The basic steps for editing in Word

Open your document in Microsoft Word by double-clicking the file or opening Word first and then selecting File > Open. Once the document is on your screen, click anywhere in the text to place your cursor there. You can now type new text, delete existing text by selecting it and pressing Delete, or use the formatting tools in the ribbon at the top to change how text looks — bold, italic, font size, color, and alignment are all in the Home tab.

To select text, click at the start of what you want to change and drag to the end, or double-click a single word. You can also click once and then hold Shift while clicking at the end of the section you want. Once text is selected, any formatting you explore affects only that selection.

Save your work by pressing Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac), or by clicking File > Save. If you are working on a document for the first time, Word will ask you where to save it and what to name it. After that, Ctrl+S saves over the existing file without asking again.

Key Takeaways

  • Click in the document to place your cursor, then type, delete, or select text to format it using the Home tab ribbon.
  • Select text by clicking and dragging, double-clicking a word, or clicking once and Shift-clicking at the end of your selection.
  • Save your document with Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac) after each round of changes.
  • Use Undo (Ctrl+Z) to reverse a mistake, and Redo (Ctrl+Y) to restore what you just undid.
  • Track Changes in the Review tab lets you see who made edits and when, without permanently changing the document until you accept them.

Finding and replacing text across the whole document

If you need to change the same word or phrase in many places, use Find & Replace instead of editing each one by hand. Press Ctrl+H (Windows) or Command+H (Mac) to open the Find & Replace dialog. Type the text you want to find in the "Find what" field and the replacement text in the "Replace with" field.

Click "Replace All" to change every instance at once, or click "Replace" one at a time if you want to check each change before it happens. This is especially useful when you realize you have spelled someone's name wrong throughout a 20-page document, or when you need to swap out a product name or date across many paragraphs.

Undoing mistakes and using version history

If you make a change you did not mean to make, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac) to undo it. You can undo multiple steps in a row by pressing Ctrl+Z again and again. If you undo something and then change your mind, press Ctrl+Y (Windows) or Command+Y (Mac) to redo it.

If you are using Word on your computer and you saved the document to OneDrive or SharePoint, you can also see older versions of the file. Click File > Info > Version History to see a list of when the document was saved and by whom. You can open an older version to see what it looked like at that time, though you cannot edit it directly from there — you have to restore it as the current version if you want to go back.

Tracking changes when multiple people edit the same document

When you are sharing a document with others and you want everyone to see who changed what, turn on Track Changes before you start editing. Click the Review tab, then click Track Changes. A checkmark appears next to it when it is on. Now every edit you make — deletions, additions, formatting changes — appears in a different color with your name attached, and the original text stays visible with a strikethrough or in the margin.

When someone else opens the document and sees your tracked changes, they can accept or reject each one individually. Click the Review tab, find the change in the document, and click Accept or Reject. You can also click "Accept All" or "Reject All" to handle every change at once, though this is riskier if you have not read through them.

Track Changes is useful when you are working with a coworker, a family member helping with a form, or anyone else who needs to see exactly what you altered. It prevents the confusion of not knowing whether a sentence was always there or whether someone added it.

Formatting text and paragraphs

The Home tab in the ribbon holds most of the formatting tools you will use. Select the text you want to change, then click Bold, Italic, or Underline to explore those styles. You can change the font by clicking the font dropdown (it usually shows "Calibri" or "Arial" by default) and picking a different one. Font size is right next to it — click the number and choose a larger or smaller size.

To change text color, click the arrow next to the "A" with a colored bar underneath it. To highlight text with a background color, click the highlighter icon. For paragraph spacing and alignment, select the paragraph and use the alignment buttons (left, center, right, justify) or click the line spacing dropdown to add space between lines.

If you find yourself explore the same formatting over and over — for example, making all your headings blue and bold — you can use styles to do this faster. Click the Design or Home tab, find the Styles section, and click the style you want to explore (Heading 1, Heading 2, Normal, etc.). This also makes it easier to change all headings at once later if you decide you want them a different color.

Adding comments and notes without changing the document

If you want to leave a note for yourself or someone else without actually editing the text, use comments. Click the Review tab, then click New Comment. A box appears in the margin where you can type your note. The comment is linked to the spot in the document where you clicked, so anyone reading it knows exactly what part you are referring to.

Comments are useful when you are not sure whether a change should be made, or when you want to ask a question about something in the document. The person who receives the document can read your comment, reply to it, or delete it once they have addressed what you pointed out. Unlike Track Changes, comments do not alter the actual text of the document.

Saving and sharing your edited document

After you finish editing, save the document with Ctrl+S. If you are saving it for the first time, choose a location on your computer and give it a name. Word automatically adds the .docx extension, which is the standard format for Word documents.

If you want to share the document with someone else, you have a few options. You can email the file as an attachment, save it to a shared folder that others can access, or upload it to OneDrive or SharePoint and share a link. If you are using OneDrive or SharePoint, multiple people can edit the same document at the same time, and you will see their changes appear in real time — though this works best when Track Changes is on so you can see who made each edit.

If you want to send the document to someone who does not have Word, you can save it as a PDF instead. Click File > Save As, choose PDF from the file type dropdown, and save it. A PDF looks the same on any device and cannot be easily edited, which is useful when you want to send a final version that should not be changed.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I delete text I do not want anymore?

Click at the start of the text you want to remove and drag to select it, then press Delete or Backspace. If you delete something by accident, press Ctrl+Z right away to undo it. You can also select text by double-clicking a word or by clicking once and Shift-clicking at the end of your selection.

Can I see what my document looked like before I made changes?

If you saved the document to OneDrive or SharePoint, click File > Info > Version History to see older versions. On your personal computer without cloud storage, you can only undo recent changes with Ctrl+Z. If you closed the document and reopened it, those older versions are usually gone unless you turned on AutoRecover in Word settings.

What is the difference between Track Changes and comments?

Track Changes shows every edit you make — text you add, delete, or format — with your name and the date. Comments are notes you leave in the margin without changing the actual text. Use Track Changes when you want a record of all edits, and comments when you want to ask a question or flag something without altering the document.

How do I change the font for the whole document at once?

Press Ctrl+A to select all text in the document, then click the font dropdown in the Home tab and choose a new font. All text will change to that font. If you want different fonts for headings and body text, select only the headings first, change their font, then select the body text and change that separately.

Can I edit a Word document on my phone?

Yes, Microsoft offers Word apps for iPhone and Android. You can open a document stored on your phone, OneDrive, or SharePoint and make edits the same way you would on a computer, though the interface is smaller. Changes sync back to the cloud version automatically, so if you also have the document open on your computer, you will see phone edits appear there too.