Word Long Docs Quick Reference (Windows PC)

Last updated February 2020 See https://staff.brighton.ac.uk/is/training for more videos and documentation Faye Brockwell

See https://staff.brighton.ac.uk/is/training/Pages/Word/longdocs.aspx

for videos and exercises to accompany this quick reference card.

Styles

Working with styles in Word will improve the consistency of your

formatting as well as speeding up the process of formatting a

document. The main style types are:

Type of style Used to

Paragraph

styles

Control the formatting of the entire paragraphs,

including tab settings, line spacing, and indents as

well as character formatting such as font, font size

and text colour.

When applied, affect the whole of the paragraph

Character

styles

Control character formatting such as font, font size

and text colour.

When applied, only affect selected words

List styles Control the formatting of numbered and bulleted lists

Table styles Control the formatting of tables

Normal style

The Normal style is the default paragraph style for paragraphs of text in

Word. If you don’t like the line spacing or font when you start a new

Word document, modify the Normal style so it behaves how you want it

to.

If you want this change to apply to every new Word document that you

create, modify the Normal.dotm template.

Modify styles

You can make existing styles behave how you want them to – you don’t

have to create new ones.

In the Styles pane, right-click on the style you want to modify.

Click on Modify…

You can use the formatting tools

in the Modify Style window to

make common changes like

Font, Font Size, Text Colour,

Line Spacing and Alignment

Hover over the tools to see what

they are.

The preview window will show

you what your changes will look

like.

If you want to apply the changes for this and any new Word

documents, click to select New documents based on this

template.

If you are not using your own template, this will update the

Normal.dotm template on the computer you are working on.

Click on the Format button for more advanced controls, such as

margins, borders and more specific line-spacing options.

Click OK when finished.

Note: the changes to the style will be applied to the text where your

insertion point is flashing. If you did not want this to happen:

In the Styles pane, click to select the Normal style

2

Heading Styles

Heading styles are a special type of paragraph

style. There are ten heading styles available in

Word: the Title style (which should only be used

once per document), along with Heading 1 through

to Heading 9.

Heading styles:

Control the formatting of headings so that, to the reader, the text

visually looks like a heading

Tag the headings so that Word recognises the heading, thus

enabling Word to recognise the structure of your document. This in

turn enables you to:

o create a Table of Contents

o apply numbering to your document

o include chapter numbers in a table of figures or an index of

tables

o Use the Navigation Pane or Outline View to manage the

overall structure of your document

If the default Heading styles do not look how you want them to, modify

them.

Show the styles gallery pane

o On the Home tab, click on the to the

bottom right of the Styles gallery

This will open the styles pane to the r ight, but not all styles will be

displayed.

o Click on Options at the bottom-right of the

pane

o In Select styles to show choose All

styles

o In Select how list is sorted choose

Alphabetical

o Click OK.

Apply a paragraph or heading style to an existing

paragraph of text

o Click on any word in the paragraph so your insertion point is

flashing somewhere within the paragraph

o Click once on the style in the styles pane.

Apply a heading style to several headings at once

Useful if you’re cleaning up an existing document

o Click once in the margin to the left of the first heading you want to

select.

o Scroll to where your next heading is.

o Hold down the CTRL key and click once in the margin to the left of

the heading

o Release the CTRL key on your keyboard.

o Repeat until you have selected all the headings you want to.

o Click once on the heading style in the styles pane.

Do not keep the CTRL key held down whilst scrolling down the page as

this is the command to zoom!

3

Select all text with similar formatting

Useful for cleaning up a document that was not previously formatted

using styles.

o Click so your insertion point is flashing on some of the text you want

to select (e.g. within one heading)

o On the Home tab, click on Select and choose Select all text

with similar formatting.

Apply a character style to selected words

o Double-click on any word in the paragraph to select the entire word

o Click once on the character style in the styles pane

Tip: hold down the CTRL key whilst you double click on words to select

several words at once.

Apply a style before typing

Click where you want to type the text.

Click on the required style in the styles pane.

Type your text.

