how to write a essay on microsoft word

How to Use Microsoft Word Effectively for Essay Writing

Microsoft Word for Essay Writing

Using the traditional pen and paper to draft your essay has not completely gone out of style. However, if you want to effectively write, proofread and format your essay all at the same time, you need a sophisticated approach that would allow you to do all these in due time to succeed in professional essay writing from scratch.

It doesn’t matter how you feel about the Microsoft Word program but it is a word processing tool that you can’t do without in your profession. You get to use it daily as you go about your work.

Learning the basic aspect of using the program is quite not difficult. Most of us get to use the word processing program after learning the basics without taking out time to learn the more important features the program has.

To most people, that aspect is not necessary once they can type, search and replace words and make use of the format margins. I am guilty of that myself. I didn’t take out time to learn more than the basics before joining the tool.

I found out in my continuous use of Microsoft Word over the years that the program has some tricks that help to save time. If you are an impatient writer like me that wants to get each job done in the soonest possible time, you should learn about these alternative tools in the program. You will save a lot of time doing so.

Features How to Use Microsoft Word Effectively for Writing

• Track Changes . This feature comes in handy when I want to edit my work or give constructive criticism of another person’s work. The changes you make on the document appear on a highlight and that includes changes in format and deletions. The TRACK CHANGES option can be seen in the REVIEW tab and with it, the texts you edit are highlighted in red color.
• Document Map . The use of headings gives you an overview of the entire structure of the document when you use the special feature called DOCUMENT MAP. This feature makes it easy for you to skip through long documents and also to get the full picture of the storyline.
• Headings and Styles . When you make the necessary changes of marking section and chapter titles with the heading, it will make it easy for you to format the heading for the document in a single place. I use NORMAL for the body of the document and HEADING1 for the chapter titles.
• Headers and Footers . On the old typewriter, the typist has to manually include the page number and author name. This has been upgraded to a word progressing tool. You can add that information just once using the HEADER and it automatically appears on all pages.
• Comments . This can also be seen in the REVIEW column. With this feature, you can include margin notes into your document. This feature can be used for plenty of functions by a writer. For instance, you can use it to include reminders for some editing work you need to do in the future. You can also use it to create reminders on ideas you wish to develop later on in your document.
• Table of Contents . Most documents don’t need a table of content but when a document requires it, it can be stressful to manually create one. Not just the creation aspect, you have to go through the stress of updating it anytime you add more information to your document. The headings feature and TABLE OF CONTENTS work together. That is the Table of contents creates a table of headings and includes the page number where the heading can be found.
• Views . Microsoft Word provides you with different view options. With this option, you can get an overview of your overall manuscript in different ways.
• Compare Documents . Making edits manually in an older version of a manuscript can be a pain in the ass. This feature provides a highlight to pronounce the difference between the two documents. With this feature, you can go through the document at a later date and pick the better version.
• Full Screen . If you wish to focus on your writing without worrying about different tabs and editing buttons, the full-screen option comes in handy to minimize distraction.
• View Side by Side . With this feature, you can open up and review two documents at the same time without having to close one first.
• Integration with Endnote . If you are working on a nonfiction project, you will need to include a lot of references in your work. The endnote feature enables you to keep track of your references in a neat way.
• Full Page . This feature enables you to view your work as a full document. This is not the best mode for reading, but it allows you to check your documents for formatting errors and blank pages.

You can effectively use Microsoft Word for your professional essay writing if you consistently practice with the software and look for new tips every day. Microsoft Word is easy-to-use software but you don’t want to stop at the mediocre level. There are other things you could do with your software as outlined in this educational piece.

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Enhance Essays with Microsoft Word's Grammar Check

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Home Mobile Android Using Microsoft Word to Write Essays

Using Microsoft Word to Write Essays

University students particularly first year students struggle with writing essays for their course works and home assignments. At this level people are not familiar with the detail requirements of their essays which compelled them to go online for plagiarized essays and other third party websites who help these students and create essays and assignments at some fixed cost.

This article will help these students to get familiar with functions of Microsoft Word that can assist them in writing essays and assignments for their college and university. Applying these tips and shortcuts not only will make your presentation more professional and neater but also will save your time.

Paragraph indention is basic requirement of format. Most of the time, universities and colleges provide format requirement to the students for their essays. Students can indent paragraph by going to HOME tab, clicking Paragraph menu will pop up a menu box. On this menu second option is of INDENT which can be explored by choosing multiple options e.g 1.27cm.

Page Breaks

Page breaks can be used where one topic going to end new commences. Quick short key for inserting page break is simply hold down Ctrl + Enter and press enter key (or go to the ‘Insert’ tab and select ‘Page break’) rather than using the space bar to do it.

A powerful function of adding footnotes at the end of page is by going to the ‘References’ tab and then selecting ‘Insert Footnote’. There are few other ways to insert footnote but it may result into unlinked and unformatted footnotes.

Set Language

Many students are comfortable with their own set of language. If anyone want to change the language of Microsoft word for instructions and communications, he/she need to go to the ‘Review’ tab and then the ‘Language’ group. From drop down menu relevant language can be selected.

Language setting function can also helps you to pick up not all but some American spellings that could be corrected to other such as Australian when doing spell check. It is recommended to set your language at the end of the your assignment or essay by selecting whole text because sometimes word will automatically detect your langue and will correct words by American while to writing essay.

An absolutely useful feature of MS Word is word count. Universities and colleges set word limit for essays and assignments for students. Since word limit is there student need to know how long he has written and to what extant topic of essay has been covered. Simply highlight the text, go to ‘Review’ tab and click on ‘Word Count’ in the ‘Proofing’ group. You can also see left bottom near pages information ‘Words: 0’.

It is not suggestive to use colored fonts, extra bigger fonts and unnecessary bold words/heading in your essays. Instructions regarding format of your essay or assignment always given by your university/college, one strictly need to follow that. For example, a university ask it student to bring an essay on any topic for 700 words. Font style should be ‘Times New Roman’, font size ‘12’ and headings must be bold with no underline. Even line spacing are clearly instructed by institutes whether it must be 1.5 or 2.

For line spacing, at the end of your essay, select all and go the ‘Format’, click on ‘paragraph’ and set your line spacing.

Page Margin/Size

This is also part of formatting where universities and colleges ask their students to make writing assignment with the page margins of 1.5 etc. Page size does matter when a student asked make an assignment completing 15 or so pages, here size of the page comes in which needed to be set as advised i.e Letter or A4.

