Basic Computer Notes for MPSC

BASIC MS OFFICE

MICROSOFT OFFICE

Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology company that develops computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services. It was founded on 4 April 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

Bill Gates is commonly referred to as the principal figure and co-founder of Microsoft. However, Microsoft was actually founded jointly by Bill Gates and Paul Allen.

Microsoft’s first product was a version of the BASIC programming language developed for the Altair 8800 computer. The company is best known for its popular products and services, including Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Edge, Xbox, and Microsoft 365.

Microsoft Windows is one of the world’s most widely used operating systems for personal computers. Microsoft also developed and marketed MS-DOS (Microsoft Disk Operating System), which played an important role in the early development of personal computing.

The major applications of Microsoft Office include:

Application	Main Use
MS Word	Creating and editing documents
MS Excel	Calculations, data analysis and spreadsheets
MS PowerPoint	Creating presentations
MS Access	Database management
MS Outlook	E-mail and personal information management

Practice Question

Q. Who is the real founder of Microsoft ?

A. Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger
B. Elon Musk and Bill Gates
C. Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg
D. Bill Gates and Paul G. Allen

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MS WORD

Microsoft Word (MS Word) is a word-processing application used to create, edit, format, save and print documents.

Common Uses

• Creating letters and applications
• Preparing reports
• Creating resumes
• Preparing notices
• Creating tables
• Mail merge
• Printing documents

Important Features of MS Word

Document: A file created in MS Word is called a document.

Default File Extension

The modern MS Word document file extension is:

.docx

The older MS Word file extension was:

.doc

Word Processing: The process of creating, editing and formatting text is called word processing.

Important MS Word Commands and Shortcut Keys

Function	Shortcut Key
New Document	Ctrl + N
Open Document	Ctrl + O
Save Document	Ctrl + S
Print	Ctrl + P
Copy	Ctrl + C
Cut	Ctrl + X
Paste	Ctrl + V
Undo	Ctrl + Z
Redo/Repeat	Ctrl + Y
Select All	Ctrl + A
Find	Ctrl + F
Replace	Ctrl + H
Bold	Ctrl + B
Italic	Ctrl + I
Underline	Ctrl + U
Align Left	Ctrl + L
Center Align	Ctrl + E
Align Right	Ctrl + R
Justify	Ctrl + J

Important Note

Ctrl + S is used to save a document.

Basic Formatting in MS Word

Formatting refers to changing the appearance of text or a document.

Common formatting options include:

• Font type
• Font size
• Bold
• Italic
• Underline
• Text colour
• Alignment
• Line spacing
• Paragraph spacing
• Bullets and numbering

Text Alignment

There are four common types of alignment:

1. Left Alignment
2. Centre Alignment
3. Right Alignment
4. Justified Alignment

Mail Merge

Mail Merge is used to create multiple documents with similar content but different personal details.

Example

A single letter can be sent to multiple people with different:

• Names
• Addresses
• Contact details

Header and Footer

Header

Text or information appearing at the top of a page.

Footer

Text or information appearing at the bottom of a page.

Practice Question

1. MS Word is a:

A. Spreadsheet software
B. Word-processing software
C. Presentation software
D. Database software

Answer: B. Word-processing software

2. The default file extension of a modern MS Word document is:

A. .xls
B. .pptx
C. .docx
D. .exe

Answer: C. .docx

3. Which shortcut key is used to save a Word document?

A. Ctrl + P
B. Ctrl + S
C. Ctrl + O
D. Ctrl + N

Answer: B. Ctrl + S

4. Which shortcut key is used to make selected text bold?

A. Ctrl + B
B. Ctrl + I
C. Ctrl + U
D. Ctrl + D

Answer: A. Ctrl + B

5. Which shortcut key is used to underline text?

A. Ctrl + B
B. Ctrl + I
C. Ctrl + U
D. Ctrl + L

Answer: C. Ctrl + U

6. Which shortcut key is used to find text in a document?

A. Ctrl + F
B. Ctrl + H
C. Ctrl + G
D. Ctrl + T

Answer: A. Ctrl + F

7. Mail Merge is used to:

A. Create charts
B. Send similar documents to multiple recipients
C. Calculate numbers
D. Create slides

Answer: B. Send similar documents to multiple recipients

8. Which alignment makes text evenly aligned along both the left and right margins?

A. Left
B. Centre
C. Right
D. Justify

Answer: D. Justify

9. The contextual errors in MS-Word are underlined in which of the following colours?
 (A) Red
 (B) Blue
 (C) Green
 (D) Yellow

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Answer: (B)
Explanation: In modern versions of Microsoft Word, a blue squiggly line indicates a contextual spelling error (e.g., using “their” instead of “there”), while red indicates a standard spelling error.

10. Which in MS-Word do you use to add new words to the MS-Word dictionary?
 (A) Dictionary
 (B) Add to dictionary
 (C) Thesaurus
 (D) All of the above

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Answer: (B)
Explanation: When the built-in spell checker identifies an unrecognized but correctly spelled word (like a name), users can select the “Add to dictionary”
 to prevent future flagging.

11. The feature in MS-Word that gives you a list of all the synonyms and antonyms of a selected word is
 (A) mail merge
 (B) dictionary
 (C) thesaurus
 (D) smart art

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Answer: (C) thesaurus

MS EXCEL

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet application used for:

• Calculations
• Data entry
• Data analysis
• Creating tables
• Creating charts and graphs
• Financial calculations

Basic Terms in MS Excel

Workbook: An Excel file is called a Workbook.

Worksheet: A workbook contains one or more Worksheets.

Row: A horizontal arrangement of cells is called a row.

