Keep It Simple, Less Is

More
Want to know how to make a Word document
look good? Just keep it simple, and take
advantage of the hidden features that
Microsoft Word comes with. If you remember
one thing from this article, let it be this, and
you'll be able to make the right design
decisions in the future!
When writing a document, the content should
be the main focus. Document formatting
guidelines exist to make that content easier to
read and digest.
Eliminate the temptation to introduce eye-
catching elements that only serve to distract.
Maximize whitespace. Keep your wording tight
and revise any wordy sentences or
paragraphs. Simple and minimal rules overall.

2. Choose a Context-
Appropriate Typeface
Your first big design decision should be which
typeface you're going to use. Traditional
knowledge says that serif fonts are easier to
read in printed documents, whereas sans-serif
fonts are better on the eyes when read on a
digital screen.
Good examples of serif fonts include
Garamond, Georgia, Hoefler Text, and
Palatino, while good examples of sans-serif
fonts include Arial, Gill Sans, Helvetica, and
Lucida Sans.
Skip Comic Sans if you want to avoid one of
the most common presentation design
mistakes. And whatever you end up using,
stick to the same typeface throughout to make
your Word document professional. If desired,
you can use a different typeface for headings.

3. Use Standard Font

Size and Color

You can't learn how to format a word document

to look professional without paying attention to
the look of the text. Business and academic
papers generally use 12-point font sizes,
which produce the most readable paragraphs
when used in combination with the guidelines
discussed below for page size, margins, and
line spacing.
Some information-dense reports may
sometimes go down to 10-point font size, but
never less than that.
In general, it's best to keep your hands off of
anything related to colors, especially for printed
documents. You'll have to pay more for the
color ink, and it won't carry over if the
document ever gets copied. For digital
documents, reserve colored text for critical
warnings and the like. Prefer to emphasize
using bolded and italic text.

4. Use Standard Page

Size and Margins
Nearly all office documents are formatted to
the same page size as they are printed for
standard 8½" x 11" pages, known as US
Letter size (also known as A4 elsewhere,
which is 210mm x 297mm). This is the only
size that's guaranteed to be available
regardless of which printer you use.
As for margins, most style manuals and style
guides call for a 1" margin on all sides of the
page, which produces the best readability for
line lengths and allows for written annotations if
necessary. In Word, you can
select Normal under Margins to do so.
However, if the document is going to be bound
in a binder, you may want to use Custom
Margins to increase the side margins to 1½" to
accommodate the rings.

5. Align Paragraphs to
the Left
You may be tempted to use justified alignment
because that's what's used in newspapers,
novels, and some textbooks, but it's the wrong
choice for office and academic documents.
Why is it important to make a document
formal? Without formality, your document
becomes unreadable.
What you want is left alignment for text. This
produces jaggedness on the right side of
paragraphs, but it keeps letter spacing as
intended by whatever typeface you're using,
and that means optimal legibility.
Otherwise, you may end up with typographic
rivers, which are extremely distracting and
simply look ugly. This is something you
certainly want to avoid when you want to make
your Word document look professional.
6. Indent the First
Lines of Paragraphs

Paragraphs should have no extra spacing

between them, and the first lines of paragraphs
should be indented to make each paragraph
stand out. The only exception is for paragraphs
that directly follow a section heading, which
can be left unindented because the
surrounding context makes it clear that it's its
own paragraph.
To make a document look professional, a
general rule of thumb is to have the indent size
the same as the font size. Make sure you use
Word's paragraph styling features to handle the
indents rather than using the Tab key!

7. Place Images
Between Paragraphs
Inserting images is a part of designing your
Word document. It may be okay to place
images inside a paragraph and allow the
surrounding text to flow around it, and if your
organization follows this document formatting
guideline, then go ahead and do that.
But generally speaking, it can damage
readability, especially in data-driven reports.
The safest option, particularly for graphs,
charts, and tables, is to put images in between
paragraphs and keep them center aligned.
That way, your images help to make your
document attractive, but they are never vying
for attention with the surrounding text. It also
helps captions to stand out.

8. Choose Context-
Appropriate Line
Spacing
To format a document to look professional, the
right choice for line spacing (the whitespace
that separates a line of text from the next line
of text) really depends on what kind of
document you're writing.
Academic papers should first follow any
academic style guides in place, then prefer
double-spacing if no style guide exists.
Business and office documents tend to be
single-spaced to minimize the number of pages
needed when printing, but digital documents
may be easier to read if spaced at somewhere
between 120-150 percent.

9. Break Up Text With

Headings and Lists
The longer the document, the more important
headings become. Would you rather read a 20-
page report that's nothing but a wall of text
from end to end? Or a 30-page report that's
organized into proper sections, subsections,
and headings? It’s highly likely you’ll prefer the
latter.
Lists are also good for breaking up walls of text
and drawing eyes to important points. In Word,
use Numbering to create numbered
lists when counting a set of items (e.g., "the
five attributes of a successful entrepreneur") or
when providing step-by-step instructions.
Otherwise, use Bullets to make bulleted lists.
Just be sure to avoid overusing lists, which
detracts readability from your Word document
design. This is especially important when it
comes to using Word to format a
screenplay.

10. Separate Sections

With Breaks
When you want to learn how to make your
report look professional, you need to get
acquainted with section breaks. In Microsoft
Word, section breaks allow you to differentiate
certain pages with changes in orientation,
columns, headers, footers, page numbers, and
more. Section breaks come in four forms:
 Next Page: Start the next section on the
following page.
  Continuous: Start the next section on the
current page.
 Even Page: Start the next section on the
next even page.
 Odd Page: Start the next section on the
next even page.
If your document is large enough to need
chapters, this is the best way to format them in
a clean way. Each chapter should be made
with a Next Page section break, or the Even
Page or Odd Page section breaks if you're
going to place it within a binder. We've
shown how to remove page breaks if
needed, too.

Learn How to Format a

Word Document to
Look Professional
Unless your organization or school requires a
specific layout and format, you can skip the
hard work of setting up your own template and
just download one instead. This helps you
quickly achieve a professional document
design.