Using Templates

Using templates in Microsoft Word is an excellent way to save time and easily create professionally designed documents. A wide range of templates are available for different document types, such as, memos, calendars, checklists, flyers, and menus, all of which can be customized to meet your needs. You can also search online sources for templates that are not available in Word’s default selection.

To use a template, start by opening Microsoft Word, then click on File, and choose New. This will open the Template Gallery. Below the New section, you will see two headings: Office and Personal. Click Office to find a list of suggested searches or search for a specific template in the online search box.

Once find a template that interests you, click on the template to preview it. When the preview window opens, you can view the template, then Close to continue searching, or select Create to download the template. This will open the template in a new document, ready for customization.

Templates include placeholders, which are text that temporarily holds a place in a document for formatting and layout purposes. Not only is it reserved for text, but also for images. You can see in the image below, there are placeholders for the company logo, name, address, phone, e-mail, website, and recipient. To modify, simply click on the Placeholder you wish to change, and add the new text or logo. Once you start typing, the placeholder text will disappear.

The same holds true for the body of the letter. The image below shows the formatting of the body of the letter. You may find instructions on how you can customize the document here.

Inserting objects like images, tables, and charts allows you to customize the template to fit your needs. If there is text or images you don’t need, simply select them, and press DELETE to remove them.

Once you are satisfied with the customization, save the document with a new file name to preserve the original template for future use.

Additionally, you can create your own template by setting up a document to your specifications. Then save it as a Word template in the .dotx file format. To access the template for another project, go to the Template Gallery located under Personal.