Microsoft Word for Work Course 2026

This course is for anyone who writes memos, letters, reports or notices at work and wants to use Microsoft Word with confidence. It covers formatting, styles and headings, lists, tables, page layout, headers and footers, templates, mail merge, track changes and comments, sharing, PDF export and the Accessibility Checker. Study each lesson and try its topic quiz, then take the timed final assessment. Score 80% or more to earn a certificate of completion.

Course
Canada
98 questions
Checked October 13, 2026
Fact-checked October 13, 2026

Quick answer

This free course has about 150 minutes of lessons, 6 untimed topic quizzes (98 questions in all) and a timed final assessment of 35 questions drawn at random. Score 80% or more on the final assessment to download a certificate of completion (private, not accredited). Checked against official sources on October 13, 2026.

Start with the lessonsMicrosoft Word for Work Course: Lessons: about 150 minutes of reading. Every test question is covered in the lessons.

What you will learn

Format text and paragraphs quickly with keyboard shortcuts, Format Painter and paste options
Structure documents with styles, headings, lists, the Navigation pane and a table of contents
Build and edit tables, including header rows that repeat on every page
Set margins, orientation, page and section breaks, headers, footers and page numbers
Save and reuse templates, and run a basic mail merge from an Excel list
Review documents with track changes and comments, share them, save them as PDF and fix accessibility issues

Score 80% or more to download your certificate.

Your study plan

Read each lesson, take its topic quiz (untimed, with explanations), then the timed final assessment. A new mix of questions is drawn every time. Your progress is saved in this browser.

Topic quiz 1: Text and paragraph formatting

What to know before the test

An automatic table of contents is built from text that has heading styles. After you make changes, update it with Update Table and choose to update page numbers only or the entire table.
Ctrl+Shift+E turns Track Changes on or off, and Ctrl+Alt+M inserts a comment (Word for Windows).
Each page in a Word document starts with one-inch margins. You change them under Layout > Margins.
When you open a template, Word creates a copy of it, so the template itself stays unchanged.
AutoSave saves a file automatically every few seconds while you work when the file is stored on OneDrive or SharePoint.
In the Accessibility Checker, missing alternative text and a table with no header row are Errors; low colour contrast and merged table cells are Warnings.
A PDF keeps your formatting, but it does not stop people from editing the content, because many programs, including Word, can edit PDFs.

Frequently asked questions

What certificate do I get, and what is it not?

If you score 80% or more on the final assessment, you can download a certificate of completion for this course. It shows that you finished a general skills course. It is not an accredited qualification, an employer's assessment or a Microsoft certification such as Microsoft Office Specialist.

Which version of Word does this course use?

The lessons describe Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows. Most steps are similar in other versions, but some menus differ, Word for the web has fewer features, and Mac keyboard shortcuts are different.

Do I need Word to take the course?

No. You can read the lessons and answer the quizzes in your browser. To try the practical exercises (a memo, a report, a shift notice, a merged letter and a final review), you need Word on a computer.

How does the final assessment work?

It has 35 questions picked at random from the course question bank, and you have 35 minutes. You get a new mix of questions each time you try, and you need 80% to pass.

Can I use the exercise documents at work?

They are practice examples only. At work, use your employer's own templates and style rules, and follow its policies on privacy and on sharing files outside the organization.

Is the certificate accredited or officially recognised?

No. It is a private certificate of completion for knowledge only. It is not recognised, accredited or approved by any government, licensing body, regulator or educational institution, and it does not replace any licence, certification or training required by law.