Microsoft Word for Work Course: Lessons 2026

Lesson 1: Text and paragraph formatting

This course describes Word for Microsoft 365 on Windows. On a Mac or in Word for the web, some menus and shortcuts differ.

Character formatting

Character formatting changes how letters look. Select the text, then use the Home tab or a shortcut.

Paragraph formatting

Paragraph formatting changes a whole paragraph.

For more control, open the Paragraph dialog box. Spacing Before and After set the space above and below each paragraph, so you never need empty lines. Line spacing can be Single, 1.5 lines, Double or Multiple. Multiple at 1.15 means lines are 15% further apart than single spacing. A first-line indent moves only the first line in. A hanging indent keeps the first line at the margin and indents the lines under it.

Format Painter

Format Painter (Home tab, Clipboard group) copies formatting from one place to another. Select the formatted text and single-click Format Painter to apply the format once. Double-click it to apply the format to many places, then press Esc to stop. With the keyboard, Ctrl+Alt+C copies formatting and Ctrl+Alt+V pastes it.

Paste options

When you paste with Ctrl+V, a Paste Options button appears (you can also press Ctrl to open it).

• Keep Source Formatting: keeps the formatting of the copied text. Word does this by default.
• Merge Formatting: drops most formatting but keeps bold or italic used on some of the words, and takes the style of the paragraph you paste into.
• Keep Text Only: drops all formatting and non-text items such as pictures and tables.
• Picture: pastes the text as an image that can no longer be edited.

Show/Hide, Find and Replace, and spelling

The Show/Hide button (Ctrl+Shift+8) shows hidden characters such as spaces, paragraph marks and tab marks.

Ctrl+H opens Replace. Type the text in Find what and the new text in Replace with. Replace changes one match at a time; Replace All changes every match without stopping. Match case finds only text with the same capital letters. Find whole words only avoids partial matches, so replacing "Lee" does not change "Leeds". Ctrl+F searches from the Navigation pane.

Word marks possible spelling errors with a red squiggly line and possible grammar errors with a blue squiggly line. Press F7 to check the whole document. If a correct word, such as a company name, keeps being flagged, right-click it and choose Add to Dictionary.

Quiz thématique 1 : Text and paragraph formatting

Lesson 2: Styles, headings and lists

A style is a saved set of formatting, such as font, size, colour and spacing. The Styles gallery is on the Home tab. Select some text and click a style to apply it.

Heading styles

For section titles, use Heading 1, Heading 2 and Heading 3 instead of making text bold and large by hand. Heading styles help people scan your document, and Word uses them to build a table of contents and to fill the Navigation pane.

• Ctrl+Alt+1, Ctrl+Alt+2, Ctrl+Alt+3: apply Heading 1, 2 or 3.
• Ctrl+Shift+N: apply the Normal style (ordinary body text).
• Use the built-in Title style for the document title.

For accessibility, Microsoft advises using headings in a logical order without skipping levels: Heading 1 for main sections, Heading 2 for parts of a section, and so on.

Changing a style

When you change a style, all text with that style changes automatically. There are two ways:

• Update to match: format one heading the way you want, right-click its style in the gallery and choose Update Heading 1 to Match Selection.
• Modify: right-click the style and choose Modify. Change the font, size, colour, alignment, spacing or indents. To use the change in future documents too, select New documents based on this template at the bottom of the dialog box.

To save your own look as a new style, right-click the formatted text, choose Styles, then Create a Style, and give it a name.

The Navigation pane

Open the Navigation pane from the View tab or press Ctrl+F. The Headings tab lists your headings so you can jump to any section. Drag a heading to move that whole section, text and all. Only heading-styled text in the main body appears; headings inside tables, text boxes, headers or footers do not.

Table of contents

Click where the table of contents should go, then choose References > Table of Contents and pick an automatic style. It is built from your heading styles. After you change headings or pages, update it yourself: choose References > Update Table (or right-click it and choose Update Field):

• Update page numbers only: refreshes page numbers but ignores changes to heading text.
• Update entire table: refreshes heading text and page numbers.

