Solve Karnataka VAO computer questions by identifying the action, calculation or role being tested. Attempt 14 original MCQs with explained answers, then two fresh transfer questions below. Record each missed distinction and use the revision map to choose your next chapter.
Computer Knowledge carries 30 of Paper II's 100 marks under Rule 6(2)(b) of Karnataka's 2021 direct-recruitment rules. The rule names the broad subject; it does not assign an official Excel or MS Office quota. The clusters here are our teaching choices. All 16 questions are independent practice written by OpenExamPrep, not official, previous-year or predicted 2026 questions, and this short set is not the complete computer syllabus.
Read the job before the familiar word
Cover each explanation until you have selected an option and written a reason. Underline the requested action: retain, move, undo, add, count, average, copy, personalize, switch or identify. Match the answer to that action before choosing a familiar term.
The shortcut questions specify Windows. The spreadsheet questions use Excel's English function names and A1 references; stated numbers are numeric values, text remains text, and empty means genuinely empty, not a formula displaying an empty string. Assume ordinary copy/paste of formulas, with no rows or columns inserted. These details let you reason about one answer rather than guess an unstated environment.
Windows: retain, relocate or reverse?
1. Keep the original text
In Windows Notepad, Meera selects a sentence and wants to place a copy on the clipboard without removing the selected sentence. Which shortcut should she use?
- A. Ctrl+X
- B. Ctrl+C
- C. Ctrl+V
- D. Ctrl+Z
Answer: B — Ctrl+C. The decisive requirement is to retain the selected sentence. Copy places its contents on the clipboard while leaving the source text in place. Cut, Ctrl+X, would remove the selected text; paste, Ctrl+V, inserts clipboard contents at the destination. Undo, Ctrl+Z, reverses an earlier edit. Choose the command from the required change to the document, rather than choosing any shortcut associated with the clipboard.
2. Move a file into another folder
In Windows File Explorer, a writable file is in the Drafts folder. You want it in Final with no copy left in Drafts. Both folders are on the same local drive, and no naming conflict exists. Which sequence performs that move?
- A. Copy the file, open Final, paste
- B. Cut the file, open Final, paste
- C. Copy the file, remain in Drafts, paste
- D. Rename the file while it remains in Drafts
Answer: B — cut, then paste in Final. Cutting prepares the selected file for relocation; pasting in the destination completes the move. Copy-and-paste would leave the original in Drafts, so it fails the stated requirement even though a file appears in Final. Pasting in Drafts does not choose the required destination. Renaming changes the name, not the folder. The useful check is the end state: one file in Final and none in Drafts.
3. Reverse the latest edit
In Windows Notepad, you accidentally type a word. No other edit follows, and you want to reverse that typing. Which shortcut applies?
- A. Ctrl+Y
- B. Ctrl+S
- C. Ctrl+Z
- D. Ctrl+V
Answer: C — Ctrl+Z. Undo reverses the latest typing operation in this situation. Ctrl+Y is redo: it can reapply typing that was previously undone, which is the opposite direction. Ctrl+S saves the document; saving does not undo the inserted word. Ctrl+V pastes clipboard text and can add another edit. Ask whether you are reversing or reapplying an action. A correct shortcut name is useful only when it matches that direction.
These use the default actions in Microsoft's Windows shortcut reference; application-specific shortcuts can differ.
Excel: work out the result before selecting a function
4. Add every cell in a continuous range
Excel cells D3, D4, D5 and D6 contain 6, 11, 4 and 9 respectively. Which formula adds all four values and returns 30?
- A.
=SUM(D3,D6) - B.
=COUNT(D3:D6) - C.
=AVERAGE(D3:D6) - D.
=SUM(D3:D6)
Answer: D — =SUM(D3:D6). The colon specifies the continuous range, so SUM adds 6 + 11 + 4 + 9 = 30. The comma in option A supplies only the two endpoint cells, giving 6 + 9 = 15; it does not include the intervening cells. COUNT returns four numeric entries, not their total. AVERAGE gives 30 divided by 4, or 7.5. Check both the function and the range notation; either can change the result.
