The Writer window — Nixt Writer docs

When a document is open, the Writer window has five parts, from top to bottom:

The title bar — the document’s name, Close, Save, Save a copy as and the More menu.
The ribbon — tabs of commands grouped by task.
The page — your document, with the find bar and any banners above it.
Panes — optional panels that open at the right of the page.
The status bar — the paragraph style, word count, messages and zoom.

The window opens at 1320 × 860. On macOS, the window’s own close, minimise and zoom buttons sit at the left of the title bar, and the window can’t be made smaller than 1080 × 680.

Title bar

Control	What it does
Back arrow (Close)	Closes the document and returns to the start screen. Asks first if there are unsaved changes. See Close a document.
Document name	The file name without its extension.
Amber dot	The document has unsaved changes.
Lock icon	The file can’t be written to, so Save is unavailable. Use Save a copy as.
Location	The file’s path, or Not saved yet for a new document.
Save	Saves the document. `⌘S` (`Ctrl+S` on Windows and Linux).
Download icon (Save a copy as)	Saves the document as a Word document, PDF, web page, Markdown or plain text. See Save a copy in another format.
Three dots (More)	Opens the More menu.

Item	What it does
Print…	Lays the document out as a PDF and opens it in your PDF viewer, where you print. See Print.
Find and replace…	Opens the find bar.
Navigator	Shows or hides the Navigator pane.
Reviewing pane	Shows or hides the reviewing pane.
Word count…	Opens the Word count dialog.
Rotate the page	Switches between portrait and landscape.
Narrow margins	Sets 0.5-inch margins on every side.
Normal margins	Sets 1-inch margins on every side.
Document properties…	Edit the document’s Title, Author and Subject. See Document properties.

The ribbon

The ribbon has eight tabs: Home, Insert, Design, Layout, References, Mailings, Review and View. Each tab arranges its controls in groups, with the group’s name printed underneath in capitals. This guide writes group names as Clipboard, Font and so on.

Click a tab to show its controls.
Click the tab that is already open to fold the ribbon away, leaving only the tab names. Click any tab to show it again.
The chevron at the right end of the tab row does the same: Collapse the ribbon and Show the ribbon.
Hover over any control to see what it does. Where a control has a keyboard shortcut, the tooltip shows it.
A control that is dimmed can’t be used right now. Its tooltip says why — for example “Open a data source first”.
If the window is too narrow for a tab’s groups, scroll the ribbon sideways.

Undo and Redo sit at the right end of the tab row, whichever tab is open. Their tooltips name the step they will undo or redo, for example Undo Typing.

Some groups appear only when they apply:

Table and Shading appear on the Insert tab while the caret is in a table.
Picture appears on the Insert tab while the caret is directly before or after a picture.

Home tab

Group	Control	What it does
Clipboard	Copy	Copies the selected text as plain text.
	Paste	Pastes plain text at the caret. Several lines become separate paragraphs.
Styles	Paragraph style list	Applies a style to the paragraph at the caret.
	Styles pane button	Opens the Styles pane — “make one, or change what one means”.
Font	Font list	Sets the font of the selection.
	Font size list	Sets the size, from 8 to 72 points.
	Bold, Italic, Underline, Strikethrough	Turn the formatting on or off.
	Text colour	Sets the colour of the text, or No colour.
	Highlight	Puts a highlight behind the text, or No colour.
	Clear formatting	Removes character formatting from the selection.
Paragraph	Align left, Centre, Align right, Justify	Aligns the paragraph.
	How this list counts	Chooses bullets or a numbering format for a list.
	Restart button	Start this list again at 1.
	Bulleted list, Numbered list	Turn the paragraph into a list item, or back.
	Decrease indent, Increase indent	Move the paragraph in or out, or change its list level.
	Line spacing	Sets line spacing, from 1.0× to 3.0×.
Editing	Find and replace	Shows or hides the find bar.

Details: Formatting text, Paragraphs and styles, Lists, Find and replace.

