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Free Word Tutorial – Using the File Tab: The Backstage View Tutorial – MS Word 2010 – Getting Started

Using the File Tab: The Backstage View Tutorial

Free Online Microsoft Word Tutorials
MS Word 2010 – Getting Started

* Getting to Know the Backstage View
* Recently Used Documents and Folders
* Previewing and Printing a Document
* Save and Save As

An overview of the common tasks that can be completed using the File Tab aka The Backstage View including the list of recent documents, using pushpins to keep documents at the top of the list, print and print preview, and save and save as.

Test your MS Word skills with the corresponding FREE Online Multiple Choice
Using the File Tab: The Backstage View Test



* Getting to Know the Backstage View

The Backstage View is a new feature in Word 2010 and replaces the old menu system from earlier versions. An easy way of remembering what functions you will find in the Backstage View is to think of it as a backstage to a real live show where all the technical stuff, stage set-up and management, happens.

1. To access the Backstage View, click on the File button located on the top left-hand corner of the Word screen (circled in yellow in the screenshot below):

Getting to Know the Backstage View - Microsoft Word Tutorial



2. This will open the Backstage View screen (pictured below).
The first thing you will notice is that the Backstage View is divided into three panels. The first panel contains tabs or buttons that allow you to access different areas and dialogue boxes in the Backstage View. The middle panel contains further functions relating to the tab you select in the first panel and the third panel displays information or previews relating to the selected function.

Open the Backstage View screen - Microsoft Word Tutorial


3. For example, in the screenshot above the Info tab is selected in the first panel, with the middle panel showing further functions relating to the Info tab and the right-hand panel showing document properties (information).

4. You will find functions to save, save us, create new documents or templates, open recently used documents or folders, print and change print settings and Word Options and much more, in the Backstage View.

5. To exit the Backstage View, click on one of the Ribbon tabs, for example Home, located at the top of your screen. Do not click on ‘Close’ or ‘Exit’ to exit the Backstage View. Clicking these will close your document and Microsoft Word, respectively.

* Recently Used Documents and Folders

Have you ever closed a document and then searched around your desktop and personal folders desperately trying to find it? Are there any documents or templates you use frequently but you have to navigate around several folders to open them each time? If you answered yes then the Recent Documents and Recent Places area in the Backstage View will be the best thing since, well since, Microsoft Office!

1. To access your Recent Documents list, go to the Backstage View and click on the Recent Tab (circled in yellow in the image below):

Access your Recent Documents List - Microsoft Word Tutorial


2. The Recent Documents area provides you with a list of all recently opened documents. If you click on a document in this list, Word will open it for you.

3. Documents on the Recent list are dynamic and will continually be replaced by more recently opened documents. This means the document that you may have wanted to use again will not remain on the list if you open 20 more documents in the interim.

4. To ensure a document stays ‘pinned’ permanently to the Recent Documents list, you can use the pin function. Examine the documents in the Recent Documents list. You will notice a drawing pin icon next to each document in the list. Click on the drawing pin icon once to ‘pin’ the item to the list.

Use the pin function - Microsoft Word Tutorial



5. The pin icon will change in appearance (as pictured above). The document you ‘pin’ will move to the top of the list and remain ‘pinned’ until you click the pin again to remove it from the permanent list.

The Recent Places list located in the right-hand panel next to the Recent Documents list, works in exactly the same way as described above. You may have folders that you frequently use and instead of navigating to these folders each time you open Word, you can pin these to the Recent Places list. This way you can have a set of folders that you frequently use ready and waiting for you:

`The Recent Places list - Microsoft Word Tutorial



* Previewing and Printing a Document

Before you print a document it is always a good plan to see what it is going to look like before you press the print button. Your margins may not be fitting the page properly or that beautiful neon orange background color you used to make your document more attractive, may not actually print as neon orange.

