Text and Paragraph Formatting in Word

Text formatting in Word changes how individual words look, using font, size, bold, italic and colour. Paragraph formatting changes how whole blocks of text sit on the page, with alignment, line spacing, indents and bullets. The rule for both is the same: select the text first, then apply the formatting from the Home tab. Good formatting is what makes a document look neat and professional instead of plain and messy.

Text formatting (how words look)

Select the text, then use the Font group on the Home tab:

• Font and size — choose a clean font (Calibri, Arial) and a readable size (11–12pt).
• Bold / Italic / Underline — Ctrl + B / I / U.
• Font colour and highlight — the coloured "A" and the marker icon.
• Change case — Aa button, for UPPERCASE, lowercase or Capitalize Each Word.

Paragraph formatting (how blocks sit)

Click inside a paragraph (no need to select it all), then use the Paragraph group:

• Alignment — left, centre, right, or justify (Ctrl+L/E/R/J).
• Line spacing — the spacing button; 1.15 or 1.5 is easy to read.
• Bullets and numbering — for lists.
• Indent — move text in from the margin (Increase/Decrease Indent).

Line spacing and paragraph spacing

• Line spacing is the gap between lines inside a paragraph. 1.5 is comfortable for most documents.
• Space before/after is the gap between paragraphs. A small space after each paragraph makes text breathe.

Set both from the line-spacing button ▸ Line Spacing Options.

Bullets, numbering and indents

• Bullets for a list where order doesn't matter (skills, features).
• Numbering for steps or a ranked list.
• Multilevel list for sub-points under a main point.
• Use Increase Indent to push a paragraph in, for quotes or sub-items.

Alignment at a glance

Use styles for consistency

The Styles gallery (Home tab) has ready formats like Heading 1, Heading 2 and Normal. Using styles keeps every heading the same and lets you build a table of contents later. For a clean report, apply Heading 1 to main headings and Normal to body text.

Worked example (format a plain notice)

You paste a plain notice and format it:

1. Select the title, centre it (Ctrl+E), make it bold, size 16.
2. Select the body, set line spacing to 1.5.
3. Turn the list of points into bullets.
4. Right-align the date at the top.

The same words now look like a proper notice.

Pro tips

• Use the Format Painter (paintbrush) to copy formatting from one place to another.
• Stick to one or two fonts in a document; more looks messy.
• Use Styles (Heading 1, Normal) rather than manually formatting each heading.

Common mistakes

• Formatting without selecting. For text formatting, select the words first.
• Too many fonts and colours. Keep it simple and consistent.
• Using spaces to align text. Use alignment and indents, not the spacebar, or text shifts on other computers.

Key takeaways

• Text formatting changes how words look; paragraph formatting changes how blocks sit.
• Select text first, then format from the Home tab.
• Use alignment, line spacing, bullets and indents to structure the page.
• Styles keep headings consistent and enable a table of contents.

Practice task

Take a plain paragraph and format it: centre and bold a title, set the body to 1.5 line spacing, and turn three points into a bulleted list. Then use Format Painter to copy the title's look to a second heading.

Learn to make polished documents in the Basic Computer Course (BCC) at HCI.