Word Processing
Senior 1 · ICT
Word Processing
Lesson 2 of 5
18 min
Let's begin
Umutoni has typed a two-page notice about sports day. Now she must move the timetable to the top, delete a paragraph that is no longer needed, and correct "Kigari" to "Kigali" everywhere it appears. Doing that one letter at a time would take ages. Selecting, cutting, pasting and Find and Replace make it quick.
The steps use LibreOffice Writer, which is free. Microsoft Word works the same way for everything general, and the keyboard shortcuts in this unit are the same in both unless a note says otherwise. Where the menus differ, the Word path is given in brackets.
Before you can change text, you must select (highlight) it.
| To select | Do this |
|---|---|
| Any amount of text | Click at the start and drag to the end. |
| One word | Double-click the word. |
| A sentence | Triple-click in the sentence. (In Word, a triple-click selects the whole paragraph.) |
| A paragraph | Click four times in the paragraph. (Word: triple-click.) |
| From the cursor, letter by letter or line by line | Hold Shift and press the arrow keys. |
| A long block | Click at the start, then hold Shift and click at the end. |
| The whole document | Ctrl + A |
| Separate pieces of text | Select the first piece, then hold Ctrl and drag over the next. |
Click anywhere in the text to remove the selection.
When you cut or copy, the text is kept in the clipboard, a temporary store, until you paste it.
| Command | Shortcut | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Cut | Ctrl + X | Removes the selection and puts it on the clipboard |
| Copy | Ctrl + C | Puts a copy on the clipboard; the text stays where it is |
| Paste | Ctrl + V | Puts the clipboard's contents at the cursor |
| Undo | Ctrl + Z | Reverses your last action |
| Redo | Ctrl + Y | Puts back an action you undid |
You can also drag selected text to a new place to move it; hold Ctrl while dragging to copy it instead.
| Key | Moves the cursor to |
|---|---|
| Arrow keys | One character or line |
| Home and End | The start or end of the line |
| Ctrl + Home and Ctrl + End | The start or end of the document |
| Page Up and Page Down | One screen up or down |
| Ctrl + G | The Go to Page box: type a page number |
Use Replace All with care: check the result, and press Ctrl + Z at once if it goes wrong.
Tip
X cuts like scissors, C copies, V pastes (the three keys sit together at the bottom left of the keyboard). Ctrl + Z is your safety net.
What is the quickest way to select one word? One sentence in Writer?
Solution: Double-click the word. Triple-click in the sentence.
What is the difference between cut and copy?
Solution: Cut removes the text from its place and puts it on the clipboard; copy leaves the text where it is and puts a copy on the clipboard. Both are followed by paste.
The cursor is on page 9 of 12. How do you jump straight to the very start of the document?
Solution: Press Ctrl + Home.
Mugisha replaces every "cat" with "goat" using Replace All. Now "education" reads "edugoation". What went wrong, and how does he fix it?
Solution: "cat" is inside "education", and Whole words only was not ticked. He presses Ctrl + Z to undo, ticks Whole words only, and replaces again.
Remember
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