Clear style formatting

If you want to “remove” a style from a word or paragraph, simply apply

the Normal style to the word or paragraph:

Click once in a paragraph of text or double click on a word to select

it

In the Styles pane, click to select the Normal style

If you have a document that has been formatted without using styles

correctly and you want to start again from scratch:

Press CTRL and A on your keyboard to select all of the text

In the Styles pane, click to select Clear All

If you have copied and pasted text from another document that uses a

different template, and want to strip the source formatting:

Use your mouse to select the text

In the Styles pane, click to select Clear All

Copying and pasting

If you copy text from one document to another, when you paste you

can choose whether to keep the styles formatting from the original

document or convert the text to the styles formatting in your new

document.

Copy the text from the original document

Paste the text into the new document

Click on the Paste Options icon

Choose to apply the styles formatting

of the new document

Choose to paste the text without any styles formatting (Normal

style). This option is good when you want to start afresh in your

new document.

Apply style formatting to an existing document

If you have already written a document, but now want to format it using

styles, e.g. to structure it properly using Heading styles:

Save a copy of your document as a visual reminder of the

formatting you had originally.

Have both the original and the copy open, side by side.

Clear the style formatting from the original document.

Apply styles (see page 2) to your original document, using the copy

as a visual guide.

4

Create your own character style

This is useful if you want to emphasise words. Using a style allows you

to easily update the formatting of all emphasised words in your

document without having to find and select them all.

At the bottom of the Styles Pane, click

on the New Style button h .

In the Name field, type a name for

your style

In the Style Type field, choose

Character

In the Style based on field choose

Default Paragraph Font

Use the tools to set the formatting for

your new style

If you want this style to be available in any new Word documents,

click to select New documents based on this template.

If you are not using your own template, this will update the

Normal.dotm template on the computer you are working on.

Click OK

Create your own paragraph style

This is useful to make paragraphs stand out – by putting a box around

a paragraph, for instance. (Do not use this to create new Heading

Styles).

Click on the New Style button at the bottom of the Styles

Pane.

In the Name field, type a name for

your style

In the Style Type field, choose

Paragraph

In the Style based on field choose

Normal

In the Style for following

paragraph choose which style you

want – this is what style will be applied

to text in the next paragraph after your

press ENTER.

Usually this will be either the Normal style, or the name of the

style that you are creating

Use the tools to set the formatting for your new style

If you want this style to be available in any new Word documents,

click to select New documents based on this template.

If you are not using your own template, this will update the

Normal.dotm template on the computer you are working on.

Click OK

5

Numbering headings or chapters

This is only possible if you have used heading styles to format your

headings.

Tip: Multi-level lists can be temperamental. If possible, we recommend

that you leave this step towards the end of creating your document,

when you are happy with its structure

On the Home tab, click on the drop-down arrow on the multi-

level list icon

Choose one of the options that includes the

word Heading, like the one shown on the

right

The numbering will be applied to your

document

If you would like to edit how numbering works in

multi-level lists, see the Numbering chapters

and sections video from LinkedIn Learning’s

Word 2016: Creating Long Document course.

Table of contents

This is only possible if you have used heading styles to format your

headings.

Create a table of contents

Click where you want your table of contents to be

On the References tab click on Table of

Contents.

Choose which style of table of contents you want.

The table of contents will appear.

Update a table of contents

Right click on the Table of Contents in your document

Select Update Field

Check the section Update entire

table

Click OK

Format a table of contents

Like everything in Word, a table of contents

is formatted using styles: TOC Heading

and TOC 1 through to TOC 9.

To change the formatting for the levels of

your Table of Contents, you will need to

modify the corresponding TOC style.

6

Templates

All Word documents are based on a template. Templates store the

styles and page settings for your document. They can also contain

standard text (e.g. in a meeting minutes template)

You can have different templates for different types of document. For

instance, one template for chapters of your thesis, another template for

meeting minutes.

Saving your styles and page settings as a template saves you time

when creating documents of the same type, as you do not need change

the settings for each new document.

Modify the default formatting for new Word documents

Unless you specify otherwise, any new Word documents are based on

the Normal.dotm template stored on your computer.

If you don’t like the default settings for Word on your computer (e.g.

you want text to always be Arial instead of Times New Roman, or you

want to reduce the space inserted every time you press ENTER) you

must update the Normal.dotm template.

Open a new blank Word document

Modify the Normal style to meet your

needs, but click to select New

documents based on this

template.

This will update the style not only in your

current document, but also for any new

documents using the Normal template.

