As a Windows 7 user, you have access to a free and convenient word processing application called WordPad. This application has undergone many noticeable and improving transformations from the previous versions in Vista and XP, including a stunning new Microsoft Office-like theme and organizing new ribbon at the top. Here’s a guide on how to use WordPad on Windows 7.
To start your free WordPad application, you can access it with the Start menu by either finding it or by searching for it. Alternatively, it may be on your desktop as a shortcut. As soon as you open WordPad, you’ll automatically notice the difference in the interface from previous versions of WordPad. The menu bar at the top has been removed, and the toolbars were rearranged into what Microsoft calls the ribbon.
Microsoft also changed the input window to mimic the look of paper, and they added a new file menu at the top left corner of the application’s window. To insert text into the document, you can either just start typing in the virtual paper or paste text from another document or the Internet.
WordPad’s default font is Calibri, but you can always change it in the first box in the font section of the ribbon. Just make sure you have the text selected. Adjusting the size of your font isn’t hard. You can use the handy buttons to decrease or increase the font size, or if you would like a specific size, use the box.
You can also format your text by bolding it, italicizing it, underlining it, striking it, subscripting it, superscripting it, highlighting it, or changing the color. The paragraph section on the ribbon is a necessity when formatting your document. You can choose a horizontal alignment of your paragraph with the stylish icons.
In some cases, the default line spacing may not suit you, but that’s not a problem. You can adjust it with the line spacing buttons. If you need to indent your paragraph for some reason, these buttons will do you good. You can even change the bullet type with the arrow right next to it.
For those of you who want to customize your documents paragraphs a little more flexibly, you can always open the paragraph dialog box and tweak some options. If you want to insert a picture of some sort into your document, you can insert a picture from file by clicking the button or copy a picture from a webpage. You can also create your own with paint by clicking the button.
You can insert the time and day into your document in many formats with this button, and for advanced users, you can insert an object into the document so you can access the document within that document. If you’re done with your document and it’s nice and long, you can search your document for text, replace text, and select all of your text inside your document using these buttons.
The View tab is the easiest tab to use in WordPad, and it’s also self-explanatory. You can zoom in and zoom out, choose what shows, and choose to word wrap your document. Word wrapping basically means that all your words stay on the screen, and if you don’t live in America, you can change your units on the ruler to centimeters and various other units.
The quick access toolbar in the file menu is basically your toolbar in which you can add functions from anywhere on the ribbon so you can access that action quickly. To add an action, just right-click on it and select add to quick access toolbar. To remove it, just right click on the icon and select remove to remove it.
The file menu has all your filing needs. You can create a new WordPad document, open an existing one, or other types of text files. You can save your document, print your document, and exit WordPad when you’ve had enough. You can also access help if you need it.
In conclusion, WordPad is a useful word processing application that is integrated with all versions of Windows 7. With the help of this guide, you can easily navigate the features of WordPad and create professional-looking documents.