⚙️ Module 3: Configuring Word Before You Start
Most people open Word and start typing immediately — and then spend hours fighting with margins, fonts, and spell-check errors that could have been avoided in minutes. This module walks you through every configuration setting you should establish before you create your first professional document. Get this right once and Word works the way you need it to, every time.
3.1 Configure Your Printer
Before setting up any document, confirm Word is talking to the correct printer. Word uses your default Windows printer to determine available paper sizes, margins, and print capabilities — so a wrong printer selection can silently affect your document layout.
Step 1 — Check and Set the Default Printer in Windows
- Press ⊞ Win + I to open Windows Settings
- Go to Bluetooth & devices → Printers & scanners
- Click on your preferred printer
- Click "Set as default"
- Ensure "Let Windows manage my default printer" is OFF — otherwise Windows changes your default automatically based on your location, which can disrupt your Word layout unexpectedly
Step 2 — Verify the Printer from Within Word
- In Word, click File → Print (or press Ctrl + P)
- Under Printer, confirm the correct printer is selected
- Click Printer Properties to verify paper size (A4 is standard in South Africa), quality settings, and colour vs black-and-white
- Press Esc to return to your document without printing
Why This Matters: Word's default margins and available paper sizes are driven by the active printer driver. If Word shows "Microsoft Print to PDF" as your printer but your office uses an A4 laser printer, your margin defaults and layout may differ from what actually prints. Always set the correct physical printer before formatting a document for print.
Step 3 — Set Paper Size and Print Quality in the Printer Driver
- File → Print → Printer Properties
- On the Paper / Quality tab (name varies by printer brand):
- Set Paper Size to A4 (210 × 297 mm) — the South African and international business standard
- Set Print Quality to your preferred default (600 dpi for text documents is adequate; 1200 dpi for graphics-heavy documents)
- Set Colour vs Black & White default as appropriate for your workflow
- Click OK to save
Pro Tip — "Microsoft Print to PDF": This is a virtual printer built into Windows that converts your document directly to a PDF file when you "print" to it. It is extremely useful for saving a perfect PDF without needing Adobe Acrobat. Keep it installed and accessible even if you use a physical printer as your default.
3.2 Page Setup — Margins, Orientation & Paper Size
Page Setup defines the physical dimensions and printable area of your document. Configuring this first prevents you from having to reformat your entire document later.
Accessing Page Setup
There are two methods:
- Ribbon: Layout tab → Page Setup group → Margins / Orientation / Size buttons
- Dialog: Layout tab → Page Setup group → click the Dialog Launcher ↗ in the bottom-right corner of the group to open the full Page Setup dialog (more options)
Setting Margins
- Click Layout → Margins
- Choose from preset options:
| Preset | Top/Bottom | Left/Right | Best For |
|---|
| Normal | 2.54 cm | 2.54 cm | Standard business letters, reports |
| Narrow | 1.27 cm | 1.27 cm | Forms, tables, maximising content area |
| Moderate | 2.54 cm | 1.91 cm | General documents needing slightly more width |
| Wide | 2.54 cm | 5.08 cm | Formal documents, manuscripts |
| Mirrored | 2.54 cm | Inside: 3.18 / Outside: 2.54 | Books, booklets printed double-sided (gutter binding) |
- For a custom margin: click Custom Margins… at the bottom of the list → enter precise values in the Page Setup dialog → click OK
📏 South African Business Standard:
Top: 2.5 cm | Bottom: 2.5 cm | Left: 3.0 cm | Right: 2.0 cm
The slightly wider left margin allows for filing and binding. This is the most common setting for formal correspondence and reports in South African business environments.
Setting Page Orientation
- Click Layout → Orientation
- Choose Portrait (tall — standard for most documents) or Landscape (wide — useful for wide tables, spreadsheets, or presentations)
Tip — Mixing Orientations: If you need one page in landscape inside an otherwise portrait document (e.g., a wide table), you can do this using Section Breaks. This is covered in Module 5.
