Creating and Saving a Document

To create a Word document, you simply open a new blank document and type your content. The blinking insertion point shows where the next character you type will appear. When the insertion point reaches the right margin, the word you are typing moves to the next line. Because of this word wrap feature, which is common in word-processing and desktop-publishing programs, you press Enter only to start a new paragraph, not a new line.

Each document you create is temporary unless you save it as a file with a unique name or location. To save a document for the first time, you click the Save button on the Quick Access Toolbar or click the Microsoft Office Button and then click Save. Either action displays the Save As dialog box, where you can assign the name and storage location.

If you want to save the document in a folder other than the one shown in the Address bar, you can click the chevrons to the left of the current folder name and then navigate to the folder you want. You can also click Browse Folders to display the Navigation Pane and a toolbar. If you want to create a new folder in which to store the file, you can click the New Folder button on this toolbar.

After you save a document the first time, you can save changes simply by clicking the Save button. The new version of the document then overwrites the previous version. If you want to keep both the new version and the previous version, click Save As on the Office menu, and then save the new version with a different name in the same location or with the same name in a different location. (You cannot store two files with the same name in the same folder.)