The Ribbon
The Microsoft Office Suite is a set of productivity applications that share common features both functionally and stylistically. One main feature you’ll observe throughout this group of software is the Ribbon. The Ribbon is a toolbar that occupies the top of the Office application window, running horizontally the whole length of the Window.
The Ribbon features a myriad of different controls. These controls vary slightly from program to program, but some examples include: text editing, image or chart insertion, spell and grammar check, etc. The Ribbon is organized into tabs. The number and type of tabs vary from program to program. Further, certain tabs in a specific program can be enabled or disabled, so you might find that a friend has a different number of Ribbon tabs than you.
In Microsoft Word, you’ll find a list of the default Ribbon tabs and their purpose below:
| Tab | Command Group |
|---|---|
| Home | Clipboard, Font, Paragraph, Styles, and Editing |
| Insert | Tables, Illustrations, Add-ins, Media, Comments, Header & Footer, and Text |
| Design | Document Formatting and Page Background |
| Layout | Page Setup, Paragraph, and Arrange |
| References | Table of Contents, Footnotes, Citations & Bibliography, Captions, Index, and Table of Authorities |
| Mailings | Create, Start Mail Merge, Write & Insert Fields, Preview Results, and Finish |
| Review | Proofing, Insights, Language, Comments, Tracking, Changes, and Compare |
| View | Views, Show, Zoom, Window, and Macros |
Navigation
| Read the Title Bar of the Active Program | VO + F2 |
| Read the Item Currently in Focus | VO + Shift + N |
| Move to the top of the document | Command + Home |
| Move to the bottom of the document | Command + End |
| Go To Menu | F5 |
Opening, Saving, and Printing
| Create a New Empty Document | Command + N |
| Save the Document | Command + Shift + S |
| Open a Saved Document | Command + O |
| Command + P |
Selecting Text
| Select Text | Hold Shift while moving the cursor |
| Start and Stop Selection Mode | VO + Return |
| Read Selected Text | VO + F6 |
Formatting Text
| Copy | Command + C |
| Cut | Command + X |
| Paste | Command + V |
| Undo | Command + Z |
| Redo | Command + Y |
| Bold Selected Text | Command + B |
| Open Fonts Menu | Command + D |
| Italicize Selected Text | Command + I |
| Underline Selected Text | Command + U |
| Read Formatting Attributes of Selected Text | VO + T |
| Decrease Font Size | Command + [ |
| Increase Font Size | Command + ] |
| Single-space Lines in Document | Command + 1 |
| Double-space Lines in Document | Command + 2 |
Review
| Start Spelling and Grammar Check | F7 |
Need More Help?
If you’re looking for a command or function not listed above, check out the Microsoft Support Guide to Keyboard Commands in Word for macOS
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