Microsoft Word
This module will teach you how to use Microsoft Word to create and edit documents. The links on this page will open in a new tab/window.
For tips on using Word specifically for essays, check out the "Formatting Essays" tab on our Citation Styles guide
Top Tips
✓ Make use of the Format Painter. If you have formatted some text in a specific way and need to repeat it on another block of text, you can use the Format Painter feature to save time.
✓ Make use of the Ribbon to format your document. The Ribbon at the top of your document contains tabs with groups of related tools that you can use to format text, change the layout, insert images, and more.
✓ Pay attention to the Spellchecker. The red and blue underlines of the spellchecker indicate a spelling or grammar mistake. Right-click on the underlined word to view suggestions.
✓ Find where you left off. Press Shift + F5 to move the cursor to the location where it was when you last saved the document.
✓ Use keyboard shortcuts to edit your document quickly. Keyboard shortcuts can be a quicker way to interact with your document. Try to remember the shortcuts for tasks you perform often, like copying text (CTRL + C).
Additional Attributions
Much of the links and video content on this page come from GCFLearnFree.org. All GCFGlobal.org® content is available for free at edu.gcfglobal.org.
Getting Started with Microsoft Word
Check out this video by GCFGlobal.org on Getting Started with Microsoft Word from 2016.
Word in Microsoft 365
These guides are for Word in Microsoft 365, and may not be applicable for other versions of Word. For guides on other versions, see the tabs above.
→ Creating/Opening Documents in Word
→ Saving Documents in One Drive
→ Undo, Redo, and Repeat an Action in Word
→ Using the Format Painter in Word
→ Setting Page Margins in Word
→ Bulleted and Numbered Lists in Word
Word 2019
These guides are for Microsoft Word 2019, and may not be applicable for other versions of Word. For guides on other versions, see the tabs above.
→ Getting Started with Word 2019
→ Creating/Opening Documents in Word 2019
→ Saving/Sharing Documents in Word 2019
→ Undo, Redo, and Repeat an Action in Word 2019
→ Using the Format Painter in Word 2019
→ Formatting Text in Word 2019
→ Setting Page Margins in Word 2019
→ Headers and Footers in Word 2019
→ Bulleted and Numbered Lists in Word 2019
→ Find and Replace in Word 2019
Attribution
Unless otherwise stated, the material in this guide is from the Learning Portal created by College Libraries Ontario. Content has been adapted for the NWP Learning Commons in May 2021. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons BY NC SA 4.0 International License.
All icons on these pages are from The Noun Project. See individual icons for creator attribution.