Formatting in Microsoft Word: Margins; Page Layout; Header and Footer

Microsoft Word automatically sets page margins at the top and bottom of the page, and at the left and right sides. The margins are areas of white space that border a document. The default size for the top and bottom margin is 1" (one inch) and the default size for the left and right margins are 1.25".

Changing the margins

Changing the size of the margins is an easy task.

1. Double click in the gray margin area (as defined in the image above). The Page Setup dialog box will appear.

Note: The Page Setup dialog box can also be accessed from File --> Page Setup.

2. From the Margins tab, use the "Top" and "Bottom" fields to adjust the top and bottom margins; use the "Left" and "Right" fields to adjust the left and right margins.

Page Layout

From the Page Setup dialog box, the orientation of the page can also be selected.

The "Portrait" option is the default setting. This allows for the page to be printed normally.
The "Landscape" option allows for the page to be printed horizontally.

Header and Footer

A header and footer are two helpful tools that can be used to add specific text to the header (the top) of every page in a document and the footer (the bottom) of each page in a document.

1. To insert a header and footer, begin by selecting "View" from the top menu.
2. Then select "Header and Footer."
3. The cursor will now be in the Header area in the top margin; the Header and Footer floating toolbar will also appear.
4. Enter your own header into the area. Previously discussed formatting tools can be used to alter the color, style, orientation, et cetera, of the text.

Note: Though the header area appears to be a lighter color when not selected, when printed it will appear in the same format as the rest of the document.

5. From the Header and Footer toolbar, select the "Switch Between Header and Footer" option. This will bring your cursor to the footer area.
6. From the Header and Footer toolbar, select "Insert AutoText."
7. From the AutoText menu, select "Page X of Y."

Now that the Header and Footer have been successfully created, they can be accessed anytime by double-clicking in the header or footer area.

Note: Multiple types of AutoText can be used simultaneously.