This article was co-authored by wikiHow Staff. Our trained team of editors and researchers validate articles for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards.
This article has been viewed 40,276 times.
This wikiHow teaches you how to edit a Microsoft Word document's page layout, change its design theme, and make basic style edits on the text, using a computer.
Things You Should Know
Click the Home tab on the top-left. This button is in the upper-left corner of your document. It will open your text styling tools on the toolbar ribbon.
Select a font on the menu to apply it. Clicking a font here will change the selected text to this font.
Click the Line and Paragraph Spacing button. This button looks like a paragraph icon with two blue arrows next to it. It will open your spacing options on a drop-down menu.
Open the Word document you want to edit. Find the document you want to edit, and double-click on its name to open the text file.
Click the Layout tab at the top. This button is located above the toolbar ribbon in the upper-left corner of your document. It will open your layout tools on the toolbar ribbon.
Click the Margins menu on the top-left. This is the first option on the Layout ribbon. It will open your document's margin options on a drop-down menu.
Select a paragraph or section to customize the margin and spacing. You can manually customize the margin indent and spacing options of a paragraph or section in your text without affecting the overall margins of your document.
Click the Orientation menu next to Margins. This will open your document's page orientation options on a drop-down menu.
Select Portrait or Landscape on the menu. Click one of the options here to change your document's page orientation.
Click the Size menu next to Orientation. This will open a list of available paper-size configurations you can use for your document.
Find and select the paper size you want to use. This will help you accurately preview your document's print output on the paper size you're planning to use.
Click the Design tab at the top. You can find it between Insert and Layout above the toolbar ribbon in the upper-left corner. It will open your design tools on the ribbon.
Click the Themes button. This is the first option on the Design toolbar in the upper-left corner. It will open your document theme options on a drop-down menu.
Click the Colors button. This button is located towards the right-hand side of the toolbar ribbon. It will open a drop-down menu of different color palettes you can use.
Select a color palette. Click the color palette you want to use. This will filter the themes on the toolbar ribbon, and restrict the selection to the selected color palette.
Select the font you want to use in your document. This will filter the themes on the ribbon and only show themes with your selected font.
How do you unlock a Word document for editing on a Mac?
If there are locked sections in your Word document, click the Tools menu and select Protect Document. Remove the checkmark from "Protect document for" and click OK.
How can you edit a document on Mac without Microsoft Word?
If you don't have Microsoft Word, you can open the document in Pages. Just hold down Control as you click the document, select Open with, and then click Pages.
Why is Word not allowing me to edit?
If you get an error that says, "Your account doesn't allow editing on a Mac," try using the license removal tool to uninstall and reinstall your license. Make sure you know your Microsoft login information so you don't run into trouble when reinstalling. [2] X Trustworthy Source Microsoft Support Technical support and product information from Microsoft. Go to source
3 Easy Ways to Create Borders in Microsoft Word
3 Easy Ways to Adjust the Page Margins in Microsoft Word
3 Simple Ways to Insert a Hyperlink in Microsoft Word
Easily Add Page Numbers to a Word Document on Any Platform
How to Add Check Boxes to Word: 10 Simple Steps
How to Add Backgrounds in Microsoft Word: Watermarks, Images, & Colors
How to Alphabetize in Microsoft Word (PC & Mac)
3 Easy Ways to Delete a Horizontal Line in a Word Document
3 Quick Ways to Insert a File into a Word Document
4 Simple Ways to Rotate Text Direction & Position in Word
Easily Delete a Header from the Second Page in Word
