Microsoft Word essentials: 12 features that’ll make your work easier

Save time formatting with Format Painter

Jon Martindale / Foundry

It’s one thing to copy and paste text or images across your Word document. But what if you want to replicate the detailed formatting of one section of text and apply it to another piece of text?

Format Painter lets you copy and paste the style, not content, of what’s written. Simply select the text you want to copy from, then use the context menu to click the paintbrush icon. Then select the text you want to convert to that format and it’ll automatically apply it.

Jump around using Navigation Pane

Joel Lee / Foundry

If you don’t know, the Navigation Pane (which you can open and close using the Ctrl + F keyboard shortcut) is what you use when searching a document for certain words.

But when your document is properly formatted with headings, you can actually use the Navigation Pane to jump around between sections. When your document is massive (e.g., a massive report, a bloated reference manual, or a working novel), this is way more efficient than manually scrolling around to find the section you need.

Switch to Focus Mode to aid concentration

Joel Lee / Foundry

Focus Mode (sometimes also called distraction-free mode) is a useful feature in many applications, and Word is no exception.

To enable Focus Mode, select View > Focus in the ribbon menu. Doing so will hide all the interface elements you don’t need, as well as full-screening the app without the taskbar or other distractions. Now you can better concentrate on what you’re working on.

Use Dictation for hands-free writing

Joel Lee / Foundry

Dealing with repetitive stress injuries? Want to write in a stream-of-consciousness style without worrying about typing speed? Or maybe you want to lay down while staying productive? Dictation is your answer.

You can enable Dictation by navigating to Home > Dictate in the ribbon menu, then speak while Dictate is On. Word will transcribe everything you say into words in the document.

Alternatively, if you have a recorded audio file (e.g., lectures, interviews, or meetings), you can use Home > Dictate > Transcribe to convert it into text. However, you’ll need a Microsoft 365 subscription for this and you’ll get a maximum of 300 transcription upload minutes per month.

Have Word read your text back to you

Joel Lee / Foundry

Sometimes you just need to hear something out loud to know how well it reads (or doesn’t read). While you could read your work aloud yourself, it’s better if someone else reads it to you — because you might mentally overlook errors and mistakes since it’s your own writing.

Fortunately, Word can do it for you. Select the text you want read aloud, then select Review > Read Aloud in the ribbon menu. Word will read back what you’ve written. It’s a little robotic, but it does the trick.

Compare and combine documents

Joel Lee / Foundry

Been sent a document and you need to know what changes were made to it? Or maybe you need to merge that document with another one? That’s where Compare and Combine can be super useful.

To use these, either select Review > Compare or Review > Combine in the ribbon menu, then use the on-screen toolbar to select the files you want compared (side by side) or combined (into one document).

Use Editor to proofread your work

Jon Martindale / Foundry

While I might be able to send my work to an editor before it gets published, not everyone is so lucky. Fortunately, you can always use Word’s built-in AI editor to proofread your work.

To do so, select Home > Editor in the ribbon menu. This opens the Editor pa