Formatted text can draw the reader's attention to specific parts of a document and emphasize important information. In Word, you have several options for adjusting text, including font, size, and color. You can also adjust the alignment of the text to change how it is displayed on the page.
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Watch the video below to learn more about formatting text in Word.
You can also use the Grow Font and Shrink Font commands to change the font size.
By default, the font of each new document is set to Calibri. However, Word provides many other fonts you can use to customize text.
When creating a professional document or a document that contains multiple paragraphs, you'll want to select a font that's easy to read. Along with Calibri, standard reading fonts include Cambria, Times New Roman, and Arial.
Your color choices aren't limited to the drop-down menu that appears. Select More Colors at the bottom of the menu to access the Colors dialog box. Choose the color you want, then click OK.
The Bold, Italic, and Underline commands can be used to help draw attention to important words or phrases.
When you need to quickly change text case, you can use the Change Case command instead of deleting and retyping text.
Highlighting can be a useful tool for marking important text in your document.
To remove highlighting, select the highlighted text, then click the Text Highlight Color drop-down arrow. Select No Color from the drop-down menu.
If you need to highlight several lines of text, changing the mouse into a highlighter may be a helpful alternative to selecting and highlighting individual lines. Click the Text Highlight Color command, and the cursor changes into a highlighter. You can then click and drag the highlighter over the lines you want to highlight.
By default, Word aligns text to the left margin in new documents. However, there may be times when you want to adjust text alignment to the center or right.
Click the arrows in the slideshow below to learn more about the four text alignment options.
Align Text Left: This aligns all selected text to the left margin. The Align Text Left command is the most common alignment and is selected by default when a new document is created.
Center: This aligns text an equal distance from the left and right margins.
Align Text Right: This aligns all selected text to the right margin.
Justify: Justified text is equal on both sides. It lines up equally to the right and left margins. Many newspapers and magazines use full justification.
You can use Word's convenient Set as Default feature to save all of the formatting changes you've made and automatically apply them to new documents. To learn how to do this, read our article on Changing Your Default Settings in Word.