Header and Footer

Before ending your essay and assignment student need to save it to computer in relevant drive or in flash drive. It is strongly recommended to set Autosave option to 1 minute which means after every 1 minute MS Word will automatically save your data which can fairly avoid data loss in any case. For ‘Autosave’ go to start button, then word options which will give an additional option box from which ‘Save’ should be selected and set ‘Save AutoRecover information every’ to 1 minute.

Creating a Bibliography

Last but not the least at the end of your assignment bibliography must be there. Bibliography is a complete list of all the sources or links you have consulted during your research or assignment work. Without this bibliography or references your work will not be accepted and hence refused by plagiarized. Compiling this list by proper instructed method (Harvard or APA method) is a hectic job which made way easy by Microsoft word. You can generate your bibliography automatically. Before creating bibliography for your document you need to add citation and source to a document:

• Click on reference tab and look out for insert Citation towards little right where style and bibliography options are available.
• Select your citation style whichever is recommended and source from the options available. Your course supervisor can better help you on that if you are confused.
• At the end of the phrase or sentence that needed to be cited
• Go to reference tab and click on ‘Insert Citation’.
• Select ‘Add Source’ to access the ‘Create Source’ dialogue box

In the source information dialogue box type full information regarding source, author, year and publisher. In order to add more information check the show all bibliography fields box.

• Once you added one or more sources into your document you can create bibliography anytime
• Bibliography or references always come at the end of your document, click on that point and from references tab, select bibliography. From list of designs you can select any and insert into the document.

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Erin Wright Writing

Writing-Related Software Tutorials

How to Use the Editor in Word for Microsoft 365 (Updated)

By Erin Wright

This tutorial shows how to use the Editor in Word for Microsoft 365. The Editor is an update to the spelling and grammar check available in older versions of Word.

If you are using an older version of Word that doesn’t have an Editor button, please see my other tutorial “ How to Use the Spelling and Grammar Check in Microsoft Word .”

This tutorial covers five topics:

How to Select Grammar Issues and Refinements

How to run the editor, how to review the suggested edits, how to finish the edit, how to run a fresh edit.

Attention Mac Users: The Editor is available in Word for Microsoft 365 for Mac. The basic steps are similar to those shown here. However, the process of selecting grammar issues and refinements is different, so we will cover the Editor in Word for Mac in a separate tutorial.

This tutorial is also available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 200 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel .

Are you looking for information about editing in Word with Track Changes instead of using the Editor? If so, visit “ How to Use Track Changes in Microsoft Word ” for a step-by-step tutorial covering ten editing tasks.

The Editor can check for over 150 grammar issues and refinements beyond spelling, including the following:

• hyphenation
• passive voice
• Oxford comma

All the grammar and refinement options are available in the Word Options dialog box. You should select from these options before running the Editor.

• Select the File tab in the ribbon.

• Select the Options tab in the Backstage view.

• Select the Proofing tab in the Word Options dialog box.

• Review the spelling and grammar options that affect how the Editor interacts with your document:

A. Ensure that Check spelling as you type and Mark grammar errors as you type are selected if you want issues to be marked in the text as you type.

B. Ensure that Check grammar and refinements in the Editor Pane is selected to include grammar and refinements.

C. (Optional) Ensure that Show readability statistics is selected to show your readability statistics after running the Editor.

D. Ensure that Hide spelling errors in this document only and Hide grammar errors in this document only are not selected.

• Select Grammar & Refinements or Grammar in the Writing Style menu. (Most users will want to choose Grammar & Refinements because it offers more options.)

• Select the Settings button.

• Select or deselect options from the Grammar Settings dialog box.

Defining each grammar option is beyond the scope of this tutorial. However, the Microsoft Office Support website provides a detailed explanation for many of the options sorted by language.

• Select the OK button to close the Grammar Settings dialog box.

• Select the OK button to close the Word Options dialog box.

Now that you have decided how you want Word to proof your document, you can run the Editor.

• Select the Home tab in the ribbon.

• Select the Editor button. (The Editor button is also available in the Proofing group on the left end of the Review tab.)

The Editor Pane will appear on the right side of your screen.

• Review your Editor Score. This score will change based on choices you make within the Editor Pane. Therefore, you may choose to disregard this number while working with the Editor.

• (Optional) Select a level of formality from the drop-down menu.
• Formal —The Editor will apply all the grammar and refinement rules, resulting in the most recommendations.
• Professional —The Editor will apply most of the grammar and refinement rules, resulting in fewer recommendations than the Formal option.
• Casual —The Editor will apply the fewest number of grammar and refinement rules, resulting in the fewest recommendations.

Your Editor Score will change based on your choice of formality.

• Select the Editor Score (see figure 12) to review each of the recommendations starting from the current placement of your cursor. Or, skip to step 4 to review by category.
• Select the Corrections or Refinements category you want to review. The available categories will depend on your selections in the Grammar Settings dialog box (see figure 7).

Categories with a checkmark don’t have any suggestions.

• Choose a suggestion to change the individual spelling error.

Or, open the drop-down menu for the suggestion and select Change All to change every instance of the spelling error.

You can also choose (a) Ignore Once to ignore that spelling one time, (b) Ignore All to ignore that spelling every time it appears in the document, or (c) Add to Dictionary to add the word with its current spelling to your custom dictionary .

If the Editor is unable to provide any spelling suggestions, it will still let you add the word to your custom dictionary, ignore the word once, or ignore all instances of the word.

After you select or ignore a suggestion, the Editor will automatically move to the next issue in that category or return you to the main view to chose a new category.

Grammar and Refinement Issues

• Review each grammar or refinement issue. In some cases, the Editor will suggest a way to rewrite the text.

Or, select (a) Ignore Once to ignore that instance of the issue or (b) Don’t check for this issue to stop checking for that type of issue in the rest of the document.

Open the drop-down menu above the text box if you want additional information about the issue.

Pro Tip: The navigation arrows on the right side of the pane let you move forward and backward to issues you have not yet addressed. The arrow on the left side will return you to the Editor’s main view.

The Editor Pane also provides options to search the web for similar text and give feedback to Microsoft about the Editor.

If you included readability statistics in your proofing options in the Word Options dialog box (see figure 4), the Readability Statistics dialog box will appear after you have accepted or ignored all the Editor’s suggestions.

• Select the OK button to close the Readability Statistics dialog box.

• Select the OK button in the dialog box stating that you have finished reviewing the Editor’s suggestions.

If you have updated your text since running the Editor, you may want to run a fresh check.

