Saving as a Microsoft Word document

You may need to share your documents with other people who do not use OpenOffice.org, but use Microsoft Word instead. Fortunately, OpenOffice.org can read and write Word files.

To save a document as a Microsoft Word file:

1. First save your document in OpenOffice.org’s format (*.odt). If you do not, any changes you made since the last time you saved will only appear in the Microsoft Word version of the document.
2. Then click File > Save As. The Save As dialog box appears.
3. In the Save as type drop-down menu, select the type of Word format you need.
4. Click Save.

From this point on, all changes you make to the document will occur only in the Microsoft Word document. You have actually changed the name of your document. If you want to go back to working with the OpenOffice.org version of your document, you must open it again.

Saving a file in Microsoft Word format

To have OOo save documents by default in the Microsoft Word file format, go to Tools > Options > Load/Save > General. In the section named Default file format, under Document type, select Text document, then under Always save as, select your preferred file format.

Getting help

Writer provides several forms of help. In addition to a full Help file (reached by pressing F1 or choosing Help > OpenOffice.org Help from the menu bar), you can choose whether to activate tooltips, extended tips, and the Help Agent from Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > General.

Placing the mouse pointer over any of the icons displays a small box, called a tooltip. It gives a brief explanation of the icon’s function. For a more detailed explanation, select Help > What’s This? and hold the mouse pointer over the icon you need more help with.