Insert tab

Group	Control	What it does
Tables	Insert a table	Inserts a three-by-three table below the paragraph at the caret.
Breaks	Insert a page break	Starts a new page after the paragraph at the caret.
	Insert a line break	Starts a new line inside the paragraph.
Header & footer	Header button	Adds or edits the header.
	Footer button	Adds or edits the footer.
	Put a page number in the footer	Replaces the footer with `Page {page} of {pages}`, centred.
Links	Insert a link / Edit the link	Opens the link dialog.
	Open or Go to	Appears when the caret is in a link. Follows it.
	Bookmark button	Opens the Bookmarks dialog.
	Insert a cross-reference	Refers to a bookmark’s text or page. Dimmed until the document has a bookmark.
Illustrations	Insert a picture	Inserts a picture from a file.
Table (in a table)	All borders	Draws light grey borders on every edge.
	No borders	Removes the table’s borders.
	Header row button	Makes the caret’s row a header row, or not.
	Give every column the same width	Evens out the column widths.
Shading (in a table)	Swatches: no shading (with a slash), grey, blue, green, amber	Fills the cell at the caret.
Picture (by a picture)	Width list	25%, 50%, 75% or 100% of the text column.
	Alt text button	Adds or edits the picture’s alt text.

Details: Tables, Writing and editing, Page layout, Links, bookmarks and cross-references, Pictures and charts.

Design tab

Group	Control	What it does
Themes	Four theme swatches	Apply the Office, Ink, Slate or Warmth theme.
Page colour	Swatches: no colour (with a slash), cream, grey, blue, green	Sets the colour of the page on screen.
Watermark	Watermark button	Adds, changes or removes a text watermark.
Page border	A rule round every page	Draws a thin grey border round each page.
	No page border	Removes it.

Details: Themes, page colour and watermarks.

Layout tab

Group	Control	What it does
Page	Page size list	A4, Letter, Legal, A3, A5 or Executive.
	Switch to landscape / Switch to portrait	Changes the orientation.
Columns	Columns list	One, Two or Three columns in the printed and exported document.
Margins	Narrow, Normal, Wide	0.5, 1 or 1.5 inches on every side.
Spacing	Space after a paragraph	0, 4, 8, 12, 16 or 24 points after the paragraph at the caret.

Details: Page layout, Paragraphs and styles.

References tab

Group	Control	What it does
Table of contents	Contents button	Inserts a table of contents, or rebuilds the one already there.
	Update the contents	Appears when there is one. Rebuilds it from the headings.
Footnotes	Footnote button	Inserts a footnote at the caret.
	Footnote count	Appears when there are footnotes. Shows or hides the Footnotes pane.
Captions	Caption button	Adds a numbered caption below the paragraph or table at the caret.
	Insert a table of figures / Rebuild the table of figures	Lists the Figure captions.
Citations	Add a source to this document	Opens the Add a source dialog.
	Citations list	Inserts a citation of one of the document’s sources.
	Reference list button	Inserts or rebuilds a reference list of everything cited.
Cross-references	Insert a cross-reference	Same as on the Insert tab.
	Update fields button	Updates cross-references, page references, caption numbers and citations.

Details: Tables of contents, footnotes and citations, Links, bookmarks and cross-references.

Mailings tab

Group	Control	What it does
Data source	Open a CSV…	Loads an address list. After loading, the button shows the number of records.
Fields	Fields list	Inserts one of the data source’s columns at the caret.
Preview	Preview button	Shows the letter as it reads for one record, or goes back to the letter.
	The record before, The record after	Move through the records.
Finish	Merge	Makes one page per record with the fields filled in.

Details: Mail merge.

Review tab

Group	Control	What it does
Proofing	Word count button	Shows the word count and opens the Word count dialog.
Tracking	Track changes button	Turns recording of tracked changes on or off.
	Reviewing pane button	Opens the reviewing pane on its Changes tab.
Changes	The previous tracked change, The next tracked change	Move the caret between changes.
	Accept button, Reject button	Accept or reject the change at the caret.
	Accept all, Reject all	Resolve every tracked change in the document.
Protect	Lock button	Restricts editing, or stops restricting it.
Versions	Clock button	Shows the Earlier versions pane.
Accessibility	Accessibility button	Shows the Accessibility pane. The tooltip says how many findings there are.
Compare	Compare button	Compares this document with another `.docx`.
Comments	Comment on the selection	Opens the reviewing pane on its Comments tab.
	Comment count	Shows None or the number of comments, and opens the reviewing pane.