• Select the File tab in the ribbon (see figure 1).
• Select the Options tab in the Backstage view (see figure 2).
• Select the Proofing tab in the Word Options dialog box (see figure 3).
• Select the Recheck Document button.

• Select the Yes button in the dialog box stating that the new spelling and grammar check (Editor) will recheck issues that you ignored during the last check.

• Select the OK button to close the Word Options dialog box (see figure 9).

Follow the steps in the How to Run the Editor section above to recheck your document.

Important Note: Microsoft plans to continually add new features to Word for Microsoft 365. Therefore, your version of Word may have different features than those shown here.

Related Resources

How to Change the Proofing Language in Microsoft Word

How to Use the Clipboard in Microsoft Word

How to Edit Your Custom Dictionary in Microsoft Word

How to Create an Exclusion Dictionary in Microsoft Word

Updated April 29, 2023

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Tips for Formatting an Essay in Microsoft Word: Fonts and More

• Brian D. Taylor
• Categories : Help with writing assignments paragraphs, essays, outlines & more
• Tags : Homework help & study guides

Why is Formatting Important?

Formatting refers to the arrangement of text on a document. There are many ways to format different types of documents. The focus of this guide will be formatting for essays.

In general, you will want your documents to look neat and professional. Special attention to formatting will ensure that your essays make a great first impression. In fact, some teachers will mark your paper down if you do not format correctly, or follow specific guidelines the teacher has requested (such as double spacing.)

Typography is a term that was first used when referring to how letters were chosen and set for printing on a press. In today’s age of word processors, it now refers to font selection and formatting. Pay careful attention to how you use typography in your essay. Font selection is of key importance. When you are writing an essay for a school assignment, you should make sure your font looks neat and professional. Remember, your essay will have to be read at some point, so you should make sure it can be read easily.

Fonts to Choose

Serif fonts assist with readability. A serif font has little lines on the end of the character. The lines help the eye move from letter to letter more easily. Some examples of standard serif fonts in Microsoft Word are Times New Roman, Courier New, and Book Antiqua. You should use a serif font for the majority of your essay. Be careful, though. Some serif fonts, still would not be acceptable. For instance, serif font styles such as Goudy Stout or Engravers MT would not look professional as the text of your essay because they are big and bulky. Choose carefully.

Sans serif fonts do not have the little lines at the end of the letters. Some examples of sans serif fonts are Arial, Calibri, and Comic Sans. Usually, sans serif fonts work well in short sections of text such as headings or titles. It is best not to use a sans serif font as the bulk of your essay. Furthermore, while I suggested Comic Sans as an example for a sans serif font, its use is typically frowned upon as it does not present a professional quality.

Another aspect of typography is the size of your font. Fonts are measured in points. A one point font is 1/72 of an inch. A 72 point font would measure one inch. Normally, you should choose 10 to 12 point font for all parts of your essay. Font sizes smaller than ten points become difficult to see and read. Font sizes larger than twelve point are difficult to read as well, and they make your teacher think that you’re just trying to use more space.

Bolding & Italicizing

At times, you may need to use bold, italics, or underlining. Bold is best used only in the title of your essay, if at all. Italics and underlining are typically used when you need to emphasize text or if you are referring to a title of another work.

To format your fonts in Microsoft Word, first select the text you wish to format. From there, you have a few options. You can format directly with the formatting toolbar which, by default, appears at the top of the window. You can also use the Format Font Window, which will give you more options. To get there, right click with the mouse and choose “Font” from the menu that appears. The Format Font Window looks like the image to the left (click on the image for a larger view). The selected text will appear in the preview pane. As you format the text, you can see how your text will look in the preview pane. When you have completed formatting your text, click OK to return to your document.

Spacing refers to the amount of space between lines of text. Typically, teachers ask for double spaced text for most assignments. The extra space between each line gives them room for comments and corrections. The extra space also makes the text easier to read. Always double check your teacher’s spacing policy, though. Sometimes a teacher will require a certain page total for your writing, while expecting single spaced lines. Double spacing will cut the length of your essay in half which will cause you to lose points. Always be sure to double check what the teacher wants.

Typically, headings are single spaced. There’s not much reason to have extra space between lines of your heading, so do not use it unless you’ve been directed otherwise. If you are using a quote of four lines or larger, it requires special formatting. Typically, this should be single spaced, as well.

You can also space at the paragraph level. This type of spacing appears before or after a paragraph.

To control spacing in Microsoft Word, select the text, then right click. Choose “Paragraph.” This will open the Format Paragraph Window. It should look like the image to the left (click on the image for a larger view). In the Spacing section, you’ll see two fields: one for Before and one for After. These allow you to space paragraphs apart, either before the paragraph or after. The spacing is measured in points, similar to fonts.

To the right, you can space at the line level. To double space your essay, choose Double from the drop down menu. Similarly, choose Single to single space. There are some other choices for more precise line spacing, but typically double and single will do for most school essays.

Indentation

Indentation refers to spacing from the left or right of the page. For most of the paragraphs in your essay, you will need to indent the first line. A good standard is a .5" first line indent. The tab key is usually set to tab over .5", but it is good practice to use the Format Paragraph Window to ensure that your indentations are correct.

To set a .5" first line indent for all paragraphs, select your text, then right click. Choose “Paragraph.” This will bring up the Format Paragraph Window. In the Indentation section, choose First Line from the drop down menu labeled Special. This will activate a first line indent for your text. Now choose the measurement for the indent. Again, .5" is a good standard to follow.

There are other times when you may need to pay attention to indentation. Let’s say you have a research paper that requires a bibliography or works cited page. The hanging indent option can come in handy and many works cited entries require one. A hanging indent is like the opposite of a first line indent; it indents everything but the first line. You set up a hanging indent in the same way you do a first line indent, only choose Hanging from the drop down menu in the Format Paragraph Window.

Finally, if you are quoting material of four or more lines, you will need to separate the text from the rest of the paragraph and indent both sides. To do this, go to the Format Paragraph Window. Choose the text to be indented and choose the measurement of indent for both left and right sides. Usually, you will want 1" on each side of quoted material. A sample image is attached to show how this should appear on the page.

Working with Images

Sometimes, a teacher will allow the use of images in an essay. Be sure to check with the teacher before adding images as some teachers frown upon their use. Even if the images are allowed, be sure to use them wisely and sparingly. Typically, less is more when it comes to using pictures in essay writing. Teachers want you to create pictures with your words instead!

