Becoming Familiar with the Open Dialog Box
When you're ready to open a file, you'll use the Open dialog box. This is one of the "file management" dialog boxes in Word. Others are the Save As, Insert File, and Insert Picture dialog boxes. It's important to spend a few minutes becoming familiar with file management dialog boxes because you will use them not only to locate files, but also to organize your files and folders. After you use Word for a while, you'll see that you spend a lot of time in these dialog boxes.
To display the Open dialog box, Click File==>Open or (ctrl+O).
Opening a File
When you open the Open dialog box, Word automatically displays the most recently used folder.
Different types of files have different file icons. The icon for a Word document has blue W on a white page.
To open a file, follow these steps.
1. Click the file you want to open.
2. You can also double-click the file to select and open it at the same time.
Customizing the View
There are several different ways to display files and folders in the Open dialog box. The way you display them could be personal preference, or a different view could make it easier to locate a file. Whatever the reason, switching to a different view is a snap using the View button.
You can click the View button through the different views, or you can click the drop-down arrow to the right of the View button to choose from the following options.
Thumbnails— Displays thumbnail size images of picture files, and in some cases, documents. Otherwise, a large icon on a white page identifies the type of file.
Tiles— Displays the files and folders in two columns with large icons. The type and size of the document are also shown.
Icons— Displays the folders and files with an identifying icon. Only the folder or filename is shown.
List— Displays the names of the folders and files with small icons.
Details— Displays the names of the folders and files with small icons. The size, type, and modification date and time are also shown.
Properties— Displays the properties for a selected file in the right pane.
Preview— Displays a preview of a selected file in the right pane.
WebView— Displays a preview of HTML documents that will be posted on the Web.
Open dialog box and display more files and folders at one time. This capability is especially helpful when you're using the Details view. Point to a side or corner of the dialog box and wait for the two-sided arrow to appear. Then click and drag the dialog box border. Release the mouse button when you're satisfied with the new size. If you click and drag a corner, you'll maintain the aspect ratio as you resize the dialog box.
Arranging the File List
The Details view provides an added advantage: You can sort the file list by the creation or modification date, size, or type. For example, you might arrange the file list by the modification date to locate a file that you edited on a specific date.
To rearrange the file list, follow these steps:
1. Click a column heading that you want to sort by, such as Type
2. Click the column heading again to arrange the list in reverse order.