Viewing and Opening Documents

Windows makes it easy to manage the personal and business files and folders you work with every day. You can access your Documents folder from the Start menu. In the Documents folder, you can view file information, organize files and folders, and open files and folders. Once you open more than one folder, you can use buttons on the Command bar to help you move quickly between folders. Depending on previous installation, devices installed, or other users, your personal folders might differ.

View and Open Documents

Click the Start button, and then click Documents.

Click a file to select it.

Review the document details in the Details pane.

Double-click the file to open it.

Use the scroll bars to view additional documents. Drag the scroll box, or click the scroll arrows.

When you’re done, click the Close button.

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Did You Know? Windows creates a separate Documents folder for each user. When you share a computer, Windows creates a separate Documents folder and stores personalized settings for each user. Each user’s Documents folder is located in the Documents And Settings folder under the user’s name on the local hard disk.

Open Any Folder and Switch Between Folders

Click the Start button, and then click the user account name, or any other Explorer window, such as Documents, Pictures, or Music.

Double-click the folder to open it.

Click the Back button or Forward button to return or move to a previously visited window.

When you’re done, click the Close button.

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Did You Know? Windows stores music and picture files in separate folders in your personal folder. Windows stores music files in the Music folder and pictures in the Pictures folder, which you can access from the Start menu.

For Your Information: Opening a Document with a Different Program Most documents on your desktop are associated with a specific program. For example, if you double-click a document whose file name ends with the three-letter extension “.txt,” Windows automatically opens the document with Notepad, a text-only editor. There are situations, though, when you need to open a document with a program other than the one Windows chooses, or when you want to choose a different default program. For example, you might want to open a text document in WordPad rather than Notepad so that you can add formatting and graphics. To do this, right-click the document icon you want to open, point to Open With, and then click the application you want to use to open the document, or click Choose Program to access more program options. Once you open a text file using WordPad, this option is automatically added to the Open With menu.

See Also See “Changing the Explorer Window View” on page 55 for information on changing the display of a folder’s contents.