Setting Paper Size
- Click Layout → Size
- Select the appropriate paper size:
- A4 (210 × 297 mm) — universal standard for South Africa, Europe, and most of the world
- Letter (215.9 × 279.4 mm) — US standard, sometimes used in multinational companies
- Legal (215.9 × 355.6 mm) — used for certain legal documents
- A3 (297 × 420 mm) — for posters, large diagrams
- For a non-standard size: click More Paper Sizes… at the bottom
Saving Page Setup as Default for All New Documents
- Layout → Page Setup group → Dialog Launcher ↗
- Configure your margins, orientation, and paper size
- Click the "Set As Default" button at the bottom of the dialog
- Click Yes when asked to confirm — this updates the
Normal.dotm template so every new blank document uses these settings automatically
3.3 Configuring the Spell Checker & Grammar Checker
Word's spell checker is powerful but must be configured correctly. A wrongly set language dictionary will flag correct words as errors — and miss real mistakes. Getting this right before you start typing saves significant frustration.
Step 1 — Set the Proofing Language
- Press Ctrl + A to select all text in the document (or do this on a blank document before typing)
- Click Review tab → Language group → Language → Set Proofing Language
- In the Language dialog, scroll to and select your required language:
- English (South Africa) — uses -ise spellings (organise, specialise) and South African vocabulary
- English (United Kingdom) — also uses -ise spellings; acceptable if South Africa is unavailable
- English (United States) — uses -ize spellings (organize, specialize); avoid for SA business documents
- Ensure "Do not check spelling or grammar" is unticked
- Click "Set As Default" — this applies the language to all future documents
- Click OK
Common Problem: If Word underlines words like "colour", "centre", or "organisation" in red, your proofing language is set to English (United States). Follow the steps above to correct this.
Step 2 — Configure Spell & Grammar Options
- Go to File → Options → Proofing
- Configure the following settings:
| Setting | Recommended Configuration |
|---|
| Ignore words in UPPERCASE | ✅ Tick — prevents Word from flagging acronyms like "SARS", "HR", "CEO" as spelling errors |
| Ignore words that contain numbers | ✅ Tick — ignores codes like "ABC123" or "Section2A" |
| Ignore Internet and file addresses | ✅ Tick — stops URLs and email addresses being flagged |
| Check spelling as you type | ✅ Tick — red underlines appear under misspelled words in real time |
| Mark grammar errors as you type | ✅ Tick — blue/green underlines appear under grammar suggestions |
| Check grammar with spelling | ✅ Tick — runs grammar check alongside spell check (F7) |
| Show readability statistics | Optional — shows Flesch reading score after a spell check run |
Step 3 — Configure AutoCorrect
- File → Options → Proofing → click "AutoCorrect Options…"
- The AutoCorrect dialog has five tabs:
| Tab | Key Settings to Review |
|---|
| AutoCorrect |
• "Correct TWo INitial CApitals" ✅
• "Capitalise first letter of sentences" ✅
• "Capitalise first letter of table cells" ✅
• "Replace text as you type" — review the replacement list; add your own shortcuts here (e.g., type saf → auto-replaces with South Africa)
|
| AutoFormat As You Type |
• "Straight quotes with smart quotes" ✅ (curly " " instead of " ")
• "Ordinals with superscript" ✅ (1st → 1st)
• "Fractions with fraction character" ✅ (1/2 → ½)
• "Internet and network paths with hyperlinks" — tick if you want URLs auto-linked; untick if hyperlinks are unwanted in your document type
|
| AutoFormat | Controls what happens when you run Format → AutoFormat on demand |
| Actions | Enable right-click actions on dates, addresses, etc. (e.g., add a date to your Outlook calendar) |
| Math AutoCorrect | Automatic replacement of typed shortcuts with mathematical symbols (e.g., \pi → π) |
Adding Custom AutoCorrect Shortcuts (Very Useful)
- File → Options → Proofing → AutoCorrect Options → AutoCorrect tab
- In the Replace box, type your shortcut abbreviation (e.g.,
addr)
- In the With box, type the full replacement text (e.g., 123 Main Street, Gqeberha, 6001)
- Click Add, then OK
- Now whenever you type
addr followed by a space, Word replaces it with your full address automatically
Power User Tip: Use AutoCorrect shortcuts for anything you type repeatedly — your company name, standard clauses, email sign-offs, boilerplate paragraphs. There is no limit to the number of entries you can add.
