Chapter 1
IN THIS CHAPTER
Starting an Office 2016 program
Learning the Ribbon
Customizing an Office 2016 program
Exiting from Office 2016
Microsoft Office 2016 consists of five core programs: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, and Outlook, where each program specializes in manipulating different data. Word manipulates text; Excel manipulates numbers; PowerPoint manipulates text and pictures to create a slide show; Access manipulates organized, repetitive data such as inventories; and Outlook manipulates personal information such as email addresses and phone numbers.
Although each Office 2016 program stores and manipulates different types of data, they all work in similar ways. First, you have to enter data into an Office 2016 program by typing on the keyboard or loading data from an existing file. Second, you have to tell Office 2016 how to manipulate your data, such as underlining, sorting, arranging it on the screen, or deleting it. Third, you have to save your data as a file.
To help you understand this three-step process of entering, manipulating, and saving data, all Office 2016 programs offer similar commands so you can quickly jump from Word to PowerPoint to Excel without having to learn entirely new commands for each program. Even better, Office 2016 organizes commands in tabs to make finding the command you need faster and easier than ever before.
Microsoft Office 2016 runs on Windows 10, Windows 8, or Windows 7.
The process to start an Office 2016 application depends on your Windows version. The following sections show how to use each compatible Windows version.
To start Office 2016 on Windows 10, you must click the Office 2016 tile that represents the program you want to run. Follow these steps:
Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar.
A pop-up menu appears.
Select the program you want to start.
You can either
Click the Office 2016 program you want to run, such as Microsoft Word 2016 or Microsoft PowerPoint 2016.
Your chosen program appears on the screen. At this point, you can open an existing file.
To start Office 2016 on Windows 8, you must click the Office 2016 tile that represents the program you want to run. Follow these steps:
Open the Windows 8 tiles by either pressing the Windows key on your keyboard or moving the mouse pointer to the bottom-left corner of the screen and clicking when the Start preview window appears.
The Windows 8 tile interface appears.
Click the tile that represents the Office 2016 program you want to use, such as Microsoft Word 2016 or Microsoft PowerPoint 2016.
Your chosen program appears on the screen. At this point, you can open an existing file.
To start Office 2016 on Windows 7, go through the Start menu. Follow these steps:
Click the Start button on the Windows taskbar.
A pop-up menu appears.
Choose All Programs.
Another pop-up menu appears.
Choose Microsoft Office.
A list of programs appears on the Start menu.
Choose the Office 2016 program you want to use, such as Microsoft Word 2016 or Microsoft PowerPoint 2016.
Your chosen program appears on the screen. At this point, you can open an existing file.
The basic idea behind the Ribbon interface in Microsoft Office is to store commonly used commands under separate tabs. Clicking each tab displays icons that represent related commands; you can see groups of related commands at a glance.
Although every Office 2016 program displays different tabs, the three most common tabs are the File tab, the Home tab, and the Insert tab.
The File tab lets you open, save, and print your files. In addition, the File tab also lets you close a document or customize an Office 2016 program, as shown in Figure 1-1.
The Home tab displays icons that represent the most common commands for that particular Office 2016 program, such as formatting commands as shown in Figure 1-2.
The Insert tab displays icons that represent common commands for adding items to a file such as pictures and tables, as shown in Figure 1-3.
In addition to the File, Home, and Insert tabs, every Office 2016 program also includes tabs that contain commands specific to that particular program. For example, Excel contains a Formulas tab that contains commands for creating a formula in a spreadsheet while PowerPoint contains a Transitions tab for adding transitions to your presentation slide shows.
The various commands available on the File tab include
Account: Displays information about your OneDrive account.
OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud computing service that lets you store files online so you can access them from other types of devices such as a smartphone, a tablet, or another computer.
Each time you create a new file, you have the option of choosing different types of templates that are already formatted and designed for specific purposes, such as a calendar, newsletter, sales report, or corporate slideshow presentation, as shown in Figure 1-5.
To create a new file, follow these steps:
Click New.
A list of templates appears (see Figure 1-5).
Double-click the template you want to use.
Office 2016 creates a new file based on your chosen template. For some templates, you may need access to the Internet to download the templates from Microsoft’s website.
When you load an Office 2016 program, you may want to edit a file that you created and modified earlier. To open an existing file, you need to tell Office 2016 the location and name of the file you want to open.
The five options for finding an existing file include
To open a file, follow these steps:
Click Open.
An Open pane appears, as shown in Figure 1-6.
Choose an option such as Recent or This PC.
You may need to click the Browse button to access different folders.
Click the file you want to open.
