The Ribbon in Microsoft Word

Questions

What is the Ribbon in Word?

How do I use the ribbon in Word? 

Answer

There are three basic parts to the ribbon: Tabs, Groups, and Commands.

  1. Tabs: The tabs across the top represent different activity areas (i.e. File, Home, Insert, etc.)
  2. Groups: Each tab has several groups that show related items together (the groups in the Home tab include Clipboard, Font, Paragraph, etc.)
  3. Commands: A command is either a button, a box to enter in information, or a menu within a group.

Some groups have a small diagonal arrow in the lower left hand corner. This is the Dialog Box Launcher. If you click the Dialog Box Launcher, you will see more options related to that group.  Those options will often appear in the form of a dialog box that you may recognize from a previous version of Word. Alternatively, they may appear in a familiar-looking task pane.

For more information on Word Basics, please view the full CTL tutorial here: Word 1

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