Create a new template from scratch

Start a new Word document

Click on File >> Save As

In the Save File as Type

box, choose Word Template

(.dotx)

You may see the file path change

to be your Custom Office

templates.

If that doesn’t happen, or if you are working on a computer you do

not work on regularly,

choose where to store your template, e.g. your OneDrive for

Business.

Type a name for your template in the File Name box.

Click Save.

You are now working on a new template. Set your template up as you

need it to be. You may want to:

Create new paragraph styles

Create new character styles

Modify existing styles

Change page layout settings such as margins

Create a standard Header or Footer

Type some standard text onto the page

Remember to click File>>Save to save the changes to your

template.

7

Create a new template from an existing document

If you have spent a lot of time changing the set-up of an existing Word

document, e.g. by modifying the styles to get them just as you want to,

you can save these settings as a template for use on other documents,

following the steps above. You may want to remove any text from your

template first!

Start a new document using a template

Template stored in your Custom Office

templates

Open Word

Click on File >> New

Click on PERSONAL

Click on the template you want

This will open a new Word (.docx) file based on your template.

Template stored in another location

Navigate to the location where your template is stored (e.g. in File

Explorer)

Double-click on the template

This will open a new Word (.docx) file based on your template.

Apply a template to an existing Word

document

Click on the Developer tab on the ribbon.*

Click on Document Template.

Click on Attach.

Locate your template where you saved it and

double-click to choose it.

Click on the Automatically update

document styles checkbox.

Click OK

*If you do not have the Developer tab on your Word

ribbon:

Click on the File tab and then on Options.

In the Word Options window, click on

Customize Ribbon.

In the Main Tabs box on the right, click the

Developer checkbox.

Click OK

Edit a template

Open Word

Click on File >> Open

Navigate to where the template is

stored.

You may want to limit the search to All

Word Templates

Click on your template and click Open

Make the changes to your template

Click File >> Save to save the changes to your template.

8

Page breaks

Page breaks allow you to start the next paragraph on a new

page, without pressing ENTER several times.

Click where you want your page break to be.

On the Insert tab, choose Page Break.

Section breaks

Section breaks allow you to break your document into sections. This

allows you to format individual sections of your document

independently of other sections, so that you can control:

Margins

Paper orientation (landscape or portrait)

Contents and position of headers and footers

Format, position and sequence of page numbers

Number of columns

Location where footnotes print

Line numbers

Show non-printing characters

This is essential when working with section

breaks:

On the Home tab click the Show Hidden Characters icon.

Insert a continuous section break

Continuous section breaks are used to identify separate sections of a

document within a single page, e.g. to have a long bulleted list across

multiple columns.

A. Mark the start of your section

Click your insertion point at the end of the paragraph immediately

before the point where you want your section to start

On the Page Layout tab, click on Breaks

Choose Continuous

B. Mark the end of your section

Click your insertion point at the end of the paragraph at the end of

your section

On the Page Layout tab, click on Breaks and choose

Continuous

C. Format your new section

Click so that your insertion point is flashing somewhere between

your two section breaks

Any formatting that you apply will apply to just that section (e.g. 2

columns instead of 1)

9

Insert a next page section break

Next page section breaks are used to identify separate sections of a

document, where sections are on different pages.

These are often used to:

Have different headers and footers for different sections

Manage page numbering independently for different sections

Make one page of your document landscape orientation

To add a next page section break:

Click your insertion point where you want one section to end and

the other to begin.

On the Page Layout tab, click on Breaks

Choose Next Page

Make one page of your document landscape

Insert a Next Page Section Break to mark the end of the

portrait section

(i.e. at the end of the last portrait page before the landscape page)

Insert a Next Page Section Break to mark the end of the

landscape section (i.e. at the end of the last landscape page)

Click so your insertion point is flashing somewhere on one of the

pages that you want to be landscape

Click on the Page Layout table

Click on Orientation and choose Landscape

Delete a section break

Turn on non-printing characters

Use your mouse to select the section break (click and drag)

Press Delete

10

Headers and footers

Headers and footers are used to repeat standard text or content at the

top or bottom of each page, e.g. chapter headings or page numbering

Insert a header or footer

On the Insert tab, click on Header or Footer

Click on a layout to choose it

Add automatic page numbers to your

document

On the Insert tab, click on Page Number

Choose where you want your page numbers to

appear

Choose the style of page number

Manage different headers for sections of your document

Useful for chapter headings, for instance.