Your chosen file appears.
Saving a file stores all your data on a hard drive or other storage device (such as a USB flash drive). You can also save your files to a OneDrive account so you can access that file anywhere you have Internet access. The first time you save a file, you need to specify three items:
The location can be any folder on your hard drive or in your OneDrive account. It’s a good idea to store similar files in a folder with a descriptive name, such as Tax Information for 2017 or Letters to Grandma. If you save your files to your computer, Office 2016 stores all your files in the Documents folder unless you specify otherwise.
You can give a file any name you want, but it’s also a good idea to give your file a descriptive name, such as Latest Resume 2017 or Global Trade Presentation for Meeting on October 29, 2018.
The format of your file defines how Office 2016 stores your data. The default file format is simply called Word Document, Excel Workbook, PowerPoint Presentation, or Access Database. Anyone using Office 2013, 2010, or Office 2007 can open these files.
If you need to share files with people using older versions of Microsoft Office or other word processors, spreadsheets, or database programs, you need to save your files in a different file format. To share files with people using older versions of Microsoft Office, you need to save your files in a format known as 97-2003, such as Word 97-2003 Document or PowerPoint 97-2003 Presentation.
This special 97-2003 file format saves Office 2016 files so that previous versions of Microsoft Office 97/2000/XP/2003 can open and edit your files.
TABLE 1-1 File Extension Names Used by Different Versions of Microsoft Office
Program |
Microsoft Office 2016 File Extension |
Microsoft Office 97-2003 File Extension |
Microsoft Word |
.docx |
.doc |
Microsoft Excel |
.xlsx |
.xls |
Microsoft PowerPoint |
.pptx |
.ppt |
Microsoft Access |
.accdb |
.mdb |
To save your Office 2016 files in the 97-2003 format, follow these steps:
Click Export.
The middle pane displays different options.
Click Change File Type.
A list of different formats appears, as shown in Figure 1-7.
Click the Save As button.
The Save As dialog box appears.
If you want to share your file with different types of programs, you may need to choose a different file format, such as Rich Text Format or Text.
(Optional) Click in the File Name text box and type a descriptive name for your file.
When you save a file in a different file format, give that file a descriptive name that’s different from your original file. That way, you won’t confuse the two and send the wrong file format to someone by mistake.
When you’re done editing a file, you need to close it. Closing a file simply removes the file from your screen but keeps your Office 2016 program running so you can edit or open another file. If you haven’t saved your file, closing a file will prompt you to save your changes.
To close a file, follow these steps:
Click Close.
If you haven’t saved your file, a dialog box appears asking whether you want to save your changes.
For a faster way to choose the Close command, press Ctrl+F4.
Click Save to save your changes, Don’t Save to discard any changes, or Cancel to keep your file open.
If you click either Save or Don’t Save, Office 2016 closes your file.
The Ribbon interface displays tabs that contain groups of related commands. For example, the Layout tab displays only those commands related to designing a page, and the Insert tab displays only those commands related to inserting items into a file, such as a page break or a picture.
Using the Ribbon is a two-step process. First, you must click the tab that contains the command you want. Second, you click the actual command.
Each Ribbon tab displays commands as buttons or icons, organized into groups. There are four types of icons displayed on the Ribbon:
One-click icons often appear as just an icon or as an icon with a descriptive label (such as the Format Painter and the Bold and Italics icons), as shown in Figure 1-8.
A one-click icon represents a single command. However, there isn’t enough room on the Ribbon to display every possible command as a single icon. As a result, menu icons display a pull-down menu that stores multiple options within a single icon, as shown in Figure 1-9.
Selecting an option in the pull-down menu immediately manipulates your selected data.
Split-menu icons give you two choices:
The Paste and Font Color icons, found on the Home tab of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, are typical split-menu icons.
A combo box gives you two ways to choose an option:
The Font and Font Size combo boxes, found on the Home tab of Word, Excel and PowerPoint, are typical combo boxes:
While some icons include descriptive text (such as Format Painter or Paste), most icons simply look like cryptic symbols from an alien language. To get additional help deciphering icons on the Ribbon, just point the mouse pointer over an icon, and a short explanation appears, called a ScreenTip, as shown in Figure 1-12.
ScreenTips provide the following information:
To view the ScreenTip for any icon on the Ribbon, move the mouse pointer over that icon and wait a few seconds for the ScreenTip to appear.
On each tab, the Ribbon displays related commands in a group. For example, the Home tab groups the Cut, Copy, and Paste commands within the Clipboard group and the text alignment and line-spacing commands within the Paragraph group.
