Creating and Formatting Word Documents

• Create a blank Microsoft Word document. Open Microsoft Word, select "File" at the top left of the screen and choose "New." Begin typing your desired document once a blank page appears on the screen. Add formatting to your text to create sections or draw the reader's eye to various portions of your document. For instance, a section of bold text helps a headline stand out from regular text.
  
  Familiarize yourself with the formatting toolbar. If you don't see the toolbar, go to "View," select "Toolbars" and choose "Formatting." The most commonly used buttons are B for bold, I for italics, U for underline and the three alignment buttons for left, center and right alignment. Change the type of formatting, font type and text size by using the three drop-down menus to the left of the bold icon.
  
  Highlight any existing text to make formatting changes. For new text, select your formatting before typing. Press "Ctrl" plus the space bar to return to your original formatting. Add formatting such as bullets, highlighting and text color by using the numbering, bullets, highlight and font color icons.
  
  

Adding Links and Tables to Word Documents

• Add links to websites, other documents and other applications by using the "Insert Hyperlink" icon. Highlight the text you wish to use as the hyperlink or type the text you wish to display as the link in the insert hyperlink box. For Web pages, type the Web address in the "Address" box, including the "http://" portion of the address. Draw and manage tables anywhere within your Word document by clicking the "Insert Table" icon on the toolbar. Expand or reduce the size by using the small square at the bottom right corner of the table.
  
  

Creating Excel Spreadsheets

• Open Microsoft Excel, go to "File" and select "New" to create a spreadsheet. Spreadsheets have three tabs by default. Each tab is a different spreadsheet within your workbook. Add, remove or rename tabs by right-clicking the desired tab and choosing the appropriate action. Move or copy the desired tab to another workbook by choosing "Move or Copy."
  
  Use headers at the beginning of a column or row to better organize data. Highlight text in the first cell of your column or row and choose a different formatting from the rest of your data. Formatting such as bold, italic and underline helps headers stand out. Use the formatting toolbar icons to change text size, font type, font color and alignment.
  
  

Ordering Spreadsheet Data

• Organize, filter, and sort data through the "Data" menu in Excel. Highlight the data you wish to include in your sort or filter, select "Data" and choose "Sort" or "Filter." Sorting allows you to organize one or more columns of data in ascending or descending order. Filtering allows you to filter an entire column or set of columns by unique records. Click the small arrow beside each column header to view available filters. Remove filters by going to "Data" and selecting "Filter."