To insert an image you can copy and paste it into the document, or you can use the insert image function. Once the image is placed into the document, it can be formatted. Begin with the layout of the photo. Right click the image and choose Format Picture. Click on the Layout tab at the top of the window. Here you have several options. In line with Text will cause your image to act as text. This option may cause your text to behave in unexpected ways. This option will almost always create large gaps of space in your essay and is best avoided. The Square or Tight options will cause the text to wrap around your image, thus eliminating the problem of the gaps. One of these two options is best.

Next, you will need to choose the alignment of the image. This appears near the bottom of the Layout tab. Choose which side of the page you wish the image to appear and click OK to see your results. If you change your mind about the alignment of the image, you can now click and drag the image to where you would like it. Since you’ve chosen the Square or Tight text alignment option, the text will simply wrap around the image wherever you place it. Be sure that when placing the image, the text remains in a neat and professional arrangement.

Good luck on your essay! If you have any additional Microsoft Word tips to share post them in the comments.

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• How to Format an Essay with Microsoft Word

How To Format An Essay With Microsoft Word

Follow these steps to put a smile on your instructor’s face – and more importantly, to correctly format your essay.

• Click on the Microsoft Word icon on the computer screen
• After Microsoft Word loads, click on Format at the top of the screen and then on Paragraph
• In the Paragraph box, click inverted triangle next to Line Spacing and then click on Double from the drop down menu
• Click on “View” at top of screen and then click on “Header and Footer”
• You should now be in the “Header” box. Hold down the “Ctrl” button (on bottom of keyboard near the space bar), and press down the letter “R” once. The cursor should now be at the right hand side of the Header box
• Type in your last name (ex. Doe) and press the space-bar once
• In the blue and gray “Header and Footer” box, click on the white page icon (the one with the single pound sign: ex. # ) on the extreme left
• Click on the “Close” button. You should now see your last name and the numeral 1 in a light gray in the upper right hand corner of your document (ex. Doe 1).
• Wipe the sweat off your brow
• Type in you first and last name (ex. Jane Doe) and press the “Enter” key
• Type your Instructor’s name (ex. Dr. Bordelon) and press the “Enter” key
• Type your course name, number, and section (ex. English 021-06) and press the “Enter” key
• type in your full name and essay # (example: Emily Dickinson Essay #1)
• press the “Enter” key
• Shout “Yahoo!” really loud
• Click on “Insert” at top of the screen and then on “Date and Time”
• Click on the date in the month, day, year format (ex. July 15, 1999) and press the “Enter” key
• type in you title (Ex: How to Set Up MLA Format in Microsoft Word) and
• press the “Enter” key . (Note: do not bold or underline your title and do not put it in quotation marks)
• Press the “Back Space” key once and then the “Tab” key
• Begin typing your paper in MLA college essay format.

**Before ending your work session, remember to save back up copy to A:drive or flash drive.**

• After Microsoft Word loads, click on “Format” at the top of the screen and then on “Paragraph”
• In the “Paragraph” box, click inverted triangle next to “Line Spacing” and then click on “Double” from the drop down menu
• Type short title of essay and press the space-bar once
• Press enter until the center of the page, hold down the ctrl key and press E once: then type in your title
• Press enter twice and type first and last name (ex. Jane Doe)
• Go down to end and type your course name, number, and section (ex. English 021-06) and press the “Enter” key, type professor’s name, enter, and the date.
• Almost there . . . . Hold down the “Ctrl” key and press the “Enter” key. You should be on a new page. Hold down Ctrl and press letter “E” once.” Type title
• Begin typing your paper in APA college essay format.
• Scroll or page down to the end of your last paragraph
• Hold down the “Ctrl” key (on bottom of keyboard near the space bar) and press the “Enter” key once
• You’ve just created a “hard page break” that will keep your Works Cited page separate from the rest of your essay.
• hold down the “Ctrl” key (on bottom of keyboard near the space bar);
• press the letter “E” once (The cursor should now be at the middle of your screen);
• type “Works Cited” if using MLA citation or “References” if using APA (Note: do not bold or underline it); and
• Press the “Back Space” key once and begin adding your entries in  alphabetical order .

Need Additional Assistance?

Visit occ’s writing center.

The Writing Center is open to OCC and Kean Ocean students and is here to assist with papers, research, presentations, and reading for any course. Our staff is filled with well-trained writing consultants that are available to assist at any step of the writing process you are in, from brainstorming to final editing we are here to help you succeed!

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How to Format Academic Papers in Microsoft Word 2022

This reference guide explains how to format your academic documents in Microsoft Word 2022, giving you the fundamental rules for formatting your academic papers as described in most guidelines, such as MLA and APA styles. The rules discussed in this guide apply to most of the academic papers you will submit as college assignments or articles for journals.

This reference guide provides some tips to format academic papers in Microsoft Word. To give you an opportunity to practice proofreading, we have left a few spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors in the text. See if you can spot them! If you spot the errors correctly, you will be entitled to a 10% discount.

Document Margins of Microsoft Word

Indentation of microsoft word documents, how to set font settings for academic papers in microsoft word, how to change the default font of your academic paper, how to format page numbers for academic papers, document spacing of academic papers in microsoft word, how to format paragraph spacing for academic papers, how to create a new page or insert a page break in microsoft word.

This reference guide will explain how to format your academic documents in Microsoft Word 2022, giving you the fundamental rules for formatting your academic papers as described in most guidelines, such as MLA and APA styles. The rules discussed in this guide apply to most of the academic papers you will submit as college assignments or articles for journals; however, keep in mind that some of your professors may want you to follow specific standards that may differ from the rules here. Adopting standard formatting for your academic papers indicates that you comprehend the rules of your college and therefore helps to improve your own credibility.

These rules and instructions can be applied to all versions of Microsoft Word for Mac and Windows. The tools, however, cannot be found at the same place on the toolbar at the top of your document.

Microsoft Word documents generally come with the default setting for margins. Check your default setting if it is to have different left and right margin. If so, change the default setting. Suppose that the paper you need to submit for review or grading should have 3.0 cm margins all around.

Here are the instructions you should follow:

Go to the Format menu at the top, scroll down to Document , change the margins, click on the Default button, and accept the change to the Normal template.

Make sure you leave the gutter set to 0 cm; otherwise, your document formatting will be messed up. 

Then, make your selection.

Suppose that you want t he first line of each paragraph to be automatically indented. Here are the instructions to follow:

To change the indentation format for an academic paper in Microsoft Word, choose Select All from the Edit   menu, or press the combinations of ⌘ A .