3.4 AutoSave & AutoRecover — Protecting Your Work
Power cuts, software crashes, and accidental closures happen. Word's AutoRecover feature saves a backup copy of your document at regular intervals so you can recover your work if something goes wrong. Configure this before you need it.
Configure AutoRecover
- Go to File → Options → Save
- Ensure "Save AutoRecover information every X minutes" is ticked
- Change the interval from the default 10 minutes to 2–5 minutes — the shorter the interval, the less work you lose in a crash
- Ensure "Keep the last AutoRecovered version if I close without saving" is ticked — this means if you accidentally click "Don't Save" when closing, Word still keeps a recovery copy
- Note the AutoRecover file location path — this is where recovery files are stored (useful if you need to manually browse for them)
AutoSave (OneDrive/SharePoint Documents Only)
If you save your document to OneDrive or SharePoint, the AutoSave toggle appears in the top-left corner of the Word window (next to the Quick Access Toolbar).
- When AutoSave is ON — every change is saved to the cloud continuously in real time. No manual saving needed.
- When AutoSave is OFF — you must save manually with Ctrl + S
- AutoSave also enables Version History — you can browse and restore any previous version of the document from File → Info → Version History
Recommendation: Save your working documents to OneDrive and keep AutoSave ON. This gives you both continuous saving and a complete version history — the most robust protection available in Word 2024.
Recovering an AutoRecovered File After a Crash
- Reopen Microsoft Word after the crash
- The Document Recovery pane appears automatically on the left with a list of recovered files
- Click the recovered file to open it
- Compare it with any previously saved version and choose which to keep
- Save immediately with Ctrl + S
If the Recovery pane does not appear:
File → Open → Recent → scroll to the bottom → click "Recover Unsaved Documents" — this browses the AutoRecover folder directly.
3.5 Setting the Default Font
By default, Word 2024 uses Calibri 11pt for body text. Many organisations require a specific corporate font (e.g., Arial 11pt, Times New Roman 12pt, or a branded typeface). Setting the default font ensures every new document starts with the correct typeface — without you having to change it each time.
Method 1 — Set Default Font via the Font Dialog (Recommended)
- On the Home tab, click the Dialog Launcher ↗ in the bottom-right corner of the Font group — the Font dialog opens
- Select your desired:
- Font (e.g., Arial, Calibri, Times New Roman, Garamond)
- Style (Regular, Bold, Italic — leave as Regular for body text)
- Size (11pt or 12pt is standard for business documents; 10pt for forms)
- Font colour (leave as Automatic for black text)
- Click "Set As Default" at the bottom-left of the dialog
- A prompt appears — choose "All documents based on the Normal template"
- Click OK
Method 2 — Set Default Font via Word Options
- File → Options → General
- Look for the "Default font" section (available in some Word versions)
- Alternatively go to File → Options → Advanced → scroll to the Font Substitution area for font mapping settings
Common Business Font Standards
| Font | Size | Character & Best Use |
|---|
| Calibri | 11pt | Modern, clean, readable. Word's default. Good for most business correspondence. |
| Arial | 11pt | Sans-serif, universally available, professional. Widely used in SA government and corporate documents. |
| Times New Roman | 12pt | Serif. Traditional, formal. Standard for legal documents, academic papers, and formal reports. |
| Garamond | 12pt | Elegant serif. Used in publishing, books, and premium business documents. |
| Georgia | 11pt | Readable serif, designed for screens. Good for documents that will be read primarily on screen. |
| Verdana | 10pt | Wide, highly legible sans-serif. Excellent for forms and tables where clarity at small sizes matters. |
Downloading and Installing Additional Fonts
- Visit https://fonts.google.com — Google's free font library (1,500+ professional fonts)
- Search for or browse a font, click it, then click "Download family"
- Extract the downloaded ZIP file to a folder
- Select all
.ttf or .otf font files
- Right-click → "Install for all users" (requires administrator rights) or "Install" (current user only)
- Close and reopen Word — the new font will appear in the font list
Note: Only install fonts your organisation has a licence to use. Fonts installed on your computer are not embedded in Word documents by default — recipients need the same font installed to see your document correctly. To embed fonts: File → Options → Save → tick "Embed fonts in the file".
