area of the document as well fit on the screen at a size that is comfortable for reading. In this view, the Ribbon is replaced by a single toolbar at the top of the screen. You can print the document, highlight text and write comments. You can also move from page-to-page and adjust the view.

(Figure 1.2) Full  screen reading view

⇒To switch to Full Screen view, do this:

1. Click the View tab, in the Document Views group and click Full Screen Reading command as in figure 1.2. Alternatively, click from the status bar icons.
2. In Full reading screen, click the View options, a drop-down menu appears. You can make the text larger or smaller for reading by clicking Increase Text Size or Decrease Text Size. This will temporarily change as to how text fits on a page. It does not affect the original document.
3. You can read one page at a time by clicking Show one page, or you can read two pages at a time by clicking Show Two pages.
4. While reading in Full Screen view, you can edit document by clicking Allow Typing.
5. To go to the previous screen or to the next screen, click jump to a screen at the top of the title bar in the Full Screen View.
6. To exit Full Screen Reading view, click ␛ button or click Print Layout button.

Editing in Web Layout View

While creating a web page in MS Word, you should work in Web Layout view. In web layout view, you can see that background text is wrapped to fit the window. Graphics are positioned at proper places, so that the page will look just as it would look in a web browser. The Document map appears to the left of the screen in web layout view. This view enables you to quickly jump to any heading within a document (see figure 1.3).

(Figure 1.3) Web Layout View

 ⇒To switch to Web Layout view, do this:

Click the View tab, in the Document views group and click Web Layout view command as shown in figure 1.3. Alternatively click from the status bar icons.

Editing in Outline View

In the Outline View, you can collapse a document to see only the main headings or expand it to see the entire document. In this view it is easy to scroll or move text to a longer distance or to change the hierarchy of topics (see figure 1.5).

(Figure 1.4) Outline Views

⇒To switch to Outline view, do this:

Click the View tab, in the Document View group and click Outline View command as shown in figure 1.4. Alternatively click from the status bar icons.

In the outline view, the outline toolbar appears as shown in figure 1.4. Word indents the formatting headings and body text paragraph to different levels. Note that (+) or (-) sign appears to the left of each heading.

• A plus sign (+) indicates that sub-heading or paragraphs of the body text are associated with the heading.
• A minus sign(-) indicates that no headings or paragraphs are beneath the heading.

Editing in Draft View

Draft view is the best view for the most of you typing and editing as shown figure 1.5. In this view, you can see character and paragraph formatting as they will be printed. Line and page breaks, tab stops and alignments are accurate. The area outside the text body-the area containing headers, footers, footnotes, page numbers, margin spacing etc., do not appear. Images are also not shown in Draft view.

(Figure 1.5 ) Draft View

⇒To switch to Draft view, do this:

Click the View tab, in this Document Views group and click Draft view command as in figure 1.5. Alternatively click from the status bar icons.