Templates are pre-made documents that can be easily edited to create a new document based on the same design/style and formatting. If you frequently use a special design and formatting, then you can just create a template out of it so you will not have to go through the same process every time.
Templates are very convenient and save a lot of time, all you have to do is enter the new information in the template and you are done. The best part is, Microsoft Word already offers hundreds of templates, which you can freely use whenever you like. There is a template for almost everything, in most cases, you will not even have to create your own template. In this Tutorial, we are going to show you how to use a Word template and edit it.
Note: This tutorial is Written using Microsoft Word 2007, the instructions apply to other versions of Microsoft Word as well. Although, there might be some changes in how the information is presented, but it will be similar and easy to understand.
Use a Microsoft Word Template
Open Microsoft Word and click on “Office button” located at the top right corner of the Window. From the menu, click on “New” and you will see another window with all the templates. If for some reason, you don’t have any templates handy, Microsoft has a ton of them available to MS Office users.
Note: To use Microsoft Office Online templates you need to have access to the internet. The template which you would like to use will be downloaded and installed in Microsoft Word.
Under the heading “Microsoft Office Online” you will see all the categories, most probably, you will see the category for your required template as well. Just click on the required category and after a short delay (Uses internet to search) you will see all the templates under that category.
To Preview a template, just click on it and you will see a preview in the right panel. If you like any of the templates, click on the “Download” button located at the bottom right corner of the window.
The template will be downloaded and applied on a separate Word document, which you can edit freely. The edits made to the new document will not affect the original template. The original template will be downloaded in your PC and you can access it any time you like (without downloading again).
Below is an Example of an edited Template:
Note: The template will open up in a separate Word document which can then be edited. You cannot apply a template to already written text, unlike PowerPoint. you will have to edited later or copy/paste the text in the template.
Access the Template Again
To access the same template again, click on “Office button” and from the menu click on “New”. From the next window, click on “My Templates” and you will see all your downloaded templates in the next window.
Click on the template which you would like to use and under Preview window, make sure “Create New” is set to “Document”. Now, click on “OK” and the template will open in a word document.
If you will select “Template” instead of “Document”, you will actually create a new template using the same template. The new “edited” template will be saved in “My Templates” as well, and the original template will not be affected. This can be handy if you want to edit something in the template for future use.
If you have any questions or would like to share any tips on using templates in Word, let us know in the comments below.
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