3.6 Styles — The Foundation of Professional Documents
A Style is a named collection of formatting settings (font, size, colour, spacing, alignment, indenting) that you apply to text with a single click. Styles are the single most important formatting concept in Word — they control headings, body text, captions, and more, and they power the Navigation Pane, Table of Contents, and Outline View.
Critical Principle: Never format headings by manually making text bold and large. Always apply a Heading style. Manual formatting looks the same on screen but breaks the Navigation Pane, prevents automatic Table of Contents generation, and makes bulk reformatting nearly impossible.
The Built-In Styles You Must Know
| Style Name | Default Appearance | Used For |
|---|
| Normal | Calibri 11pt, left-aligned | All standard body text — the default style for every new paragraph |
| Heading 1 | Large, bold, coloured | Top-level chapter or section title (e.g., "Chapter 1 — Introduction") |
| Heading 2 | Medium, bold, coloured | Sub-section within a Heading 1 section |
| Heading 3 | Smaller, bold/italic | Sub-sub-section — use sparingly |
| Title | Very large, prominent | Document title on a cover page |
| Subtitle | Medium, grey | Subtitle or date below a Title |
| Quote | Italic, indented | Block quotations |
| Caption | Small, italic, grey | Captions below images, tables, and figures |
| List Paragraph | Indented | Bulleted and numbered list items |
| No Spacing | No paragraph spacing | Addresses, envelopes, tight text blocks |
Applying a Style
- Click anywhere in the paragraph you want to format (no need to select the entire paragraph)
- On the Home tab → Styles group, click the desired style in the Styles Gallery
- — or — click the More ▾ arrow on the Styles Gallery to see all available styles
- — or — press Ctrl + Alt + 1 for Heading 1, Ctrl + Alt + 2 for Heading 2, Ctrl + Alt + 3 for Heading 3
Modifying a Style (Changing How It Looks)
- In the Styles Gallery, right-click the style you want to modify
- Click "Modify…"
- In the Modify Style dialog, change the font, size, colour, spacing, or alignment as needed
- Ensure "New documents based on this template" is selected if you want the change to apply to all future documents
- Click OK
- Every paragraph formatted with that style updates instantly throughout the entire document — this is the power of styles
The Styles Pane (Full List): Click the Dialog Launcher ↗ at the bottom-right of the Styles group on the Home tab to open the full Styles Pane on the right side of the screen. This shows all styles (not just those in the gallery) and lets you manage, create, and inspect styles in detail.
Navigation Pane Connection: Every paragraph formatted with a Heading style (1, 2, or 3) automatically appears as a clickable entry in the Navigation Pane (View → Navigation Pane). This is essential for navigating and structuring long documents.
3.7 Tab Alignments — Left, Centre, Right & Decimal
Tabs allow you to align text at precise positions across the page. Understanding tab types is essential for creating professional correspondence, tables of content, price lists, menus, and any document where you need text to align consistently in columns without using a formal table.
Common Mistake: Pressing the Space bar repeatedly to align text in columns looks aligned on screen but will almost never line up correctly when printed, as different characters have different widths. Always use Tab stops for column alignment.
