Microsoft Word is the most popular program for managing text documents. Depending on the type of document you are writing, legal, formal or custom, each of these needs specific formatting guidelines. If you use the application, you will find that respecting these guidelines is quite simple thanks to all the tools at its disposal. If you don't have much experience using Microsoft Word, don't worry. You can format your document like a pro in no time.
Steps
Part 1 of 3: Format the Document Layout
Step 1. Explore the user interface
Get familiar with the interface elements where formatting tools are available. You may need to enable them on the toolbar. You can do this by selecting Toolbars from the "View" tab and choosing "Standard".
- The Menu bar is the area at the top of the screen where you will find File, Edit, View and other important commands.
- The Toolbar is located just below the Menu bar and displays commands for common tasks such as saving, printing, and opening a document.
- The Ribbon is located at the top of the workspace, below the Toolbar, and groups Microsoft Word features into categories, such as the Home tab and the Layout tab.
Step 2. Edit the alignment
Different types of documents require different text alignments. You can choose whether to align the entire document left, right or center by clicking on the paragraph section alignment buttons on the Ribbon.
- These buttons are represented as a small version of a document, with small black lines aligned according to the specific function of the button.
- You can find the alignment buttons towards the center of the ribbon, after the command for Underline and before the command for Bullets.
Step 3. Set the line spacing of the document
Change the settings by clicking the Leading and Paragraph Spacing button. Any text typed after using this tool will have the spacing you set.
- Find the Leading and Paragraph Spacing button on the ribbon after the alignment buttons. This button looks like a list of lines with two vertical arrows on the left pointing one up and the other down.
- If you want to change the leading of an existing line or paragraph, select what interests you and click the Leading and paragraph spacing button to change.
- In addition, you can change the line spacing and spacing of the paragraph by clicking on the Format tab in the Menu bar at the top of the screen, selecting "Paragraph" from the list and choosing the desired spacing.
- Many professional documents such as university theses and cover letters should be double-spaced.
Step 4. Change the page orientation
If you need to write the document in a different orientation, click on the "Orientation" option in the Page Layout section on the Menu bar and choose a horizontal or vertical layout from the drop-down list.
Step 5. Change the document size in the Page Layout section in the Menu bar
If you need to print the document with a specific size, click the "Size" button and select the desired size from the drop-down list.
This will change the virtual size of the document you are writing
Step 6. Edit the header and footer of the document
The header contains information that will be displayed on each page of the document.
- To set the header, double click on the top of the page and the header field will be made available for editing.
- Edit the footer. Footers have the same characteristics as headers. The text in the footer will appear at the bottom of each page of the document.
- To set it up, double click at the bottom of the page and the footer field will be made available.
- Additionally, you can format headers and footers by selecting the "View" tab in the Menu bar at the top of the screen and clicking "Header and Footer" on the list. This command will open the headers and footers on the page and allow you to create or edit them.
Step 7. Edit the margin
Click the "Margins" button in the Page Setup section of the Page Layout tab, and select a margin from the default settings listed in the drop-down list.
If you want to use other sizes, click on "Custom Margins" at the bottom of the drop-down list to set them
Step 8. Add columns
If you need to create a newspaper-like document, you can do it by changing the format to columns. Select the "Columns" option on the ribbon and choose the number and alignment of the columns from the drop-down list. You will find the "Columns" button in the top row of the ribbon. This button has a green icon showing a small rectangle divided in half.
Note that this option differs from the one for columns that are part of elements such as tables that you can insert into your document
Step 9. Add bulleted and numbered lists
Select the text you want to be bulleted or numbered, and click the "Bulleted or Numbered Lists" button in the ribbon.
These buttons are located side by side on the ribbon, after the alignment buttons. The button for numbered lists shows three small lines with numbers on the left, while the button for bulleted lists three small lines with bullets on the left
Step 10. Format the document style
All documents have built-in standard styles (for example, Normal, Title, Heading 1). The default style for text is the Normal style. The template on which a document is based (for example, Normal.dotx), determines which styles are displayed on the ribbon and on the Styles tab.
- Before applying a style, you can see all available styles and preview how they will look when applied.
- On the Home tab or the Format tab on the Menu bar, in the Styles section, select and click on the desired style.
- You can also click the Edit button on the Styles tab to create your own style.
- By default, Word applies a style (for example, Heading 1) to an entire paragraph. To apply a style to only a part, select only the part of the paragraph you want to change.
Part 2 of 3: Format the Font
Step 1. Change the font settings
In the ribbon, you will see drop-down menus for the font type and size. To make changes to the text, you must first select the portion you want to work on. The portion to be edited can consist of single characters, specific words or entire paragraphs. After selecting the text, you can format it. For example, you can change the font, size and color.
Click to the left of the first word you wish to select and hold down the mouse button as you drag the cursor over all the words you wish to select
Step 2. Change the size, color and highlighting
Go to the drop-down lists on the ribbon to choose the desired font, format, color and highlighting. You will first see the button for the font, to the left just after the style button. Then you find the size button with the default one (usually 12).
- Use the formatting guidelines of the document you are writing when choosing the font style and size.
- The standard font for most academic and professional documents is Time New Roman size 12.
Step 3. Choose the text emphasis formatting you want to use
In addition to setting the font style and size, you can also change the emphasis of words and lines in the document. Next to the size button, you'll see those for Bold, Italic and Underline. The Bold button is represented with the capital B in bold, the Italic button with the capital I in italics, and the Underline button with the capital U underlined.
Just click the buttons on the ribbon, after selecting the portion of text you want to change
Step 4. Set the font highlight and colors
If you want to add colors and highlight text, you can do so by selecting the portion of text you are interested in and clicking the Text Highlighter Color button or the Font Color button on the ribbon.
Move to the far right of the ribbon to find the button to highlight text, a blue ABC with a white underline bar and the Font Color button, a letter A with a black bar underneath
Part 3 of 3: Adding Images and Graphics
Step 1. Drag an image into the document
Place it where you want it. Once you have released the image, it can be a little difficult to move it to a specific spot. There are a few ways to manipulate it more easily:
Step 2. Activate the wrapping text
Wrap text changes the layout of the document, allowing the text to position itself around the image wherever it is placed.
- Right-click on the image and hover over the Wrap Text option. Select the alignment that best fits your document. You will see a preview as you hover over each option.
- Select the image and then hold down the Ctrl key. While holding it, use the arrow keys to move the image within the document.
Step 3. Add a chart
Click on the "Insert" tab and then choose the "Chart" option. After choosing, a new toolbar will appear on the ribbon which will show a series of charts to choose from. Choose the one you prefer - a pie chart, for example.
Step 4. Edit the chart
Scroll to the corresponding section of the window and then choose from the available optionsj, for example "3-d Exploded Pie".
Click on "OK" so that the program inserts the graph into the Word document and displays the help window "Graph in Microsoft Word - Microsoft Excel"
Advice
- Unless you do not want to write the document freely, you must consult the guidelines of the document before changing the format.
- Aside from the header, footer, and page layout formats that affect the entire document, all other formatting tools can only be applied to specific parts of the document.