Rows are identified by:

Numbers

Example: 1, 2, 3, 4

Column: A vertical arrangement of cells is called a column.

Columns are identified by:

Letters

Example: A, B, C, D

Cell: The intersection of a row and a column is called a cell.

Cell Address: The address of a cell is formed by the column letter and row number.

Example:

A1

Here:

• A = Column
• 1 = Row

Formula in MS Excel

A formula is an expression used to perform calculations.

A formula generally begins with:

= (Equal sign)

Example

= A1 + B1

Common Excel Functions

Function	Use
SUM()	Adds numbers
AVERAGE()	Finds average
MAX()	Finds highest value
MIN()	Finds lowest value
COUNT()	Counts numerical values

Examples

=SUM(A1:A5)

=AVERAGE(A1:A5)

=MAX(A1:A5)

=MIN(A1:A5)

=COUNT(A1:A5)

MS Excel File Extension

The modern Excel workbook file extension is:

.xlsx

The older Excel file extension was:

.xls

Charts in MS Excel

Excel can be used to create:

• Bar Charts
• Column Charts
• Pie Charts
• Line Charts
• Area Charts

Charts are used to present data graphically.

Practice Question

1. MS Excel is primarily a:

A. Word processor
B. Spreadsheet program
C. Presentation program
D. Web browser

Answer: B. Spreadsheet program

2. An Excel file is called a:

A. Document
B. Workbook
C. Slide
D. Database

Answer: B. Workbook

3. A workbook contains:

A. Worksheets
B. Slides
C. Pages only
D. Paragraphs

Answer: A. Worksheets

4. The intersection of a row and a column is called:

A. Table
B. Cell
C. Box
D. Range

Answer: B. Cell

5. Rows in Excel are identified by:

A. Letters
B. Numbers
C. Symbols
D. Colours

Answer: B. Numbers

6. Columns in Excel are identified by:

A. Numbers
B. Letters
C. Symbols
D. Roman numerals only

Answer: B. Letters

7. The address of the cell at column B and row 5 is:

A. 5B
B. B5
C. B-5
D. 5-B

Answer: B. B5

8. An Excel formula generally begins with:

A. +
B. #
C. =
D. @

Answer: C. =

9. Which function is used to add numbers in Excel?

A. COUNT()
B. SUM()
C. ADD()
D. TOTAL()

Answer: B. SUM()

10. Which function returns the highest value?

A. HIGH()
B. MAX()
C. TOP()
D. LARGEONLY()

Answer: B. MAX()

11. Which function returns the lowest value?

A. LOW()
B. MIN()
C. SMALLONLY()
D. BOTTOM()

Answer: B. MIN()

12. Which function is used to calculate the average?

A. MEAN()
B. AVG()
C. AVERAGE()
D. MID()

Answer: C. AVERAGE()

13. The modern Excel file extension is:

A. .docx
B. .pptx
C. .xlsx
D. .txt

Answer: C. .xlsx

14. Formulas in Excel start with the ___ symbol.
 (A): #
 (B): &
 (C): =
 (D): *

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Answer: (C)

MS POWERPOINT

Microsoft PowerPoint is presentation software used to create and display presentations.

Common Uses

• Presentations
• Seminars
• Classroom teaching
• Business meetings
• Training programmes

Important PowerPoint Terms

Presentation: A collection of slides is called a Presentation.

Slide: A single page or screen of a presentation is called a Slide.

Slide Show: The process of displaying slides one after another is called a Slide Show.

Theme: A predefined combination of colours, fonts and effects used in a presentation.

Transition: A visual effect used when moving from one slide to another.

Animation: An effect applied to text or objects within a slide.

MS PowerPoint File Extension

The modern PowerPoint presentation file extension is:

.pptx

The older file extension was:

.ppt

Important PowerPoint Shortcut Keys

Function	Shortcut Key
New Presentation	Ctrl + N
Save	Ctrl + S
Open	Ctrl + O
Print	Ctrl + P
New Slide	Ctrl + M
Start Slide Show	F5
End Slide Show	Esc
Duplicate Slide/Object	Ctrl + D

Practice Question

1. MS PowerPoint is used to create:

A. Spreadsheets
B. Presentations
C. Databases
D. Text files only

Answer: B. Presentations

2. A single page of a PowerPoint presentation is called:

A. Worksheet
B. Slide
C. Document
D. Frame

Answer: B. Slide

3. A collection of slides is called a:

A. Workbook
B. Presentation
C. Worksheet
D. Document

Answer: B. Presentation

4. The modern PowerPoint file extension is:

A. .docx
B. .xlsx
C. .pptx
D. .pps

Answer: C. .pptx

5. Which key starts a PowerPoint slide show from the beginning?

A. F1
B. F2
C. F5
D. F12

Answer: C. F5

6. Which shortcut key is used to insert a new slide?

A. Ctrl + N
B. Ctrl + M
C. Ctrl + S
D. Ctrl + Shift + S

Answer: B. Ctrl + M

7. The effect used when moving from one slide to another is called:

A. Animation
B. Transition
C. Formatting
D. Presentation

Answer: B. Transition

8. An effect applied to text or objects on a slide is called:

A. Animation
B. Transition
C. Slide Show
D. Theme

Answer: A. Animation

9. Which key is used to exit a slide show?

A. Enter
B. Esc
C. F5
D. Ctrl

Answer: B. Esc

10. Which term is used to describe how a slide will arrive on the screen in MS-PowerPoint?
 A. Slide transition
 B. Slide animation
 C. Slide show
 D. Theme

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Answer:  A. Slide transition

11.Which of the following is not SmartArt in MS-PowerPoint?
 A. List
 B. Cycle
 C. Table
 D. Matrix

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Answer: C. Table