Microsoft Word

You can highlight and right click with your mouse on a block of text (one word, an image, etc.) to open up the copy/cut/paste options. OR can use these keyboard shortcuts after you highlight the thing you're copying/cutting:

• Copy: Hold Ctrl+C
• Cut: Hold Ctrl+X
• Paste: Hold Ctrl+V

You know what they say--Save early and save often! 

Get into a habit of saving immediately after you have formatted your paper, and from then on out you can periodically click the save icon OR you can use the keyboard shortcut:

• Save: Hold Ctrl+S

Most instructors will require this formatting for your papers:

• 12pt font size
• Times New Roman or Arial
• Double Spaced
• 1" margins

If you're not sure how to make that happen, follow these steps:

1. Spacing:

• Make sure you're on the Home tab. 
• In the section called Styles, Click the second option that says "No Spacing" (See the image below for help finding it).
• This will ensure that when you hit enter after a paragraph, there won't be any extra space between paragraphs.

2. Double spacing:

• In the Paragraph section find the stacked lines with up and down arrows next to it, Click this, this is the "Line Spacing" option.
• Find the option that says 2.0 to set the double spacing.

3. Font:

• To format the font, go to the box that has the name of the font.
• Either start typing in the name of the font you want OR just click the dropdown arrow and scroll through the list and choose the one you want (see the image for help).

4. Font Size:

• To change the font size, you can click in the number box right next to the font name.
• Either type in the number you want, or click the dropdown arrow and choose from there.
• You can also click the big A or little A to make the font one size bigger or smaller.

5. Margins:

• The margins should default to one inch. But in the case that you want to change the margins, you'll go to the Layout tab.
• Choose your margins from the dropdown on the far left (see the image for help).

Saving your document:

1. To save your document and choose where it's saving, go to File, Save as.

2. Where you see locations to save, choose Browse (see image for help).

3. Choose the folder you want to save in from the side menu (in this example, I'm saving my document in a folder on my flash drive, which can be nice to have if you don't want to use the cloud-based OneDrive (see how to use OneDrive in the One Drive tutorial) and if you're going to be working on a few different computers throughout the course of your project).

4. Name the file something smart and appropriate then choose the file type under the "Save as type" drop down menu (sometimes you may have to save as a PDF).

5. Click save.

Page Numbers:

If you're working on an assignment that requires a last name and page number in the corner, here's what to do:

1. Go to the Insert tab.

2. Click Page number.

3. Choose what part of the page you want your page number to appear on (usually top right).

4. If you need your last name to accompany the page number, click just before the number and type in your name. This should apply it to every page.

Headers in APA:

Include a Running Head at the beginning of every page. Your cover page will differ from the rest of your document.

1. Insert your page number at the top right.

2. Insert a header on the top LEFT of your cover page, and check the box that says Different first page. The header for the first page only should say "Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" (with the title in all caps, NO quotation marks).

3. All following pages should have "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" (all caps, no quotes) on the top left. This is why we chose different first page.

Headers in MLA
1. Insert a page number at the top right, and include your last name before the page number. There is no cover page.

2. The top left should look as follows:

Your name

Your instructor's name

Class 101

day month, year

Curious about References and Citations? 

See the:

• APA Style Guide
• MLA Style Guide
• ASA Style Guide

Hanging Indent (References/Works Cited/Bibliography)

When you build a Works Cited, References, or Bibliography page, each of your references should be indented 1/2 inch (0.5"). Instead of hitting tab at the beginning of every line after the first line, there's a quick way to set the hanging indent. Follow the steps below.

1. Go to the View tab.

2. Check the box next to Ruler.

3. Click and drag the bottom two pieces of the ruler.

Alternatively, 

1. Highlight the citations you want to have a hanging indent. 

2. Go to the Home tab

3. In the Paragraph box click the little arrow in the bottom right corner.

4. You will get a popup window.

5. See Indents and Spacing -- Indentations -- Special:, change the drop down menu to "Hanging" (see image):

Inserting an image from your own files:

1. Go to the Insert tab.

2. Click Pictures.

3. Click on the image you want to use, and click Insert.

4. Format options will automatically display at the top.

Inserting an online image:

1. From the Insert tab, click Online Pictures.

2. In the Bing search box, type in the image you want.

3. Creative Commons only is automatically checked for you.

4. Click the image you want to use, then click Insert.

This guide merely shows some frequently asked questions about Microsoft Word. If you need more information or help, check out the great training videos made by Microsoft, or type your issue into YouTube and see if someone isn't asking the same question you are asking!