Details: Comments, track changes and compare, Restricting editing, Autosave and earlier versions, Accessibility checker.

View tab

Group	Control	What it does
Show	Navigator	Shows or hides the Navigator pane.
Zoom	Zoom out	Zooms out by 10%.
	Zoom percentage	Reset the zoom to 100%.
	Zoom in	Zooms in by 10%.

The page

Writer shows your document as one continuous sheet of paper at the page width you chose, with the margins around the text. Where page breaks, headers, footers and columns fall on paper is worked out when you print or export.

On the page you may also see:

What you see	What it means
Header and Footer bands	The document’s header at the top and footer at the bottom. Click one to edit it. They appear when the document has a header or footer, or after you add one.
Page break rule	A page break. The × at its right removes it.
A note such as “Two columns. Shown here as one — the export and the print are in two.”	The document is set to more than one column.
A row of small controls under a table	Appears while the caret is in the table: Row, Column and Cell controls and the hint “Tab moves to the next cell”.
Blue underlined text	A link.
Tinted text	Text with a comment on it.
Green underline, red strikethrough, dotted amber underline, double underline or strikethrough	Tracked changes. See How changes look.
Amber highlight	A match from the find bar.
A faint diagonal word across the page	The watermark.

Click in the space below the last paragraph to put the caret at the end of the document.

Bars above the page

Bar	When it appears
Find bar	When you open Find and replace. See Find and replace.
Restriction banner	When the document restricts editing. It says what the restriction is, adds “It is a request, not a lock — the text is in the file either way.”, and offers Stop restricting. See Restricting editing.
Merge preview banner	While you preview a mail merge. It shows Record n of total and offers Back to the letter. See Mail merge.

Panes

Panes open at the right of the page, one at a time. Each has a close button (×) at its top right.

Pane	How to open it	What it is for
Styles	Home › Styles › Styles pane button	Apply, create, redefine and delete paragraph styles.
Navigator	View › Show › Navigator, or More › Navigator	Jump to any heading.
Review	Review › Tracking › reviewing pane button, Review › Comments, or More › Reviewing pane	Comments and tracked changes.
Footnotes	References › Footnotes › footnote count	Edit and delete footnotes.
Earlier versions	Review › Versions › clock button	Open an autosave copy.
Accessibility	Review › Accessibility › accessibility button	Work through accessibility findings.

Status bar

Part	What it shows
Style	The style of the paragraph at the caret, by its internal name — for example `Heading1` for Heading 1.
Word count	The number of words. Click it to open the Word count dialog.
Tracking on	Appears while track changes is on. Click it to turn tracking off.
Comments	Appears when the document has comments: the number of comment threads. Click it to open the reviewing pane.
Message area	The last thing that happened — for example Saved to and a path, or 3 matches. When there is no message, it shows a summary: words, characters and about how many pages.
Zoom	The zoom percentage. Each click adds 25%, up to 200%, then goes back to 50%.
Spinner	Writer is saving, exporting or comparing.

Zoom

You can zoom the page between 40% and 300%. Zoom changes only what you see, not the document.

To	Do this
Zoom in by 10%	View › Zoom › Zoom in, or press `⌘=` (`Ctrl+=` on Windows and Linux).
Zoom out by 10%	View › Zoom › Zoom out, or press `⌘-` (`Ctrl+-` on Windows and Linux).
Go back to 100%	Click the percentage on the View tab.
Step through 50% to 200%	Click the percentage in the status bar.

Light and dark appearance

Close any open document to return to the start screen.
Click the moon button (Switch to dark) or the sun button (Switch to light) at the right of the top bar.

The appearance applies to the whole window, including the page on screen. It doesn’t change the document.

Press Tab to move between buttons, tabs and list items outside the page. A coloured ring shows which control has focus.
Press Return or Space to activate the focused control.
Buttons have names that screen readers announce. For ribbon and title bar buttons, the name is the same as the tooltip.
Keyboard shortcuts such as ⌘B work while the caret is in the document or the find bar. See Keyboard shortcuts.