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Home > Jan's CompLit 101 > Working with Windows 10 > Files & Folders > Files: Text - Create & Save
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Jan's Working with Windows 10:

    Files: Text - Create & Save

To work with files you must first have some! Playing around with files already on the hard disk might get us all in trouble. So you will first create some files. Then you can play with them!

You learned to open an application from the Start menu in Windows Basics. In this section you will learn another method.


Notepad

Notepad with sample document (Win10)The application Notepad is a plain text editor. This means that you can create documents that contain only text - no graphics. It also means that you can't get fancy. No tables, frames, or other fancy features. So why bother??

Every word processor out there can read such a plain text document, when they don't read each other's file formats well at all! What Notepad creates is just fine for writing simple memos, lists, or quick notes and is widely used for writing programming code. So Notepad is well worth meeting.

Notepad opens with a new blank document ready for your typing. Many applications behave this way. Others offer you the option first of opening an existing document or picking a template for a new document.

The cursor is the shape that shows where the text you type will go. Different programs use somewhat different shapes. A vertical bar of some type is the most common. Do you see the cursor in the illustration of Notepad? It is the vertical bar at the end of the typing.

Icon: WarningUndo in Notepad: You can only undo the last action in Notepad. Clicking somewhere can be an action!


Reminders of how a keyboard works:

  • Key: Shift To type a capital letter like R or the symbol at the top of a key like $ or #, hold the SHIFT key down while you press the key you want.
  • Key: Enter To move the cursor down to create a new line, press the ENTER key when the cursor is at the end of the line.
  • Key: Delete Use the DELETE key to erase the character to the right of the cursor.
  • Key: Backspace Use the BACKSPACE key to erase the character to the left of the cursor.
  • Key: Delete To erase several characters or lines, select the text you want to erase by dragging over it. The text is now highlighted with a background color and reverse color for the selected text. Press the DELETE key .

Icon Step-by-Step 

Step-by-Step: Text - Create & Save

 Icon Step-by-Step

What you will learn: to open an application from File Explorer
to create a new document
to save a document
to close an application

Start with:  Desktop  Icon: Class disk

Start a Program from File Explorer

To use this method to open an application, you need to know:
      a. the name of the file that starts the application
      b. what folder the file is in

  1. File Explorer: notepad.exe (Win10)Open a File Explorer window that shows the contents of the computer.
    (Hint: Double click the This PC icon on the Desktop.)
  2. If necessary, expand drive C and scroll down to the folder Windows.
  3. Select the folder Windows to show its contents in the Context pane.
  4. In the Context pane, scroll until you see the file notepad.exe.

    Icon: ProblemProblem: Filenames do not show the extensions
    Most installations of Windows do not show the file name extensions by default. Anyone who works with many types of documents will understand why hiding the extension is a bad idea!

    Ribbon: View > Show/Hide tab group > check box for File name extensions (Win10)Solution: Change the setting -On the View ribbon tab in the Show/hide section, check the box 'File name extensions' to show the extensions.

  5. Double Click Double-click on notepad.exe to start the program
    OR
    With the file selected, press the ENTER key.
    Notepad opens with a blank document ready for your typing.

Create a Document

  1. Notepad document (Win10)Type the first line:
     This is a sample document. 

  2. Press the ENTER key to get a new line.
  3. Type the second line:
       I wrote it in Notepad. 
  4. Press the ENTER key twice to get a blank line.
  5. Type your name.
  6. Press the ENTER key to get a new line.
  7. Select from the menu bar  Edit  >  Time\Date  to insert the current time and date.
  8. Press the ENTER key to get a new line.
  9. Type the name of the course you are taking that these lessons are part of.

Save a Document

  1. Icon: Class disk Insert the Class disk into the drive or USB port, if it is not already there.
  2. Select from the menu bar  File  >  Save .

    Since this document has not been saved before, you will see the Save As dialog box. For most applications the Save In text box shows the folder last used to save something, even if it was by a different program. Others programs have a default folder for saving files.

  3. Inspect this window and its parts.
  4. If necessary, in the folder tree, scroll to see your Class disk and then Left click click its name.
    It's contents display at the right.
  5. Dialog: Save As - saving doc 1.txt (Win10)Double Click Double-click on the folder my docs and then Double Click double-click on win project2.
  6. At the bottom of the dialog, in the text box File name: type  doc 1  .
    Yes, there is a space in this name!
  7. Left click  Click on the down arrow in the text box Save as type: to see what your choices are. It's a very short list! Other programs may have a long list of file types to choose from.
  8. Select the type Text Documents.
  9. Icon: Class disk Left click Click on the Save button.
    The file is saved.
    The complete path looks something like:
      e:\class\win project2\doc 1.txt , where the letter for your drive may be different. It depends on what kind of removable media you are using and how many USB devices are connected to your computer.

    Remember - spaces are important in a path, too!

    Notepad documentThe title bar of Notepad changes to include the new name, with a txt extension automatically added. Most applications have a default extension to add to a filename if you don't type it in yourself.

    To see what extensions an application uses on its saved files, click on the down arrow in the 'Save as type' box. In an Open dialog box, on the other hand, this list will show what extensions the program can open. But it may not be able to save in those types. For example, Microsoft Word can open Lotus Word Pro documents (extension lwp) but cannot save in that format. It's a one-way translation.


Close Application

  1. Left click Click the Close button Button: Close (Win10) on the Title bar.
    Notepad closes.

If you made changes to your document since the last time you saved it, a dialog will appear that asks if you want to save the document. Only you know if you need to save those changes.