Then go to the Format menu, select Paragraph from the drop-down menu (or press the key combinations of ⌥⌘M ).

Indents and Spacing menu will be selected automatically.  Under this menu, go to the Special drop-down menu and select First line . This setting automatically indents the first line of the new paragraph of your academic paper so that you do not have to set it manually each time.

Guidelines may adopt different font settings for academic papers. For instance, a variety of fonts are permitted in APA Style papers. Font options in APA Style include sans serif fonts, such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, serif fonts, such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or normal (10-point) Computer Modern (the default font for LaTeX).

To change it, go to the Format menu, select Style under the drop-down menu.  

Make sure Normal is selected from the list of styles, and click Modify . Choose your preferred font and size from the Formatting menu.

Click OK to make the change to your default settings. You may name it as you wish.

Changing the default font in any template means that the newly set font will be used in every new document that is based on that template. For instance, the default font for new blank documents is based on the Normal   template. First, open the template or a document based on the template whose default settings you wish to change. Go to the  Format  menu at the top of the screen, click the  Font tab (or press the key combinations of ⌥⌘D ) .

Make any changes that you want, and then click  Default .

You will have two options here: You can set the default font to the selected option for This document only or A ll documents based on the Normal template . Then click OK .

All documents should have automatically inserted page numbers shown in the upper right corner on all pages except the first page. Do not insert these page numbers manually. Use the  Header/Footer tool of Microsoft Word instead. 

Go to the View menu and choose Header and Footer.

A header box will appear at the top and a footer box at the bottom. Click in the header box; you can type your last name or the title of your document, and make it align to the right or left as you wish.

Then, select Page Numbers from the Insert menu. 

If you want to show the number on the first page of your document, check the box next to Show number on first page . Set your Position and Alignment as you wish.

For advanced options, click Format , and set other settings, such as your number format, chat numbers, page numbering, etc.

When you are finished with the settings, click on the Close tab under the Header view. Each page of your document should now display a page number in the upper right corner that updates automatically when you make changes to your document. It will appear as grayed-out text unless you activate the Header and Footer   tool to make changes.

If you want to change the setting so that page numbers do not display on the first page of your document, click on Document under the Format drop-down menu and click on the Layout menu.

Under this menu, check the box next to Different First Page , and click OK . If required, remove the header that appears on the first page, and insert a header on the second page. This will automatically appear on all subsequent pages.

Choose Select All from the Edit menu. Select Paragraph under the Format drop-down menu. Choose your desired spacing from the Line spacing menu under the Spacing section. Alternatively, you can use keyboard shortcuts.

Select the Style from the Format drop-down menu. Make sure that Normal is selected from the list of styles, and click Modify . In the lower-left corner, select the Paragraph under the Format drop-down menu.

In the Paragraph settings menu that pops up, change the settings for After to 0 pt under the Spacing menu.

If you wish to create a new page, instead of using numerous returns before starting your bibliography, go to the Insert menu at the top of the screen. Select Page Break under the Break drop-down menu. Alternatively, you can press ⌘+Enter to insert a page break.

If you need help with formatting your academic papers, contact us!

Best Edit & Proof expert editors aim to provide your manuscripts with proper scholarly and academic tone and style. They will significantly improve the chances of having your research manuscript accepted for publishing. They provide subject-area proofreading and editing services in several fields categorized under various disciplines. With our extensive knowledge and expertise, we will help you find the right tone and style for your manuscript.

If you need our subject-area editors to format your manuscripts, giving you the fundamental rules for formatting your manuscripts as described in your guidelines, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago/Turabian styles, then contact us. At Best Edit & Proof, our proofreaders and editors edit  every type of academic paper . We have a user-friendly website and a simplified ordering process. 

If you would like our subject-area editors and language experts to work on your project for the improvement of its academic tone and style, then please visit the  order page.  It is easy! It takes only a few minutes to submit your paper and complete the process. Click  here   to see how it works.

We have flat-rate pricing based on our type of service (editing or proofreading), word count, and turnaround time. Enter your word count or copy and paste your document into our  pricing calculator   to get an instant quote.

If you need support for academic editing and proofreading,  contact us . You can also  e-mail  us or use the 24/7 live chat module to get direct support. Our doctorally qualified editors will polish and fine-tune your projects.

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Tips for Using Microsoft Word to Write Essays

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The purpose of this article is to provide some guidance for undergraduates—particularly for first-year students—who aren’t familiar with the different functions of Microsoft Word that they can use for writing their essays at uni. Knowing these shortcuts and tips will make your formatting neater and your overall presentation more professional, and save you time!

Indentation

Indent paragraphs by going to the ‘Home’ tab then the ‘Paragraph’ menu (not by using the space bar or tab key). Under ‘Indentation’ select ‘First line’. It will automatically set it to 1.27 cm.

Page Breaks

Insert a page break by pressing Ctrl + Enter (or go to the ‘Insert’ tab and select ‘Page break’) rather than using the space bar to do it. Using the Enter key will often result in the new page not beginning where you want it to if any other changes are made to the document later.

Insert a footnote by going to the ‘References’ tab and then selecting ‘Insert Footnote’. Doing it any other way will result in footnotes that aren’t linked or formatted correctly.

Set Language

Go to the ‘Review’ tab and then the ‘Language’ group. Select the drop-down menu under ‘Language’ and click on ‘Set Proofing Language’. Here, you can change the language that the Spelling & Grammar checker will use to ‘English (Australia)’.

This will help you to pick up some (but not all) American spellings that should be corrected to Australian when doing your spell check. It is best to set your language again at the very end by selecting all your text and then setting the language immediately before doing the spell check (because sometimes Word will ‘automatically detect’ your language and change it back to American while you are writing your essay).

For more information about using Word to proofread your document, see our articles ‘ How to Use MS Word for Proofreading ’ and ‘ Grammar & more—Understanding Your Grammar Checker Options ’.

To check your word count, highlight the text you want to check (your essay not including your bibliography or reference list), then go to ‘Review’ and click on ‘Word Count’ in the ‘Proofing’ group. Untick the box to ‘Include textboxes, footnotes and endnotes’. This way you will know your total word count, not including your references.

Don’t use any fancy formatting for headings or cover pages, especially nothing that uses a coloured font, borders or underlining. It isn’t necessary and doesn’t follow standard university formatting guidelines. For more information about standard university formatting guidelines, see our article ‘ How should I format my university essay ’.