The Four Main Tab Types
| Tab Type | Symbol on Ruler | How It Aligns Text | Best Used For |
|---|
| Left Tab | └ (L shape) | Text starts at the tab stop and flows to the right | Most common — text columns, lists, descriptions |
| Centre Tab | ⊥ (upside-down T) | Text is centred over the tab stop | Column headings, centred labels |
| Right Tab | ┘ (reverse L) | Text ends at the tab stop and flows to the left | Page numbers, right-aligned dates, prices |
| Decimal Tab | ⌐· (L with dot) | Numbers align on the decimal point | Financial figures, price lists, quantities — ensures all decimal points align vertically |
| Bar Tab | | (vertical bar) | Inserts a vertical line at the tab stop position (does not move text) | Visual column dividers in non-table layouts |
Method 1 — Setting Tab Stops on the Ruler (Quick)
- Ensure the Ruler is visible: View → Show → tick Ruler
- At the far-left end of the horizontal Ruler, there is a small Tab Selector box — click it to cycle through tab types until the one you want is shown (Left → Centre → Right → Decimal → Bar → then indent markers)
- Click at the exact position on the Ruler where you want the tab stop to be placed — a tab marker appears on the Ruler
- Press Tab while typing to jump to that position
- To move a tab stop: drag its marker left or right along the Ruler
- To delete a tab stop: drag its marker off the Ruler (downward, away from the document)
Method 2 — Setting Tab Stops via the Tabs Dialog (Precise)
- Click Layout tab → Paragraph group → Dialog Launcher ↗ → click Tabs… button at the bottom of the Paragraph dialog
- — or — double-click any existing tab marker on the Ruler
- In the Tabs dialog:
- Enter the Tab stop position in centimetres (e.g.,
12 for 12 cm from the left margin)
- Select the Alignment (Left, Centre, Right, Decimal, Bar)
- Select a Leader (the fill character between text and the tab stop):
- None — blank space (default)
- ...... (dots/periods) — classic Table of Contents style
- —— (dashes) — formal document style
- ____ (underline) — fill-in-the-blank forms
- Click Set to add the tab stop
- Add as many tab stops as needed for your layout
- Click OK
Practical Example — Simple Price List with Leader Dots:
Set two tab stops:
• 1 cm — Left tab (product name starts here)
• 14 cm — Right tab with dot leader (......) (price right-aligns here)
Result when typed:
Product A ............................ R 125.00
Product B (Large) ............................ R 890.00
Special Combo Pack........................... R 1 450.00
Clearing All Tab Stops
- Open the Tabs dialog (Layout → Paragraph dialog → Tabs button)
- Click "Clear All" to remove all custom tab stops from the selected paragraph(s)
- Click OK
Changing the Default Tab Stop Interval
By default, pressing Tab moves 1.27 cm (0.5 inches). To change this:
- Open the Tabs dialog
- Change the "Default tab stops" value (e.g., set to
1 cm for metric working)
- Click OK
3.8 Additional Word Options Worth Configuring
The Word Options dialog (File → Options) contains dozens of settings. Below are the most impactful ones to configure before you start working.