Use Next page section breaks to break the document into sections

(e.g. chapters)

In the first section, double-click on the header to update it. This

header will be repeated across all sections.

Click in the header of the next section to select it.

Click on the Header & Footer Tools tab

Click to deselect Link to Previous

You can now edit the header for this section independently of the

preceding section.

Repeat these steps for each section that you want to edit

independently of the section before

Manage different footers for sections of your document

Use the steps shown above, but in the Footer of your document rather

than the header.

Manage page numbering independently for different

sections of your document

In the text of the document, insert a Next page section break to

mark the point at which page numbering should be handled

differently (e.g. at the end of a section)

This will create two sections. Double-click on the footer in the

second section to open it.

Click on the Header & Footer Tools Design tab

Click to deselect Link to Previous

On the Header & Footer Tools Design tab, click on Page

Number and choose the location and style for your page numbers

11

Format page numbering

E.g. to force the page numbering to start at 1

Double click on the page number to

select it

Right-click and choose Format Page

Numbers

Change the Start at number to be the

page number you require

Click OK

To include the chapter number click to select Include Chapter

Number.

This will only work if

You have applied Heading 1 style to your chapter headings in

your document

Your document has a Heading-style multi-level list applied - see

Numbering headings or chapters

Planning and managing the structure of a document

MindGenius

MindGenius is mind mapping software that allows you to plan a

document visually using a mind map. You can then convert your map

into a Word document, with branches of your document converted into

Heading styles to form the structure of your document.

For more information, including videos on how to plan a Word

document using MindGenius, see

https://staff.brighton.ac.uk/is/training and click on the MindGenius

link.

Navigation pane

With the Navigation pane you can:

See the structure of your document

Change the structure of your document

Jump quickly to a section of your document

Search your document for specific text

Turn Navigation Pane on

Click on the View tab

Click to select the Navigation Pane checkbox

The navigation pane will appear on the left of your

document.

If you have used Heading Styles in your document,

the headings will appear in the Navigation pane.

Click on any heading to jump to that section of the document.

Use the Navigation Pane for a contextual search

Click on the Search Document box at the top of

the Navigation Pane

Type your search word or string and press ENTER

Click on RESULTS to show contextual search

results

Click on any of the search result to jump to that part

of the document.

Use the Navigation Pane to change the structure of your document

To move sections of your document, simply drag and drop the headings

in the Navigation Pane. Any sub-headings will be moved too.

This change will be reflected in your document – all text and images for

the sections associated with those headings and sub-headings will

move too.

12

Outline view

With Outline View you can:

Plan the structure of your document

Change the structure of your document

Plan a new Word document in Outline view

Open a new blank Word document

On the View tab, click on Outline

The view will change to Outline View. In this view

you will type the headings and sub-headings of your document, to build

the headings structure of your document. Do not write any body text in

Outline view.

Type your first heading. This will usually be a Heading 1 style.

Press ENTER then:

o Start typing to create another heading of the same level.

E.g. Another Heading 1 style.

o Press the TAB key to create a sub-heading.

E.g. a Heading 2 style heading

o Press SHIFT + TAB to revert back to a higher level heading

E.g. to revert back to a Heading 1 style.

Continue to build the structure of your headings.

To move a section:

Point at the + icon to the left of the heading, then drag and drop

it to its new position.

Do this at the highest level for the section you want to move to ensure

that all associated sub-headings are moved in one hit.

When you have finished building the structure of your document:

On the Outlining tab click on Close Outline View to

switch back to print view, where you can continue to write

your document as normal.

Change the structure of a document in Outline View

You can drag and drop sections of an existing document within Outline

view. This will move entire sections of your document, including all

sub-headings, along with their associated text and images within the

document, in one hit.

On the View tab, click on Outline on

Click on the Outlining tab

In Show Level: select Level 9

Body text of your document will now be hidden, showing just the

headings of your document.

To move a section:

Point at the + icon to the left of

the heading

Drag and drop it to its new position.

Do this at the highest level for the

section you want to move to ensure that all associated sub-headings

are moved in one hit.

Using the Outlining tools on the ribbon

The Outlining tab appears on the ribbon when you are in Outline View.

