7.1 Documents, text and the basics done right
You can produce a clean one-page document without fighting the formatting.
Before:00. Getting Your FootingUnlocks:08. Word — Long Documents & Expert
Word rewards people who can see what is actually in the document, and the Show and Hide button — revealing paragraph marks, spaces and breaks — is this topic's centre. Around it sit the basics done properly: selecting and moving text, the clipboard, and the spelling and autocorrect settings worth adjusting. It opens the Word module because the cardinal sin, pressing space or Enter repeatedly to push things into place, is learned in the first hour of most people's Word life, and this topic exists to unlearn it before the layout topics arrive.
Work through these
Typing, selecting, moving and the clipboard
Selecting, moving and pasting text sound trivial until you notice how much of the day they occupy. Doing them precisely is what makes editing fast rather than fiddly.
Paragraph marks and Show/Hide: seeing what is actually there
Turning on the display of formatting marks shows what is really in the document: paragraph ends, tabs and spaces. Almost every mysterious layout problem becomes obvious once you can see them.
Never using repeated spaces or empty paragraphs for layout
Using repeated spaces or blank paragraphs to position things produces documents that fall apart when anything changes. This item is the habit that everything in the next topic depends on.
Spelling, grammar, autocorrect and turning off what annoys you
The checking and autocorrect features help until they start changing what you meant. Knowing how to turn off individual behaviours is more useful than turning everything off.
Practice file
- wd-01-formatting.docx
Two pages of unformatted text with manual spacing to fix using styles.
Opens in Word. Every name, number and address in these files is made up. No account needed to download.
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Free resources
Using a screen reader? 5 resources
- FreeMicrosoft · DocsScreen reader support for Wordwritten for screen reader users
- FreeMicrosoft · DocsUse a screen reader to explore and navigate Wordwritten for screen reader users
- FreeMicrosoft · DocsBasic tasks using a screen reader with Wordwritten for screen reader users
- FreeMicrosoft · DocsUse a screen reader to insert and change text in Wordwritten for screen reader users
- FreeHadley · VideoWord with Screen Reader Seriesvideo, with transcript
Links last checked 29 Aug 2026.
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