General Tab
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|
| User name and initials | Enter your full name and initials — these appear in Comments, Track Changes, and document properties. Essential for collaboration. |
| Show the Start screen when this application starts | ✅ Keep ticked — gives you the recent documents list on launch. Untick only if you always want a blank document immediately. |
| Office Theme | Choose Dark Grey or Black if you work in low-light environments to reduce eye strain. White is the default for maximum contrast. |
Display Tab
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|
| Show white space between pages in Print Layout view | ✅ Keep ticked — shows the top and bottom margins and the gap between pages. Unticking shows a continuous scroll without page breaks (useful for very long documents). |
| Show highlighter marks | ✅ Tick — highlights remain visible. Untick temporarily if you want to see/print the document without highlight colours. |
| Show document tooltips on hover | ✅ Tick — shows helpful tooltips when hovering over tracked changes, comments, and footnote markers. |
| Always show formatting marks (specific marks) | Leave all unticked under "Always show these formatting marks" — use Ctrl+* or Show/Hide ¶ button to toggle them on demand when needed. Always-on formatting marks distract most users. |
Advanced Tab — Key Settings
| Setting | Recommendation |
|---|
| Show this number of Recent Documents | Set to 25–50 — the more recent documents shown, the faster you can reopen your work without browsing folders. |
| Use smart cursoring | ✅ Tick — cursor returns to last edit position when using scroll bar, rather than snapping to the top of the visible area. |
| Measurement units | Set to Centimetres — the Ruler and all margin/spacing settings will display in cm rather than inches (important for South African documents). |
| Embed fonts in the file | ✅ Tick this in the Save section if you use non-standard fonts — ensures recipients see the correct fonts even without installing them. Note: increases file size. |
Step-by-Step: Set Measurement Units to Centimetres
- File → Options → Advanced
- Scroll to the "Display" section
- Change "Show measurements in units of:" to Centimetres
- Click OK
- The horizontal ruler now shows centimetre markings, and margin/spacing dialog boxes accept cm values
3.9 Quick Self-Check
Q1: Why should you set the correct printer before formatting a Word document?
✓ Word uses the active printer driver to determine available paper sizes, default margins, and printable area. The wrong printer can silently affect your document layout before you print anything.
Q2: Your document uses the word "organise" but Word keeps underlining it as a spelling error. What is the likely cause and how do you fix it?
✓ The proofing language is set to English (United States) which uses -ize spellings. Fix: select all text (Ctrl+A) → Review → Language → Set Proofing Language → select English (South Africa) or English (United Kingdom) → Set As Default → OK.
Q3: What is the difference between AutoRecover and AutoSave?
✓ AutoRecover saves a temporary backup copy at set intervals (e.g., every 2 minutes) to a local folder — used to recover work after a crash or accidental close. AutoSave is a real-time continuous save that only works for documents stored on OneDrive or SharePoint, and it also enables full version history.
Q4: You want to change all Heading 1 text from blue to dark navy across a 40-page document in one action. How do you do this?
✓ Right-click the Heading 1 style in the Styles Gallery on the Home tab → Modify → change the font colour to dark navy → OK. Every paragraph formatted with Heading 1 updates instantly throughout the document.
Q5: You are creating a price list and need prices to align on their decimal points regardless of the number of digits. Which tab type should you use?
✓ A Decimal Tab. Text (numbers) aligns so that the decimal point sits exactly on the tab stop position, making all prices line up vertically regardless of how many digits appear before or after the decimal.
Q6: Where in Word Options do you change the measurement units from inches to centimetres?
✓ File → Options → Advanced → Display section → "Show measurements in units of:" → select Centimetres → OK.
✓ Module 3 Complete — You Have Learned:
- How to check and set the correct default printer in Windows and verify it from within Word
- Page Setup — standard margin presets, the South African business margin standard, portrait vs landscape orientation, and paper size selection (A4 vs Letter vs Legal)
- How to save page setup settings as the default for all new documents
- Configuring the proofing language (English South Africa), spell checker options, and grammar checker settings
- Setting up AutoCorrect — including creating custom text shortcuts for frequently typed content
- AutoRecover configuration (2–5 minute intervals) and AutoSave (OneDrive/SharePoint) — and how to recover files after a crash
- Setting a default font via the Font dialog and saving it to the Normal template
- Downloading and installing additional fonts from Google Fonts
- Styles — what they are, the key built-in styles, how to apply them, and how to modify them document-wide in one action
- The four main tab types (Left, Centre, Right, Decimal), how to set them on the Ruler and via the Tabs dialog, and how to add leader dots for price lists and tables of content
- Key Word Options settings — user name, measurement units (cm), recent documents count, Office theme, and font embedding
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