Hover over any of the tools to find out what they are for.

13

Images

Insert an image

Click so that your insertion point is flashing where you

want to insert an image

On the Insert tab, click on Pictures.

Navigate to your image file and double-click to insert it.

Change how text behaves alongside your image

After inserting your image, click on the Wrap Text icon

that appears

Choose which text wrapping option you require:

Icon Description of icon

Square: choose this option to have more

control over where the image is positioned

on the page

In Line with Text: choose this so that the

image is in its own space with no text

wrapping

Resizing your image

Click on the image to select it

Click and drag one of the drag handles that

appear at the corners of the image

Move your image (no caption)

Point your cursor at the centre of the image

Click and drag the image to the required location

You may need to change the text wrapping options (see above)

Move your image (in-line image with caption)

If your image has a caption, and the text wrapping is set to in-line,

dragging and dropping the image will lose the caption. To avoid this:

Use your mouse to select both the image and its caption

Cut and paste the image to its desired location.

You may need to update the caption numbering.

Move your image (image with text wrapping and caption)

If your image has a caption, and the text wrapping is set to one of the

text wrapping options (e.g. Square), dragging and dropping the image

will lose the caption. To avoid this:

Click to select the image, then hold down the ctrl key whilst you

click to select the caption

Right-click on the selection, then choose Group, then click on

Group

Drag and drop the image and its caption to their desired location.

You may need to update the caption numbering.

Using the Picture Tools format tab

When you click on an image to select it, the Picture Tools Format

tab appears on the ribbon.

Explore these tools, which include colour correction, image size

compression, add artistic effects, borders, cropping and alignment.

14

Table of figures

Word can automatically create a table of figures for all the images in

your document. To do this you must add a caption to each image and

then insert your table of figures

Add captions to images

Click on an image to select it

On the References tab, click on Insert

Caption

In the Label box, choose Figure

In the caption box, type the text to

accompany your image.

Word will automatically number the caption.

To include the chapter number in your caption:

click on Numbering and click to select the Include Chapter

Number checkbox

This will only work if:

You have applied Heading 1 style to your chapter headings

Your document has a Heading-style multi-level list applied - see

Numbering headings or chapters

Create the table of figures

Click where you want the table of figures to

go

On the References tab click on Insert

Table of Figures

On the Table of Figures tab, in the

caption drop-down box choose Figure

Check the other options and then click OK.

Update caption numbering

If your caption numbering gets out of order:

Click to select one of the caption numbers

In the styles pane, right-click on the Caption style.

Click on Select All

Right-click on any one of the selected caption numbers

Click on Update Field

Updating a table of figures

Right click on the table of figures and select Update Field

Select Update entire table and click OK

Index of tables

Word can automatically create an Index of Tables for all the tables in

your document. To do this you must add a caption to each table and

then insert your index of tables.

Add captions to tables

Click on a table to select it

On the References tab, click on Insert Caption

In the Label box, choose Table

In the caption box, type the text to accompany your table.

Word will automatically number the caption.

To include the chapter number in your caption:

click on Numbering

click to select the Include Chapter Number checkbox

This will only work if

You have applied Heading 1 style to your chapter headings in

your document

Your document has a Heading-style multi-level list applied - see

Numbering headings or chapters

15

Create the Index of Tables

On the References tab click on Insert Table of Figures

On the Table of Figures tab, in the caption drop-down box

choose Table

Check the other options and then click OK.

Updating a table of figures

Right click on the index of tables and select Update Field

Select Update entire table and click OK

Insert a cover page

Word has a tool for creating cover

pages.

On the Insert tab, click on Cover

Page

Click on a cover page style to apply

it

A cover page will be inserted at the

beginning of your document.

Click on any of the pre-defined text

boxes to edit or delete them

Building a bibliography

We recommend that EndNote is used for adding citations to your

document and creating your bibliography.

Once you have created a reference library in EndNote you can link up

your library to a Word document and insert citations directly into the

text of your document. EndNote will format the citation into the

referencing style you require and simultaneously create a bibliography

at the end of your document.

This process is called Cite While You Write.

For more information on using Cite While You Write, visit the library’s

EndNote Subject Guide:

http://libguides.brighton.ac.uk/c.php?g=517605&p=3538097