Font, size, bold, and lists

Formatting changes how text looks so a letter or notice is easier to read. Microsoft says you can find most text formatting tools by clicking the Home tab and then choosing from the Font group. First select the text (Lesson 2), then click a button.

Useful Font-group tools Microsoft lists include Font and Font Size; Increase Font Size and Decrease Font Size; Bold, Italic, and Underline; Font Color (the button may use the US spelling *Color* even when you write *colour*); Text Highlight Color; and Clear All Formatting, which removes extra formatting and leaves plain text. There are also Change Case, strikethrough, subscript, superscript, and text effects. You do not need every button today.

Use formatting for a reason. A title might be larger. A date you want someone to notice can be bold. Long stretches of coloured, underlined, or highlighted text are harder to read. Microsoft’s accessibility guide also cautions against using all capital letters and against using too much italic or underline, and it suggests familiar fonts such as Arial or Calibri to reduce the reading load. Colour should not be the only way you show that something matters, because some people cannot see that difference.

If you format the wrong words, use Undo or select the text and click Clear All Formatting. You can apply more than one look at a time — for example Bold and a larger size — as long as the words stay selected. If the ribbon looks cramped on a small screen, Microsoft says Word may compress the controls; look for the Font group on the Home tab, or ask a tutor to point to Bold.

Lists help a reader scan. Microsoft’s list help says you can start a numbered list by typing 1, a period (.), a space, and some text — Word then starts the numbered list for you. Type ***** and a space before your text, and Word makes a bulleted list. To finish the list, press Enter until the bullets or numbering switch off.

You can also turn existing lines into a list: select the text, then go to Home > Bullets or Home > Numbering. A down arrow beside those buttons shows other bullet styles and numbering formats.

Microsoft’s accessibility guide asks you not to drop a plain paragraph without a bullet or number into the middle of a list, because some screen readers may then miscount the items. Keep a list together, then press Enter until it ends, then write the next ordinary paragraph.

A short “bring” list on a notice, or three steps in a letter, is enough practice. You do not need nested lists or fancy symbols in this course. After the list ends, click in the next ordinary paragraph and keep writing as usual. If bullets will not switch off, press Enter a second time, as Microsoft describes, until the list marker disappears. Save when the list looks the way you want. A numbered list is handy for steps that happen in order; a bulleted list is handy when the items are just a set, such as things to bring.

It is tempting to make a title by choosing a larger font and Bold only. That can look fine on paper, but Lesson 5 will show a better habit: Word styles such as Heading 1. Microsoft says styles let you format headings, titles, and subtitles quickly, and the accessibility guide says built-in heading styles help people who use screen readers move through a document.

For today, you can still use Bold and a larger size on a short label if you want, and you can build a list. Just know that a real heading in a letter or notice should later use a style, not only bigger letters. Clear All Formatting is there if a page becomes a mix of sizes and colours you did not mean to keep.

Save after you format so you keep the look you chose (Lesson 3). If you are writing a title you already know will be a heading, you can leave it plain until Lesson 5 and apply the style then — that is often cleaner than making it large and bold now and changing it later. The Font group is still the right place for a single word you want to emphasise inside a sentence.

In your practice document:

1. Type a short title and two sentences.
2. Select the title and apply Bold and a larger font size.
3. Type three items, then make them a bulleted or numbered list (type 1. or * , or use Home > Bullets or Numbering).
4. Try Clear All Formatting on a spare sentence if you want to see it return to plain text.
5. Save.

When does a list help a reader more than a long paragraph? When would too many colours or underlines get in the way?