Multiple-Document Mania in Word 2003

Word invites you to work on up to a zillion documents at once. Well, actually, you can work on several documents at once. Whenever you open a new document or choose File --> New to start a new document from scratch, Word opens another document window.

All the document windows appear as buttons on the taskbar. To switch from one document to another, click its button on the taskbar.

• A quick way to switch from one document window to another is to press the Alt+Tab key combination.

• Another way to switch documents is to use the Window menu. Alas, the Window menu displays only the first nine documents you have open (which is a bunch). For any more than nine windows, you see a More Windows menu item that displays the entire list of all the documents and windows you're working on in Word.

• The goings-on in one document are independent of any other: Printing, spell checking, and formatting affect only the document you can see onscreen.

• You can copy a block from one document to the other. Just mark the block in the first document, copy it (press Ctrl+C), open the second document, and paste it in (Ctrl+V).

Closing your documents

When you're working with several open documents or windows at a time, you can close the documents by clicking the X (Close) button in the window's upper-right corner. However, when you get to the last open document, do not click the X button unless you want to quit Word as well as close the document.

Seeing more than one document

You can arrange all your documents onscreen by choosing Window --> Arrange All. The Arrange All command arranges each document window in a tiled pattern on the screen, allowing you to view more than one document at a time.

Of course, choosing Window --> Arrange All works best with two documents. Three or more documents arranged on the screen looks more like modern art than anything designed to help you get work done more efficiently.

• Although you can see more than one document at a time, you can work on only one at a time. The document with the highlighted title bar is the one "on top."

• After the windows are arranged, you can manipulate their size and change their positions with the mouse.

• Clicking a window's Maximize button restores the document to its normal, full-screen view.

Working on one document in two windows

It's possible in Word to show one document in two windows. You can view two or more different parts of the same document in a large window.

To set up a second window for your document, choose the Window --> New Window command. The second window opens, as does a second button for that window on the taskbar.

Even though two windows are open, you're still working on only one document. The changes you make in one of the copies are immediately included in the other. (If you want to make a copy of the document, use Windows to copy the document file.)

When you're done with the second window, click the X button to close it. This action closes the window without closing your document; the first window stays open.

• This feature is useful for cutting and pasting text or graphics between sections of the same document, especially when you have a very long document.

• The title bar tells you which copy of your document you're looking at by displaying a colon and a number after the filename: for example, Boring Stuff:1 in one window and Boring Stuff:2 in the second window.

• Another way to view two parts of the same document is by using the old split-screen trick. This feature is discussed . . . why, it's right here:

Using the old split-screen trick

Splitting the screen allows you to view two parts of your document in one window. No need to bother with extra windows here. In fact, many prefer to use Word with as little junk onscreen as possible. When you do need to view two parts of the same document, you can just split the screen — Moses-like — and then undo the rift when you're done. You can accomplish the same splitting-screen feat by following these steps:

1. Place the mouse cursor on the little gray thing located just above the up-arrow button on the vertical scroll bar (on the upper-right side of your document).

Oh, brother. Just refer to Figure 1 to see what I'm talking about.

When you find the sweet spot, the mouse pointer changes shape and looks like a pair of horizontal lines with arrows pointing down and up.

2. Hold down the left mouse button and drag the pointer down.

As you drag, a line drags with you and slices the document window in half. That marks the spot where the screen splits.

3. Release the mouse button.

Your screen looks something like Figure 2.

• Each section of the document can be manipulated separately and scrolled up or down. Even so, you're still viewing only one document; changes you make in one of the copies are immediately included in the others.

• This feature is useful for cutting and pasting text or graphics between parts of the same document.

The fastest way to split a window is to point the mouse at the little gray area and double-click. It's also the fastest way to undo a split screen: Put the mouse pointer on the little gray area and double-click.

• You can also choose Window --> Split to split your screen and Window --> Remove Split to undo it.