How to Customize Microsoft Word

• by Jenny Lens

Introduction

• If you're the kind of person who never reads the manual, chances are you've overlooked some of Microsoft Word's most useful features. The program is loaded with customizable menus, toolbars and shortcuts that can improve your speed and efficiency with a simple click of the mouse.

• The following guide, How to Customize Microsoft Word, will walk you through a few of the "customization topics" used by Microsoft to test potential Microsoft Office Specialists. So, get comfortable, and get ready to discover what you've been missing.

Step 1: Before You Begin

• A few words of encouragement before you begin:

1. The best way to learn any program is to explore and experiment. Don't be afraid to poke around. You won't break anything, and if worse comes to worse, you can always undue what you did or return to the program's default settings.
2. Every version of a software program is slightly different in appearance. Most of the screenshots in this guide are from a Macintosh OS 10.4, Word 2004. If you ever take a Word tests at an employment agency, you may see versions as old as MS Word 97! Don't worry. If you understand one version of Word well, you can make your way through any version.
3. Keyboard shortcuts can help you use Word more efficiently. By using Word's shortcuts for repetitive tasks like cutting and pasting or saving, your hands never have to leave the keyboard. To access a list of shortcuts, visit Microsoft Office's Support Center.
4. When in doubt, you can always consult Word's Help menu. Access the menu by clicking on Help in the toolbar.

Step 2: Change Screen Defaults

• To get the most out of Word, you'll want to change the appearance of your screen.

Ruler

• The Ruler is necessary for setting indents and tabs and can be used to modify margins.

1. To access the ruler, click on the View drop-down menu in the toolbar.
2. Click on Ruler.
3. The ruler will appear along the top and to the left of your document.

Page Layout View

• Page Layout is WYSIWYG, "what you see is what you get." It makes margins, headers and footers and page numbers visible. Working in Page Layout can make all your formatting options clear. It is essentially looking at what your page will look like when you print it out.

1. To view your document's page layout, click on the View drop-down menu in the toolbar.
2. Click on Page or Print Layout depending on which version of Word you are using.

Show Invisibles

• Invisibles encompass all the code that makes up your page, but that you don't see when the document is printed. This includes spaces, tabs, paragraph indentations, etc. Seeing invisibles is a godsend, particularly if you're trying to do any kind of desktop publishing.

1. To view your document's invisibles, click on the Tools drop-down menu in the toolbar.
2. Click on Options.
3. Click on the View tab of the Options box.
4. Click the checkboxes of any "invisibles" you would like to appear while you work.
   • You can also show your invisibles by clicking on the "paragraph" or backwards "p" button on your toolbar.

Step 3: Word Preferences

• Depending on which version of Word you are using, you will access your preferences by either clicking on the Word drop-down menu and then Preferences or the Tools drop-down menu and then Options. The following describe tabs you will find in the pop-up Preferences or Options menu box.

View Tab

• Under the View tab, you can check boxes to show invisibles including tab marks, hidden text, spaces and paragraph marks.

General Tab

• Under the File tab, you can choose how many files should be listed in toolbar's File drop-down menu. This makes accessing documents you've been working on easier.

Edit Tab

• Under the Edit tab, you can check or uncheck the option to When Selecting, Automatically Select Entire Word. Some people find it easier to retype two transposed letter rather than retype a whole word. (For instance, "desing" and "design.")

Spelling and Grammar Tab

• There are several useful spelling and grammar check options that you can customize to your match your personal preferences and most common typing errors:

1. If you have a habit of accidentally hitting number keys when typing, like typing "3" instead of "e," you can uncheck the Ignore words with numbers option.
2. Web addresses can slow down your spell checking process. If you use them frequently, consider checking the Ignore Internet and file addresses box.
3. Uncheck Check grammar as you type. Studies prove that a high percentage of Word's grammar "corrections" are controversial and often incorrect.

File Locations Tab

• Word's default is to save all of your files to your Documents folder. If you'd like to save your files to specific project folders or on your desktop, click the Modify button and designate which folders you'd like your files to save to.

Step 4: Changing Fonts

• Fonts (or Typefaces) are not identical. A font like Arial or Helvetica in 10 point type is much larger than Times New Roman in 10 point type. Some people prefer Times New Roman because it is a "Serif" font, which means that it has structural details like "flags" on the letter "stems." These serifs imply a grid, which helps people read horizontally. Arial and Helvetica are Sans Serif (without serifs) fonts.