1. To preview what a document will look like when printed without actually printing it, go to the Backstage View and press the Print Tab located in the list of tabs in the first panel:

Print Preview - Microsoft Word Tutorial


2. This will not print your document, but take you to an area of the Backstage View that
provides a whole series of options for printing your document and also a preview panel (circled in yellow in the screenshot below):

Print Preview Panel - Microsoft Word Tutorial



3. You use the Print Preview screen to view how your document will look once printed.
In the screenshot of a print preview above you may have judged the top margin of the document to be too close to the top edge of the page. The Print Preview allows you to adjust issues such as this without having actually wasted paper and printer toner on printing the document only to find it contains issues.

4. To view all the pages of your document in Print Preview, click the page counter located at the bottom left-hand corner of the Print Preview screen. You can also use the scrolling wheel on your mouse by clicking in the Print Preview area and scrolling the wheel backwards or forwards through pages. Use the zoom slider at the bottom right-hand corner to zoom in on elements in your document:

View all the pages of your document in Print Preview - Microsoft Word Tutorial


5. Once you are happy with your preview and wish to proceed and print your document,
enter how many copies you wish to print in the Copies box and then press Print:

Printing Documents - Microsoft Word Tutorial


6. Take note of the other options in the center panel of the Print screen (circled in yellow in the screenshot below).

Print All Pages allows you to select which pages in your document you would like to print, for example, you may only want to print pages 10-20 and not the whole document.

Print One Sided allows you to set whether you wish your printer to print on one side or both sides of a page, for example, to save paper.

Other options include printing sets of your document (Collated), changing the orientation to landscape or portrait, changing the paper size and margins and selecting how many pages you wish to print per A4 sheet.


Printing Options - Collating - Landscape View - Portrait View  - Microsoft Word Tutorial


QUICK TIP:
A shortcut to quickly access the Print Preview and Print options screen is to hold down the Control key on your keyboard whilst pressing the P key. You can also add a shortcut button to the Quick Access Toolbar.


* Save and Save As

They say true genius for most people happens only once or twice in a lifetime. In case your true genius happened in a Microsoft Word Document, it may be a good idea to know how to save it and have generations to come admire your creative genius.

It is also usually a good idea to save your work as early as possible, maybe even before you start, and to save continuously whilst working.

1. To save a document that has not been saved yet, open the Backstage View and press the Save button:

Save and Save As - Microsoft Word Tutorial


2. This will launch the Save As dialogue box:

Launching the Save As Dialogue Box - Microsoft Word Tutorial


3. Word will automatically suggest a name for your document in the File name box (circled in yellow in the screenshot above) based on the first phrase contained in your document. To change the document name, click in this box, type the name for your document and press save.




4. You can tell a document has been saved by looking at the Word screen header (circled in yellow in the screenshot below). When a document has not been saved it will display as a generic Document1, Document2, etc. When it has been saved, the name of the document will appear:

Word screen header - Microsoft Word Tutorial


5. Continue working on your document and remember to save your work often! A quick way of doing this is by holding down the Control key on your keyboard and pressing S (for save).


You use the Save As function if a document has already been created and saved and you want to save a copy of the document and make changes to it. For example, we may want to use the same document as above (COMMERCIAL AGREEMENT) for a different property or client by saving it with a different name and making changes to it, but still keep the original intact.

1. To do this, open the document you wish to save under a different name, go to the Backstage View and click the Save As button:

The Save As Function - Microsoft Word Tutorial


2. This will launch the Save As dialogue box.
In the File Name box change the name of the document and press the Save button:

Save As Dialogue Box - Microsoft Word Tutorial


3. A quick way of accessing the Save As dialogue box
is by pressing the F12 key on your keyboard.

4. You can also use the Save As dialogue box to save a document into a different format. For example if you need to save a document in PDF format or as text only.

5. To do this follow the same steps as above and in the Save As dialogue box select one of the options next to ‘Save as type’ under the File Name box.

QUICK TIP: The following are really useful shortcuts when working with opening and closing documents:

Hold down the Control key on your keyboard and press O – this will access the Open file dialogue box allowing you to navigate to documents that had been saved previously.

Hold down the Control key on your keyboard and press W – this will quickly close the document you are in, but not the Word program.



Test your MS Word skills with the corresponding FREE Online Multiple Choice

Using the File Tab: The Backstage View Test


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TRY THE NEXT TEST: Moving Around the Document in MS Word


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