Although you can choose the most commonly used commands directly from the Ribbon, Word often contains dozens of additional commands that don’t appear on the Ribbon. To access these more obscure commands, you need to open a dialog box.
In the bottom-right corner of a group of icons on the Ribbon, you’ll see the Show Dialog Box icon, which looks like an arrow pointing diagonally downward, as shown in Figure 1-13.
To open a dialog box that contains additional options, follow these steps:
Click the Show Dialog Box icon in the bottom-right corner of a group such as the Font or Paragraph group found on the Home tab.
Office 2016 displays a dialog box, as shown in Figure 1-14.
Some people like the Ribbon displaying various icons at all times, but others find that it makes the screen appear too cluttered. In case you want to tuck the Ribbon out of sight (or display a Ribbon that is already tucked out of sight) so icons only appear when you click a tab, choose one of the following methods:
When you choose either of the first two methods, the Ribbon displays its tabs but hides any icons that normally appear underneath. When you click the Ribbon Display Options icon, a menu appears (as shown in Figure 1-15) and gives you three options:
The Quick Access toolbar appears in the upper-left corner of the screen, directly above the File and Home tabs. The Quick Access toolbar displays icons that represent commonly used commands such as Save and Undo, as shown in Figure 1-16.
If you click the Save icon in the Quick Access toolbar, Office 2016 saves your current file. If you’re saving a new file, a dialog box pops up, asking you to choose a name for your file.
The Undo icon is unique in that it offers two ways to use it. First, you can click the Undo icon to undo the last action you chose. Second, you can click the downward-pointing arrow that appears to the right of the Undo icon to display a list of one or more of your previous actions, as shown in Figure 1-17.
The most recent action you chose appears at the top of this list, the second most recent action appears second, and so on. To undo multiple commands, follow these steps:
Click the left mouse button.
Office 2016 undoes all the multiple actions you selected.
The Quick Access toolbar is designed to put your most commonly used commands (such as the Save and Undo commands) where you can find them quickly. To add other icons to the Quick Access toolbar, follow these steps:
Click the Customize Quick Access Toolbar arrow.
A pull-down menu appears, as shown in Figure 1-18.
Click a command that you want to add to the Quick Access toolbar such as Open or Quick Print.
A check mark appears next to each command that currently appears on the Quick Access toolbar. If you want to add more commands that aren’t displayed on the Quick Access toolbar menu, continue with the rest of Steps 3 through 7.
Click More Commands.
An Options window appears, as shown in Figure 1-19. The panel on the right shows all the current icons on the Quick Access toolbar. The panel on the left shows all the other icons you can add.
Click in the Choose commands from list box and choose a title, such as Popular Commands or Insert Tab.
The left panel displays a list of icons and commands.
Click OK.
Your chosen icon (or icons) now appears on the Quick Access toolbar.
You can remove icons from the Quick Access toolbar at any time. To remove an icon, follow these steps:
Right-click an icon on the Quick Access toolbar.
A pull-down menu appears.
Click Remove from Quick Access Toolbar.
Office 2016 removes your selected icon from the Quick Access toolbar.
The Quick Access toolbar can appear in one of two places:
To move the Quick Access toolbar, follow these steps:
Click the Customize Quick Access Toolbar arrow.
A pull-down menu appears.
Choose Show Below/Above the Ribbon.
If the Quick Access toolbar currently appears over the Ribbon, you’ll see the Show Below the Ribbon command.
If the Quick Access toolbar appears under the Ribbon, you’ll see the Show Above the Ribbon command.
If you don’t like the default settings of your favorite Office 2016 program, you can modify them. Some common ways to modify an Office 2016 program include
Every Office 2016 program is designed to share files easily with anyone who uses Office 2016, 2013, 2010, or 2007. However, if you need to share files with people who use earlier versions of Office or other programs altogether, you may need to save your files in a different format.
To choose a default file format that each Office 2016 program will use every time you choose the Save command, follow these steps:
Click the Options button in the left pane.
An Options dialog box appears.
Click Save.
The Options dialog box displays multiple options, including Save files in this format and Default local file location, as shown in Figure 1-20.
If you don’t use certain Ribbon icons, you can remove them and replace them with icons that represent the commands you do use most often. To customize the Ribbon icons, follow these steps:
Click the Options button in the left pane.
An Options dialog box appears.
Click Customize Ribbon.
The Options dialog box displays multiple options for you to customize, as shown in Figure 1-21.
No matter how much you may love using Office 2016, eventually there will come a time when you need to exit an Office 2016 program and do something else with your life. To exit from any Office 2016 program, choose one of the following:
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