• There are two different ways to access Word's font selections:

• From the Menu Dialogue Box:

1. Click on the Format drop-down menu in the toolbar.
2. Click Font. A menu dialogue box will appear.
3. Under the Font tab, you have the option to change your font, the size of the font and its style (regular, italics or bold).
4. Click on the Default button in the lower left hand corner of the box if you'd like to set a certain font and size as your default for all future documents.

• From the Toolbar:
• There are formatting drop-down options for font type, size and appearance already embedded in your toolbar. If you do not see these options, your Formatting toolbar may be deselected. To remedy this:

1. Click on the View drop-down menu in your toolbar.
2. Click on Toolbars.
3. Click on Formatting.

Step 5: Customize Toolbars

• As you use Word, keep track of your habits. Any repetitive habit can probably be shortcutted by customizing a toolbar, menu or keyboard option.

1. Click on the View drop-down menu in the toolbar.
2. Click on Toolbars.
3. Verify than the Standard and Formatting toolbars are checked. These are the most frequently used toolbars.
   

   (Screenshot by Jenny Lens)
   

   (Screenshot by Jenny Lens)
4. In older versions of Word, scroll down the Toolbars list and click Customize. Click on the Command tab. From the Command menu you can add any commands you want to the toolbar.
   • By clicking on the Keyboard button located at the bottom of the Command menu, you can also customize a keyboard shortcut.
5. In new versions of Word, you will access your toolbar and keyboard customization options by clicking on the Tools drop-down menu in the toolbar. Then, click Customize and choose whether you want to customize your toolbar or keyboard.
   

   (Screenshot by Jenny Lens)

Step 7: Customize Headers and Footers

• All of your Word toolbars are customizable including the Header and Footer toolbar.

1. To access your Header and Footer toolbar, click on View.
2. Click on Header and Footer.
   • The buttons you'll see from left to right include: AutoText, Insert page number, Insert number of pages, Format page number, Insert date, Insert time, Different first page, Different odd and even pages and then a succession of alignment buttons that will differ depending on which version of Word you are using.
     

     (Screenshot by Jenny Lens)
3. To rearrange or delete any of these icons, click on the black arrowhead drop-down menu.
4. Click on Add or Remove Buttons.
5. Click on Customize.
6. Choose which buttons you'd like to switch, add or remove.

Step 8: Format Document

• Depending on which version of Word you are using, you will access your formatting commands by clicking on the Standard toolbar's "open book" icon, accessing the Document menu from the toolbar or clicking on Page Setup, which is listed under the toolbar's File drop-down menu.

1. Under the Margins tab, you'll see that you can set your top, bottom, left, right and gutter margins. The default for your left and right margin is 1.25 inches. This is a hold-over from the days of typewriters. Nowadays, margins are commonly set to 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.
   • If you are using a header or a footer, be sure to leave space for them. Depending upon typeface and size, usually three-quarters of an inch will work.
   • If you are creating a newsletter or book, your inside or gutter margin needs to be twice the size of the outer margin. If you have facing pages, double the inside margin.
2. To use the same margins in future documents, click on the Default button in the lower lefthand side of the box.
   

   (Screenshot by Jenny Lens)

Step 9: Project Gallery

• A template is a blank document with built-in formatting, such as margins, typeface, type style, layout, etc.

• If you want to access or modify a preexisting template, you can access them in newer versions of Word via the Project Gallery. In older versions of Word, you will be given a choice of templates every time you create a new document by clicking on the File drop-down menu and selecting New.

• To a access the Project Gallery:

1. Click on the File drop-down menu of the toolbar.
2. Choose Project Gallery.
3. Click on the arrowhead next to Business Forms.
4. Click on Business Cards to see built-in Templates.
5. You can use one of these templates to create business cards or customize one of your own by selecting Create New Template or by saving a document as a template by choosing Template from the Save As drop-down of the Save As menu box.

Resources for How to Customize Word

• Microsoft Office Specialist: Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS)
• Microsoft Most Valuable Professional: Word MVP
• Internet4Classrooms: MS Word Tutorials
• About.com: Customize Microsoft Word  
• eHow: How to Customize Microsoft Word

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