Bulleted and numbered lists

Select text and choose Home > Bullets or Home > Numbering (Ctrl+Shift+L applies bullets). You can also start a list as you type: type 1, a period, a space and your text for a numbered list, or an asterisk (*) and a space for bullets. To end a list, press Enter until the bullets or numbers switch off.

If a list keeps counting from an earlier list, right-click the first number and choose Restart at 1. To start at another number, right-click and choose Set Numbering Value. Don't type numbers by hand; use the numbering commands so the list stays correct.

Quiz thématique 2 : Styles, headings and lists

Lesson 3: Tables

When your cursor is in a table, two extra tabs appear on the classic ribbon: Table Design (styles and Table Style Options) and Table Layout (rows, columns, merging and header rows).

Inserting a table

• Small table: Insert > Table, then move over the grid to highlight the columns and rows you want.
• Larger table: Insert > Table > Insert Table, then type the number of columns and rows.
• From text: if your text is separated by tabs, select it and choose Insert > Table > Convert Text to Table.
• Draw Table: draw it with the mouse.

Moving around

Rows, columns and cells

Click in a cell, then use the Rows and Columns group on the Table Layout tab: Insert Above, Insert Below, Insert Left and Insert Right. To add several rows at once, first select that many rows, then choose Insert Above or Insert Below.

To join cells, select them and choose Table Layout > Merge Cells. To divide a cell, choose Split Cells and enter the number of columns and rows.

Header rows that repeat

Long tables often run onto a second page. To repeat the column names at the top of each page, select the header row (the selection must include the table's first row) and choose Table Layout > Repeat Header Rows (Data group).

• Headers repeat at automatic page breaks, not at a manual page break you insert inside the table.
• Repeated headers show in Print Layout view and when you print.
• You edit the header only on the first page; the copies on later pages update to match.

Accessible tables

Microsoft advises using tables for data only, with a simple structure. Turn on Header Row under Table Style Options (Table Design tab) so screen readers know the column names. Avoid blank cells, merged or split cells and tables inside tables. The Accessibility Checker rates a table with no header row as an Error and merged or split cells as a Warning. Because merged cells cause a Warning, put a table's title in a heading or paragraph above the table, not in a merged top row.

Quiz thématique 3 : Tables

Lesson 4: Page layout, headers, footers and page numbers

Margins and orientation

Each page in a new document starts with one-inch (2.54 cm) margins. To change them, go to Layout > Margins and pick a preset, or choose Custom Margins to type your own.

To turn the whole document sideways, choose Layout > Orientation > Landscape. To make only part of a document landscape (for example, one wide table), select that content, open the Page Setup dialog box from the Layout tab, choose Landscape and set Apply to to Selected text.

Page breaks and section breaks

A page break ends a page and starts the next one. Choose Insert > Page Break or press Ctrl+Enter.

A section break divides a document into sections that can have different settings: page orientation, headers and footers, page numbering, columns and page borders. Click where it should begin and choose Layout > Breaks.

Headers and footers

A header prints at the top of every page and a footer at the bottom. Choose Insert > Header (or Footer), pick a style and type your text, such as the company name or document title. To edit an existing header or footer, double-click it. When you are done, select Close Header and Footer or press Esc. To delete one, choose Insert > Header > Remove Header (or Remove Footer).

Microsoft's accessibility advice is to avoid putting important information only in the header or footer, because some readers may miss it.

Page numbers

On the Insert tab, select Page Number and choose the location and style.

• No number on the title page: select Different First Page on the Header & Footer tab.
• Second page shows 1: go to Page Number > Format Page Numbers and set Start at to 0. The title page counts as 0, so the next page is 1.

Quiz thématique 4 : Page layout, headers, footers and page numbers

Lesson 5: Templates and mail merge

Templates

If you often create the same kind of document, such as a weekly shift notice, save it as a template to use as your starting point.

1. Set up the document: headings, styles and fixed text.
2. Choose File > Save As, then browse to a location (This PC).
3. Type a name and, in Save as type, choose Word Template (.dotx). If the document has macros, choose Word Macro-Enabled Template (.dotm).
4. Select Save. Office saves it in the Custom Office Templates folder automatically.