5. Count numeric entries, not their total
Cells E2:E6 contain, in order: the number 8, the text Pending, the number 0, an empty cell, and the number 12. What does =COUNT(E2:E6) return?
- A. 20
- B. 4
- C. 3
- D. 5
Answer: C — 3. The numeric entries are 8, 0 and 12, so there are three. Zero is a number and counts. The referenced text and empty cell do not count. Twenty is the sum of the numbers; four is the number of nonempty cells; five is the number of cells in the range. This question passes a cell range to COUNT, so do not import the different treatment of some values typed directly as function arguments.
6. Separate zero from an empty cell
Cells F4:F7 contain the numbers 12 and 0, an empty cell, then the number 24. What does =AVERAGE(F4:F7) return?
- A. 12
- B. 18
- C. 9
- D. 36
Answer: A — 12. AVERAGE includes the numeric zero but ignores the genuinely empty cell. The sum is 36 and the numeric count is three, giving 36 ÷ 3 = 12. Eighteen incorrectly drops the zero and divides by two. Nine incorrectly treats the empty cell as another zero and divides by four. Thirty-six stops at the sum. Write the denominator before dividing: a range with four positions need not supply four numbers to AVERAGE.
Microsoft documents COUNT's referenced-range rules and AVERAGE's treatment of zeros and empty cells. The values and calculations above are original examples.
7. Copy a relative formula down one row
Cell D5 contains =B5+C5. You copy D5 and paste the formula into D6, exactly one row down in the same column. What formula is in D6?
- A.
=B5+C5 - B.
=B6+C6 - C.
=C5+D5 - D.
=B4+C4
Answer: B — =B6+C6. B5 and C5 are relative references. Copying the formula down one row shifts both referenced row numbers down one, while their column letters stay unchanged. Option A would retain the original references instead of applying that offset. Option C shifts columns as though you had copied right; option D shifts rows upward. Trace the movement of the formula cell first, then apply that same movement to each unfixed reference.
8. Keep a shared multiplier fixed
Cell F7 contains =D7*$H$2. You copy its formula one row down into F8. Which formula results?
- A.
=D7*$H$2 - B.
=D8*$H$3 - C.
=E7*$I$2 - D.
=D8*$H$2
Answer: D — =D8*$H$2. D7 is relative, so its row changes to 8. The dollar signs fix both the column and row of H2; that reference stays H2 when copied. Option A wrongly freezes D7 too. Option B changes a row that is explicitly fixed. Option C changes columns despite a downward copy. An absolute reference does not freeze the entire formula: inspect each reference separately to determine which parts can move.
Microsoft's formula reference guide explains relative, absolute and mixed references. To verify range syntax separately, see creating a formula with a function.
Word and PowerPoint: identify the feature's purpose
9. Personalize a batch of letters
A hypothetical office has one standard invitation letter and a spreadsheet containing each recipient's name and address. Which Word feature can generate individual letters with those personalized fields?
- A. Mail merge
- B. Track Changes
- C. Find and Replace with one replacement value
- D. Page numbering
Answer: A — mail merge. Mail merge combines a main document with recipient records from a data source. The shared letter stays consistent while fields such as name and address change for each recipient. Track Changes records revisions, rather than supplying a different recipient record for each letter. A single Find and Replace value cannot cycle through the recipient list. Page numbering labels pages. The cue is repeated documents with variable fields, not merely editing one letter.
10. Change the effect between slides
In PowerPoint, you want an effect when the presentation advances from slide 1 to slide 2. You are not changing how text appears within either slide. Which feature applies?
- A. Comments
- B. Animation
- C. Transition
- D. Spell Check
Answer: C — transition. A transition controls the effect between slides. Animation is the closest distractor because it also creates visual effects, but it acts on text or objects within a slide. Comments provide review notes, and Spell Check identifies spelling issues. Locate the boundary in the question: movement from one whole slide to another points to transition. If a bullet appeared while the same slide remained visible, animation would fit that different job.
The relevant primary guides are Microsoft's mail merge explanation and PowerPoint transitions and animations.