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8 advanced Microsoft Word tricks you probably missed

M icrosoft Word is one of the most widely used programs in the world, yet it’s also one that many complain about. The most common criticism? That it’s heavy, slow, and a typical example of “feature bloat.”

Which is true. Word is packed with tons of features. And while some critics think that most people only use it because everyone else is using it, Word is actually quite powerful and capable.

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It’s just a matter of getting to know it, and not beating it to death, so to speak. Word has some quirks that can drive a user crazy, but in most cases it’s a setting that can be changed or a behavior that can be circumvented with another feature or the right handling.

In this guide I go through a number of more advanced or unfamiliar parts of Word, in the hope that you, the reader, will find at least a few goodies you can use. You might even start to like the program.

Stop Word’s automatic formatting

Of all the things users have found most annoying about Word, automatic formatting is probably the most common. Word tends to think it knows best, and doesn’t wait for you, the user, to choose to create a “real” list, for example.

Word has always insisted on pasting text while maintaining formatting, but this spring an update has added settings to choose how you want to do it by default. This means that you can change it so that Ctrl+V pastes text only, with the same formatting as the surrounding text. There is also a new option called Merge formatting , which keeps the bold/italic/underline/overline and list formats but matches the target font, color, and size. This makes it possible to copy, for example, a formatted list from a document in Helvetica to one in Word’s standard font Aptos.

The program also likes to automatically change, for example, a paragraph starting with a number to a numbered list as soon as you press return to create a new paragraph. You can easily change this behavior in the settings. Go to File > Options > Proofing . Click on the Autocorrect options and select the tab Auto format . Here you’ll find lots of tick boxes for things you might not want, like automatic bullet points.

Another annoyance for many is that Word insists on highlighting whole words. For example, if you want to delete a sentence from the first letter to halfway into the fourth word, it can seem impossible to get the highlighting right so that pressing the backspace key once will delete just that bit, because as soon as you pass a space, Word starts highlighting one word at a time and not one character.

This can also be easily fixed by opening File > Options > Advanced and ticking off When selecting, automatic select entire word . Just like that, Word will highlight exactly as you want. You can uncheck the Customize paragraph markup option if you don’t want Word to automatically add a new paragraph mark when you select a whole paragraph, so that you can paste the paragraph into another paragraph.

Change the default stylesheets

Have you ever wondered why on earth Word has multiple stylesheets with blue text? Or how you can change the default fonts in new documents? These days it’s surprisingly easy.

Right-click on a style, for example Heading 1 , and select Modify . Make any changes you want, such as switching to black text or changing the font. When you’re happy, click New documents based on this template , then OK to save the changes to the default template. If you make changes to the style sheet Normal it will also affect several other templates based on it: No spacing , Subheading , Quote , Strong quote , and List piece for example, have the same font as Normal .

Mastering the search function

As you probably know, Word has a search function. You’re probably also familiar with the slightly more advanced Find and Replace function. But Word’s search function is actually much more powerful than that, and you can search for things you might not have thought of.

Click on Find to the right of the fonts in the Home ribbon, and then click Advanced find . The dialog box that opens has three tabs, where Replace is the usual search and replace function, and Go to is a way to quickly get to a page number or bookmark, for example. But in the Find tab, you’ll find the More button, which shows a bunch of settings for searches (for example, to search only for whole words, or to ignore punctuation).

There are also two drop-down menus with additional search functions. The Format menu allows you to search for parts of text that, for example, use a particular font or are italicized. The Special menu is used to find, for example, special characters such as line breaks and hard spaces.

Transcribing recorded calls

Do you have an audio recording you don’t want on “paper”? Word now has a built-in AI-based transcription feature that makes it easy. Just click on Dictate on the right side of the Start tab in the ribbon and select Transcribe and the feature will open in the right column.

Select English if it is not already preset, and click on Upload audio to send a recording you have on file to the Microsoft server. The transcription may take a while and Word will tell you when it is ready. When it is, click on Add to document where you have four options for how the text should be formatted (with or without speakers and timestamps).

The results when I’ve tested it have been full of errors, so it can’t be used directly in any texts. But it works well enough to understand from the context what the speakers have said and can be written cleanly if needed.

Share documents with others and co-edit

When Google started to take market share from Office, one of the reasons was how easy it is for multiple collaborators to co-edit a document or spreadsheet. Microsoft realized the importance of this co-editing and introduced similar features in 2013.

Today, it’s easy to invite others to edit documents in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and they can edit either in the desktop applications or the web apps. To get started, make sure the document is saved on OneDrive. Then click on the Share button at the top right. There are two options here: Invite and share with selected people or create a link that anyone can use. The former is obviously a bit safer, but if you don’t know what email address the person you’re inviting uses for their Microsoft account, a link is easier.

If more than one user has a document open for editing, everyone can see where in the document the others are working, which reduces the risk of editing conflicts that can arise if two people make changes in the same place at the same time. Should a conflict still arise, Word helps to resolve it.

Read and restore older versions of documents

Saving your documents on OneDrive gives you several advantages over storing them locally. Firstly, autosave is activated so that you do not have to sit and press Ctrl+S all at once. Sure, Word has a recovery function in case the program crashes, but many users can tell horror stories about large documents that they forgot to save and which disappeared without a trace and could never be recovered.

Another advantage is that OneDrive saves version history so you can revert to previous versions of the document without having to save a bunch of different versions. “Report_last_draft_final_final_final.docx” becomes a thing of the past.

Here’s how to find older versions:

1. Open the document from OneDrive.

2. Click on the file name above in the Word window.

3. Select the Version history and the current version will be displayed, with a list of previously saved versions on the right.

4. Click on a previous version to view it.

5. You can restore the old version by clicking on the button Restore button in the yellow strip that appears below the toolbar, or select and copy text that you can then paste into a new document or into the last saved version to restore just that bit.

Word has long had features for placing images and shapes in documents, but did you know it now also has drawing tools? Microsoft added it to make Word more usable on computers and tablets with a touchscreen and/or pen, but it can also be used with a mouse or trackpad.

Click on the Draw menu tab to see the different options. On the left are different pens, erasers, and two types of markers. The next button is Ruler , which places a virtual ruler over the document you can use to draw straight lines. To change the angle of the ruler, simply hold the pointer over the ruler and scroll the scroll wheel on the mouse (or drag with two fingers on the trackpad). To move it, click and drag.

Other functions are not that interesting, except possibly Ink to math , which makes it easy to print formulas and equations with correct formatting.