To use it, choose File > New > Personal (the button may say Custom) and select your template. A template creates a copy of itself when you open it, so the template stays unchanged. To change the template itself, use File > Open, browse to the Custom Office Templates folder, open the template, edit it and save it.

What mail merge does

Mail merge creates a batch of documents that are personalized for each recipient. It has three parts:

• Main document: the Word file with your text and merge fields (placeholders such as «FirstName»).
• Data source: the list of recipient information, most often an Excel sheet or Outlook contacts. You can also use an Access database, or choose Type a New List to type one in Word.
• Merged documents: one personalized copy for each person in the list.

You can merge letters, email messages, envelopes, labels or a directory (one list with information about every item in the data source).

Preparing the Excel list

• Put a column name at the top of each column (FirstName, LastName, Company, Address, PostalCode).
• Use separate columns for first and last names so you can greet people by first name.
• Keep all the data on the first sheet, and make sure percentages, money and postal codes are formatted correctly.
• Store the Excel file on your own computer, and finish editing the list before you connect it.

The merge, step by step

1. On the Mailings tab, choose Start Mail Merge, then the type of document (for example, Letters).
2. Choose Select Recipients > Use an Existing List and open your Excel file. (If the field commands are dimmed, you have not selected recipients yet.)
3. Choose Edit Recipient List to sort or filter, and clear the check box beside anyone who should not get the mailing.
4. Add Address Block and Greeting Line, and use Insert Merge Field for single fields. Fields show in chevrons, such as «Company».
5. Choose Preview Results and use Next and Previous to check each record.
6. Choose Finish & Merge, then Print Documents or Send E-mail Messages.
7. Save the main document. When Word asks about keeping the connection to the data source, choose Yes so you can reuse it.

Quiz thématique 5 : Templates and mail merge

Lesson 6: Track changes, comments, sharing and accessibility

Track Changes

Track Changes records every edit so others can see it. Turn it on with Review > Tracking > Track Changes or press Ctrl+Shift+E. Added text is underlined, deleted text is crossed out, and each person's changes are in a different colour. Turning Track Changes off stops new marks, but existing marks stay.

Use Previous and Next to move from change to change. Accept makes a change permanent and removes its marks. Reject removes the change. To handle all at once, open the arrow on Accept or Reject and choose Accept All Changes or Reject All Changes. To stop others from turning tracking off, use Lock Tracking and set a password.

Comments

Select text and choose Review > New Comment, right-click and choose New Comment, or press Ctrl+Alt+M. Post it with the Post comment button or Ctrl+Enter. Reply in the same thread. In a file saved in the cloud with a work or school account, type @ and a name to mention someone; Word notifies that person.

Use the ... (More thread actions) menu on a comment to resolve it (mark it as dealt with; it stays in the document and still shows in the comments list) or delete it.

Sharing and AutoSave

Choose Share. Type names or email addresses and send, or choose Copy Link. In Link settings, choose who the link works for (for example, Specific people, so only the people you share with can open it) and whether to allow editing.

When a file is on OneDrive or SharePoint, AutoSave saves it every few seconds. To build a new document from an old one without overwriting it, choose File > Save a Copy first. If something goes wrong, you can restore an earlier version with Version History.

Saving as PDF

Choose File > Save As (or Save a Copy), pick a location, choose PDF in the file type list and select Save. Under Options you can choose a page range, include tracked changes (Document showing markup), Create bookmarks using Headings, and keep Document structure tags for accessibility for screen readers. A PDF keeps your layout, but it does not stop people from editing: many programs, including Word, can edit PDFs.

The Accessibility Checker

Choose Review > Check Accessibility. The Accessibility pane lists issues. Select one and use Recommended Actions to fix it.

• Alt text: right-click a picture and choose View Alt Text. Write one or two sentences about what it shows and why. If a picture is only decoration, select Mark as decorative.
• Links: use text that says where the link goes, not "Click here" or "Learn more".
• Colour: don't use colour as the only way to show meaning, and keep good contrast.
• Fonts: choose familiar sans serif fonts such as Arial or Calibri.

Quiz thématique 6 : Track changes, comments, sharing and accessibility