Choosing a View in Word in Office 2011 for Mac

By Geetesh Bajaj and James Gordon from Office 2011 for Mac All-in-One For Dummies

You can choose from seven different views when working within Word 2011. Each view is designed to provide a different environment, optimized for the task and your working preference. The moment you open a new, blank document in Office 2011, your eyes are drawn immediately to the ScreenTip above the view buttons at the lower-left corner of the window.

Click the X button to close the ScreenTip for the first time. After that, move the mouse cursor over the view buttons to display ScreenTips, and move away to hide the ScreenTips. The view buttons are part of the horizontal scroll bar, which you can turn on and off by choosing Word→Preferences→View→Window from the menu bar. The same window view options are found on the View menu of the menu bar at the top of the screen.

You can choose from the following views:

Draft: Shows a simplified view of your document along with the names of text styles that have been applied. Content isn’t displayed the way it will look when you print.
Web Layout: Word approximates what your document will look like if you save it as a Web page and then open it in a Web browser.
Outline: With heading levels, you can organize your document into an outline. Text can be promoted and demoted in a level that you specify with the Outline tools group on the Ribbon, which displays automatically when you choose Outline view.
Print Layout: Print Layout view shows you how your document will look when you print.
Notebook Layout: Notebook Layout view enables you to take notes and record audio that’s synchronized with your text while you type.
Publishing Layout: Newsletters, brochures, flyers, and even small magazines can be created in Publishing Layout View.
Full Screen: This new view lets you read or edit without the distraction of toolbars, the Ribbon, or other interface clutter.