5 Ways to Save Time When Formatting Word 2016 Documents

Most Microsoft Word 2016 users know the formatting basics, but many of them are unaware of the features they can use to streamline the formatting process. By customising some formatting features and using shortcuts, they can get presentation-quality documents with minimal effort.

Here are five ways you can save time when formatting Word 2016 documents:

1. Change the Default Font and Font Size

In Word 2016, the default font and font size is Calibri 12. If you usually use a different font and font size in your documents, you can change the defaults. That way, every new document you create will use your preferred font and font size. To change the default settings, follow these steps:

1. Put your cursor somewhere in an open Word document. Right-click and select “Font”.
2. In the Font dialog box, choose your preferred font and font size.
3. Click the “Set As Default” button.
4. In the dialog box that appears, select the “All documents based on the Normal template” option.
5. Click “OK” to save the changes and close the Font dialog box.

The default font and font size will now be changed in the open document and any future documents you create.

2. Quickly Change a Paragraph’s Line Spacing

Sometimes, you might want to change the line spacing in just one paragraph. Although you can use the “Line and Paragraph Spacing” button in Word’s ribbon, there’s an even quicker way to change it. Put your cursor somewhere in the paragraph and then use one of the following keyboard shortcuts:

• To change the paragraph’s line spacing to 1 (single space), press Ctrl+1 (i.e., press the Ctrl key and the 1 key at the same time).
• To change the paragraph’s line spacing to 2 (double space), press Ctrl+2.
• To change the paragraph’s line spacing to 1.5, press Ctrl+5.

3. Change the Default Line Spacing

In Word 2016, the default line spacing is “Multiple at 1.08”. You can change this default so that the current document and every new document you create thereafter will use your preferred spacing. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Put your cursor somewhere in an open Word document. Right-click and select “Paragraph”.
2. In the Paragraph dialog box, specify your preferred spacing.
3. Click the “Set As Default” button.
4. In the dialog box that appears, select the “All documents based on the Normal template” option.
5. Click “OK” to save the changes and close the Paragraph dialog box.

4. Quickly Remove Formatting

Removing any formatting that you might have applied is a breeze. For example, suppose that last Friday you boldfaced some keywords and changed their colour to red using the options in the Font section of Word’s ribbon. At the time, it seemed like a good idea, but when you look at the document now, you find that the red boldfaced keywords are too distracting. You can quickly remove that formatting by highlighting the text and clicking the “Clear All Formatting” button. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+Space.

You can also use the “Clear All Formatting” button to remove any formatting you applied through the Paragraph section (e.g., bullets, numbered list) or Styles section in Word’s ribbon. In this case, the keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+N rather than Ctrl+Space.

5. Change the Default Paste Behaviour When Copying and Pasting Text

Word follows certain rules when you copy and paste text in the same document, between documents, and between programs. In each case, Word follows the “Keep Source Formatting” rule by default, which means it preserves the text’s original formatting when you paste the text into your document. However, you can change this behaviour by selecting the “Merge Formatting” or “Keep Text Only” rule when you are pasting the text. If you select “Merge Formatting”, Word changes the copied text’s formatting (e.g., font, font size) so that it matches the text in your document but keeps features such as links and bulleted lists. Selecting “Keep Text Only” removes all the original formatting from the text you are pasting.

If you find that you often change Word’s paste behaviour, you can modify the default rules. To do so, follow these steps:

1. On the File tab, select “Options”.
2. Select “Advanced” from the menu on the left.
3. Find the “Cut, copy, and paste” section.
4. Select the default rule you would like to use (i.e., “Keep Source Formatting”, “Merge Formatting”, or “Keep Text Only”) for each of the following options: “Pasting within the same document”, “Pasting between documents”, and “Pasting from other programs”. You might also want to configure some of the other copy and paste options presented in this section.
5. Click “OK”.

By customising these options, you can simply paste text into your documents without having to always change the default behaviour. This can save you some time.