AI writing assistance with Microsoft Editor

Microsoft Editor is a modern, AI-based upgrade to the classic spell and grammar checker that has been in Word for many years. It’s built into Word and Outlook on Windows and Mac, but also available as an extension for Chromium-based browsers like Edge and Chrome.

In Word, you can find the Editor under the Editor button on the right of the Start tab in the Ribbon, and it opens in a column on the right of the window.

At the top of the Editor, a judgement of the document is displayed in the form of a percentage. As you fix the various flaws the feature has found, the percentage increases. Below the judgement you will find four sections: Corrections , which shows spelling and grammar errors; Refinements , where the program suggests changes to make the language more formal and clear; Similarity to test how similar your text is to online sources; and Insights , which is a shortcut to the old Readability Statistics feature with figures such as number of sentences per paragraph and number of words per sentence.

Click on each subcategory to go through the Editor’s suggestions. As with the old spelling feature, you can change, ignore, or add words to the glossary, and follow or ignore other suggested changes.

Best alternatives to Word

There are plenty of programs for writing and processing text in different ways, to say the least. If you don’t like the subscription model, or just find Word unwieldy, you have other options. Because Word can be used for so many different things, I’ve categorized my recommendations by need:

Simple needs? Word Online or Google Docs

If you don’t necessarily need a full-blown Windows program, you can get by with Word Online — included in free accounts — or Google Docs. Both have all the usual features you might need for word processing, and on top of that you get the ability to co-edit with others you invite.

Packed with functionality? Libreoffice Writer The closest thing to a full Word clone you can get today is Libreoffice Writer . Like Word, it’s packed with features for all kinds of word processing, but it’s open source and free.

Do you really want to layout? Scribus or Affinity Publisher

Scribus is a powerful open source program. If you are willing to pay a bit more, Affinity Publisher is more polished and similar to Adobe Indesign, with very powerful features while being fairly easy to get started with.

Are you writing a book or thesis? Scrivener

The Scrivener payment program is very popular among writers, translators, journalists, lawyers, and academics, and for good reason. The program simply makes it easier to work with long texts.

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I use this awesome microsoft word feature for distraction-free writing.

Write with no distractions!

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What is focus mode, enable focus mode for distraction-free writing, access ribbon without leaving focus mode, change background in the focus mode, turn off focus mode when formatting documents, key takeaways.

• Focus mode is a handy feature in Microsoft Word that hides the ribbon and other elements from the interface, allowing you to write without distractions.
• To enable Focus mode, go to the "View" tab and click on "Focus." You can also click the "Focus" button in the bottom-right corner. To exit it, press the Escape key.
• You can temporarily make the ribbon appear by moving the cursor to the top edge of Microsoft Word. Also, you can change the background of the white space on the sides of the pages.

The distractions caused by the ribbon, sidebar, and other elements in Microsoft Word's default interface have always made writing long documents cumbersome for me. This changed when I began using Focus mode, a feature that eliminates this clutter and provides a clean, plain interface for writing.

As the name suggests, Focus mode simplifies the workspace by concealing the ribbon and other interface elements in Microsoft Word, leaving only the document visible on the screen. It is a helpful feature tailored for writers, students, and professionals who create lengthy documents.

With fewer distractions and a clear, uncluttered view of the document, I find it much easier to concentrate on my writing.

To enable Focus mode on Windows, open the document you wish to work on in Microsoft Word. Then, navigate to the "View" tab in the ribbon. Within the Immersive section, click on "Focus." Alternatively, you can quickly enable Focus mode by clicking on the "Focus" button located at the bottom-right corner of the screen.

On macOS, go to the "View" menu and click "Focus." You can also activate Focus mode by clicking on the "Focus" button in the bottom-right corner of the window.

Microsoft Word lets you access the ribbon without having to exit Focus mode each time you need to adjust formatting or use other options. Simply move your mouse to the top edge of the screen to reveal the ribbon.

Once you're finished using the commands, drag the cursor down from the top edge, and the ribbon will automatically disappear, returning you to distraction-free writing.

While Focus mode hides unnecessary elements from view, there's one bit of clutter that you can't eliminate: the free space on the sides of pages. However, a workaround I've found helpful is to change the background of this space to Birch, creating the sensation of writing on a piece of paper resting on a wooden table.

To change the background in Focus mode, hover over the top edge of the screen to reveal the ribbon, then navigate to the "View" tab. Expand the "Background" menu and select "Birch."

It's worth noting that this background change is temporary; once you exit Focus mode, it reverts to the default page color you've selected .

While Focus Mode in Microsoft Word is great for improving concentration while writing, remember to turn it off when formatting your document. This ensures the ribbon stays visible, giving you continuous access to formatting options. This way, you won't have to reveal the ribbon intermittently by hovering over the top edge of the screen.

To exit Focus mode, move your cursor to the top of the screen and click on the "Focus" option (on Windows) or "Exit" button (on macOS). Alternatively, you can press the Escape key.

Hopefully, you now clearly understand what the Focus mode does, how to enable it, and how to exit it when you're finished writing. If you haven't been using the Focus mode in Microsoft Word, I encourage you to try it and see how it boosts your productivity and helps you maintain concentration.

Make your Word documents accessible to everyone

This guide provides step-by-step instructions and best practices to ensure your Word documents are accessible, making your content available to everyone. 

Accessibility Assistant helps you to address accessibility issues as you write your document. It guides you on how to add an alt text to images, allowing people using screen readers to understand the image content. Additionally, it provides tips on using fonts, colors, and styles to make your Word documents more inclusive.

Note:  Accessibility Assistant is now available exclusively for Microsoft Word on Windows. The features and instructions mentioned in this article apply only to the Windows version of Microsoft Word.

In this article 

Check accessibility while you work in word .

Use accessible font color   

Add alt text to visuals  

Use table headers 

Avoid using fixed-width tables 

Use the built-in title, subtitle, and heading styles  

Create paragraph banners   

Add accessible hyperlink text and screen Tips 

Create accessible lists 

Adjust space between sentences and paragraphs   

Test accessibility with an Immersive Reader  

The Accessibility Assistant is a tool that reviews your content and flags accessibility issues in your document. In Word, the Accessibility Assistant automatically runs in the background, detecting accessibility issues and sending reminders in the status bar. 

Select Review and then Check Accessibility to open the accessibility pane, where you can review and fix accessibility issues. 

To use the features described in this article, open a new document in Word or access an existing one. 

Use accessible font colors 

The text in your document should be easy to read, with enough contrast against the background color. 

Go to the Home tab or press Alt+H .