Web questions: name the role, then recognize deception
11. Identify the installed browsing program
A learner opens Firefox, types a known website address and reads the resulting page. In this scenario, what is Firefox?
- A. A search engine that indexes pages
- B. A web browser that retrieves and displays pages
- C. The web server hosting that website
- D. The website's collection of pages
Answer: B — a web browser. Firefox is the program the learner uses to access and display the page. A search engine helps locate resources from a query; it is not required when the user already has the address. The web server supplies hosted resources, while the website is the collection being accessed. A search box inside a browser does not turn the browser into a search engine. Identify the program's role in the stated action.
12. Distinguish the Web from its network
Which statement correctly describes the relationship between the World Wide Web and the Internet?
- A. They are two names for exactly the same system
- B. The Internet is one website within the Web
- C. Every Internet service is necessarily a web page
- D. The Web is one application using the Internet
Answer: D — the Web uses the Internet. The Internet supplies the wider network over which services operate; the Web is a system of linked resources using that network. Treating them as synonyms confuses a service with its underlying infrastructure. Option B reverses that relationship, while option C incorrectly reduces every Internet service to a page. For this question, classify the two terms by their level: network first, service built on that network second.
13. Distinguish an address from the host
A browser requests a page using its URL, and a remote web server sends the page files back. Which pairing describes those two roles?
- A. The URL identifies a resource; the web server supplies hosted resources
- B. The URL displays pages; the web server identifies their addresses
- C. The URL identifies a resource; the web server ranks keyword-search results
- D. The URL provides the network connection; the web server displays pages on the reader's screen
Answer: A — resource identifier and hosting service. A URL identifies the requested resource; the web server sends hosted content in response. Option B gives the browser's display role to an address. Option C describes a search engine's discovery role, not this server's stated hosting role. Option D confuses an identifier with network connectivity and remote hosting with local display. Trace address, request, response and display as separate roles.
For these distinctions, consult MDN's browsing terminology, URL definition and Web versus Internet explanation.
14. Recognize a request designed to steal credentials
A message pretends to be from an examination service, threatens immediate account closure, and sends you to an imitation sign-in page asking for your password. The sender and page are fraudulent. What attack is described?
- A. Unsolicited advertising alone
- B. Denial of service blocking access
- C. Phishing to obtain credentials
- D. A legitimate password reset
Answer: C — phishing. Impersonation and a fake sign-in page are being used to obtain a password, matching NIST's phishing definitions. Urgency alone would not establish phishing. Mere advertising omits the credential-theft mechanism; denial of service targets availability rather than soliciting credentials. A legitimate reset contradicts the explicitly fraudulent sender and page. Classify the action being attempted, rather than treating all unwanted messages as the same attack.
Turn a missed question into one revision action
After each uncertain or wrong answer, record the question number, your choice and the overlooked requirement. Include lucky guesses: a correct letter without a defensible reason leaves a learning gap.
| Questions | Error to name | Next revision action |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | Confused retain, move or reverse | Practise each action on disposable text/files, then review software and file management |
| 4–6 | Confused range, numeric count or denominator | Recalculate the stated inputs on paper, then review Excel functions |
| 7–8 | Applied the wrong copy direction or ignored fixed references | Mark movable rows/columns before copying; use the same Excel chapter |
| 9–10 | Matched a feature by familiarity instead of purpose | Contrast recipient fields and slide boundaries in Word and PowerPoint |
| 11–14 | Confused program, address, service, network or deception | Draw their roles in one request and review internet and cybersecurity |
If you chose 18 in question 6, revise zero belongs in the numeric denominator. If you chose animation in question 10, change the scenario: keep the slide visible and make one object appear. Explain why the new requirement changes the answer.
Use the two interactive questions below to transfer these distinctions to a new copy direction and a different web-service action. Explain your answer before submitting. Your result on this small author-created diagnostic cannot establish readiness, an official pass mark or a predicted selection score.
After revision, use free Karnataka VAO practice to test unfamiliar examples. For a full-paper session, follow our previous-year-paper and mock-test workflow, checking KEA's current documents before using a paper or key.
