As part of the Microsoft Office 2013 software suite, Microsoft Word 2013 is an advanced word processor that is highly adept at producing documents of professional quality, and it is intuitive enough to meet the needs of beginners and students as well.
Although Windows 10 and Word 2016 are both Microsoft products, Microsoft Word is not included with the operating system. The applications for each tools from the Office suite, like PowerPoint, Word and Excel, are available for free from different app stores, but they are limited in functionality and don’t perform the same as the full suite of tools. With Microsoft 365 for the web (formally Office 365) and edit, and share Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote files on your devices using a web browser. Collaborate for free with online versions of Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote. Save documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online, in OneDrive.
One of the first things that users will realize about Word 2013 is that the Ribbon Interface that Microsoft introduced to their Office suite back in 2007 is still the primary method of interacting with the app controls. Many people didn't particularly like the Ribbon Interface when it was new, but it has been radically improved to include the most common features in the most accessible location. Even the individual menu items have been given updates so they stand out from each other much more easily.
Word 2013 is also the first version of Microsoft Word to include touchscreen compatibility thanks to its Touch Mode. This is only available on computers with touchscreen capabilities, and it makes the buttons larger and easier to select. As the world becomes increasingly focused on buttonless mobile technology, this feature is vital.
When users open the app, they'll be greeted with a welcome screen that is much more useful than in older versions. Recently opened documents will be shown next to blank templates for documents you might wish to create from scratch. Online templates can be searched using the search box if you'd like something you don't see represented in the offline options.
Importing photos is so much easier with Word 2013 thanks to the integration of Facebook, SkyDrive, and Flickr, all of which can be used to instantly upload photos to any Word document you might need to edit. Users can even use an integrated Bing search engine to find pictures that fall within the Creative Commons license. The guides for placing the perfect images have been rewritten for Word 2013 as well.
Users who value PDF support will love Word 2013. These files will now open directly in Word 2013 just as standard Word documents do, and conversion between Word documents and PDFs is a snap. Converted PDFs will even retain formatting from the original Word file.
As a world-class productivity app, Word 2013 allows for smaller apps to run within its system. These include other tools for increasing productivity, including dictionaries and thesauruses. These apps can be helpful, but they can also quickly overpopulate the screen with information and documents.
Tracking changes and collaborating with multiple authors is also easier with Word 2013. With Office 365, all users with permission can viewed and edit the documents at any time, and comments can be synced so collaborators can communicate in real time.
Word 2013 is a powerful iteration of the Microsoft Word app, and it has a number of features that are unique to it. It is by far the best version of the popular productivity app from Microsoft.
ProsSometimes called Winword, MS Word, or Word, Microsoft Word is a word processor published by Microsoft. It is one of the office productivity applications included in the Microsoft Office suite. Originally developed by Charles Simonyi and Richard Brodie, it was first released in 1983.
Microsoft Word is available for Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, Android, and Apple iOS. It can also run on the Linux operating system using WINE.
Microsoft Word allows you to create professional-quality documents, reports, letters, and résumés. Unlike a plain text editor, Microsoft Word has features including spell check, grammar check, text and font formatting, HTML support, image support, advanced page layout, and more.
Below is an overview of a Microsoft Word 2010 document.
TipSee our Ribbon page for further information on the Ribbon. For an overview of the items contained on the Ribbon, see: Overview of the Microsoft Office Ribbon.
If you have Microsoft Word or the entire Microsoft Office package installed on Microsoft Windows, you can find Microsoft Word in your Start menu.
Keep in mind that new computers do not include Microsoft Word. It must be purchased and installed before running it on your computer. If you do not want (or cannot afford) to purchase Microsoft Word, you can use a limited version for free at the Microsoft Office website.
NoteThere are also free word processing programs you can try that are very similar to Microsoft Word. See: Where can I get a free word processor?
If Microsoft Word is installed on your computer, but you can't find it in your Start menu, use the following steps to launch Microsoft Word manually.
Microsoft Word is a word processor, and, like other word processors, it's capable of helping users create a variety of different types of documents. For example, users can create a résumé, business contract, instruction document, or a letter to another person. We've included a list of the top uses of a word processor on our word processor page.
By default, there are 29 lines on one page in Microsoft Word.
Early versions of Microsoft Word primarily created and used the .docfile extension, while newer versions of Word create and use the .docx file extension.
More recent versions of Microsoft Word can create and open the following types of files:
You can download an example of a Microsoft Word .doc document by clicking the Microsoft Word .doc file link.
Microsoft Word offers many features not found in a traditional text editor or a plain-text file. Reasons to use Microsoft Word instead of a plain-text editor include the ability to change the formatting (e.g., center), change the font type, size, and color, insert pictures, and much more.
TipThe features above are also available in a rich-text editor, such as WordPad, which is included with Microsoft Windows.
A rich-text editor, like WordPad, offers many of the same basic features as Microsoft Word. Where Microsoft Word differs is the ability to do more advanced features. Some of the advanced features include mail merges, spellchecker, styles, tables, headers & footers, WordArt, columns, margins, and more.
Microsoft Word has had several versions throughout its history. The different releases, along with release dates are listed below.
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