To see only the colors that have enough contrast, select the High-contrast only and toggle to turn on high-contrast mode.

When you hover over any color choice in the color picker, a tooltip will indicate whether the selected color has low or good contrast with the background.

The Accessibility Assistant flags text colors with poor contrast and provides suggestions to improve them.

Add alt text to the visuals  

Alt text helps users who are blind or have low vision understand the content of visual elements. These visual elements include pictures, SmartArt graphics, shapes, groups, charts, embedded objects, ink, and videos. 

Click on the image, video, or any other visual content in the document.

Right-click on the visual content and select View Alt Text from the context menu.

In the right pane, select Alt Text , Type a description for the visual content in one or two sentences.

Note:  If the visual content is decorative, then select the Mark as decorative checkbox 

Avoid using images with text to convey essential information. If you do, put the same text in the document.

Use alt text to briefly describe the image and text and why they are there.

Write an accurate and short alt text that explains the content and function of the image.

A few words are often enough. Don't write more than a sentence or two.

Don't repeat the text around the image; use "a graphic of" or "an image of."

For audio and video, use alt text and closed captions for those who are deaf or have a hearing disability.

Make diagrams into pictures and add alt text. Avoid grouping objects in diagrams, as they will remain in tab order.

Use table headers 

Use a simple table structure with column headers. Nested tables, empty cells and merged or split cells may confuse the reader, making it hard to convey useful information. 

In the left pane, select Insert .

Click on the Table button. A drop-down menu will appear.

Select the number of rows and columns by dragging your cursor over the grid.

Once the table is inserted, click inside the first row of the table.

when you select the table, the Table Design tab will appear on the ribbon tab.

Check the box labeled Header Row in the Table Style Options section.

When you select the table, the Table Desig n tab will appear with the cursor in the first row.

Check the box labeled Header Ro w in the Table Style Option s section.

This will format the first row as the header row.

Avoid using fixed-width tables  

Using fixed-width tables in Word files can cause several accessibility issues. They don't adjust well to different screen sizes or zoom levels, making content hard to read on mobile devices or when zooming in. Screen readers may struggle with the fixed structure, leading to confusion for people who are blind or have low vision. 

Fixed-width tables can also cause text to overflow or get cut off, making it difficult to access all the information. 

Additionally, because screen magnifiers only enlarge a portion of the screen, cutting off content or requiring excessive scrolling, users who use the screen magnifiers may find it challenging to view the content properly. For better accessibility, use flexible widths and ensure a clear table structure. 

Use the built-in title, subtitle, and heading styles  

Use the built-in title and subtitle styles for your document's title and subtitle. These styles are designed to be easily scanned both visually and with assistive technology. Headings should provide a well-defined structure and serve as navigational landmarks 

Select the text that you want to format as a title.

Click on the Home tab or press Alt+H .

Select the required style from the Styles group.

Note:  Organize headings in the prescribed logical order; do not skip heading levels. For example, use Heading 1 , Heading 2 , and then Heading 3 , rather than Heading 3 , Heading 1 , and then Heading 2 . 

For the step-by-step instructions on how to use the headings and styles, see:  Improve accessibility with heading styles .  

Create paragraph banners 

In Word, a paragraph banner is a visual element often used to emphasize or highlight a specific paragraph within a document. It typically consists of a horizontal line, or a decorative border placed above or below the paragraph. 

This formatting technique helps draw attention to the paragraph, making it stand out from the surrounding text. Paragraph banners can be customized with different line styles, colors, and thicknesses to suit the document's design and purpose.  

Select the text that you want to apply shading to.

Go to the Home tab.

Select the Shading button in the Paragraph group.

Open the Shading menu and choose the desired color from the options provided.

Add accessible hyperlink text and ScreenTips 

People who use screen readers have the option to scan a list of links in the document. Links should convey clear and accurate information about the destination. You can also add ScreenTips that appear when your cursor hovers over text or images that include a hyperlink.  

For the step-by-step instructions on how to create accessible hyperlinks and ScreenTips, go to  Create accessible links in Word  and  Create or edit a hyperlink .  

Highlight the text or picture that you want to add a link to.

Go to the Inser t tab.

Click on the Hyperlink button or press Ctrl+K .

To link an existing file or web page: 

Go to the “Link to” section and select Existing File or Web Page .

Enter the webpage's address or select the file you want to link to.

To link a place in the same document: 

Go to the "Link to" section and select Place in This Document .

A list of locations within the document will appear; from the list, select the Headings or Bookmarks that you want to link to.

Click on the Text to display and provide definitive and accurate information about the link destination, then select OK.

Note:  Avoid using link texts such as “click here,” “see this page,” “go here,” or “learn more.” Instead, include the destination page's full title. 

Create accessible lists  

To make documents easier for screen readers, use small chunks like bulleted or numbered lists. Avoid plain paragraphs in the middle of lists to prevent confusion. This ensures accurate navigation and enhances readability for all users. 

Bulleted List: 

Place your cursor where you want to start the bulleted list.

Click on the Bullets button in the Paragraph group.

Type your list items. Press Ente r after each item to create a new bullet point.

Numbered List: 

Place your cursor where you want to start the numbered list.

Click on the Numbering button in the Paragraph group.

Type your list items. Press Enter after each item to create a new numbered point.

Multilevel List: 

Place your cursor where you want to start the multilevel list.

Click on the Multilevel List button in the Paragraph group.

Choose the type of multilevel list you want to create from the list styles provided.

Type your list items. Press Enter after each item to create a new point. To create a sub-level item, press the Tab key before typing.

Adjust the spacing between sentences and paragraphs 

Text can appear to “blend together” on a page (the lines of text squeeze into each other). To make reading easier, you can increase the line spacing between sentences and add space before or after paragraphs. 

Select one or more paragraphs to adjust the space.

Note:  It is recommended to use a line spacing of 1.5 in the Word file.

From the dropdown menu, select the desired line and paragraph spacing.

For the step-by-step instructions on how to adjust the spacing, go to  Adjust indents and spacing in Word .  

Test accessibility with an Immersive Reader 

Immersive Reader in Microsoft Word enhances readability with features like Read Aloud , Text Spacing , Syllable Breakdown, and Line Focus . Access it via the View tab and select Immersive Reader .  

For more information, visit the  Use Immersive Reader in Word . 

Improve accessibility in your documents with the Accessibility Assistant 

Get real-time notifications of accessibility issues while working on Microsoft 365 Apps  

Everything you need to know to write effective alt text 

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