How to Use Document Templates in Microsoft Word

Selecting a Template on Windows

Open Microsoft Word. Double-click the Word icon, which resembles a white "W" on a dark-blue background.

Search for a template. Scroll through the Microsoft Word home page to find a template you like, or type word into the search bar at the top of the page to search for matching templates. For example, if you wanted to find budget-related templates, you would type "budget" into the search bar. You must be connected to the Internet in order to search for templates.

Select a template. Click a template that you want to use. This will open it in a window where you can take a closer look at the template.

Click Create. It's to the right of the template preview. Doing so opens the template in a new Word document.

Edit the template. Most templates have sample text; you can replace this text by deleting it and typing in your own. You can also edit most templates' formatting (e.g., font, color, and text size) without ruining the template itself.

Save your document. Click File in the upper-left side of the page, click Save As, double-click a save location, enter your document's name, and click Save. You can re-open this document by going to the folder where you saved it and double-clicking it.

Selecting a Template on Mac

Open Microsoft word. Double-click the Word icon, which resembles a white "W" on a dark-blue background. Depending on your Word settings, this will either open a new document or bring up the Word home page. If the Word home page opens, skip to the "search for a template" step.

Click File. It's a menu item in the top-left side of the screen. A drop-down menu will appear.

Click New from Template. You'll find this option near the top of the File drop-down menu. Clicking it opens the template gallery.

Search for a template. Scroll through the available templates to see pre-set options, or type a search term into the search bar in the top-right side of the page. For example, to find invoice-related templates, you might type "invoice" into the search bar. You must be connected to the Internet in order to search for templates.

Select a template. Click a template to open a preview window with the template displayed.

Click Open. It's in the preview window. This will open the template as a new document.

Edit the template. Most templates have sample text; you can replace this text by deleting it and typing in your own. You can also edit most templates' formatting (e.g., font, color, and text size) without ruining the template itself.

Save your document. Click the File menu item, click Save As, enter a name for your document, and click Save.

Applying a Template to an Existing Document on Windows

Open your Microsoft Word document. Double-click the document to which you want to apply your template. This will only work for recently-opened templates. If you haven't recently opened the template you want to use, open the template and then close it before continuing.

Click File. It's in the upper-left side of the page.

Click Options. You'll find this in the bottom-left side of the "File" page.

Click the Add-ins tab. It's on the left side of the Options window.

Click the "Manage" drop-down box. This box is at the bottom of the Add-Ins page. A drop-down menu will appear.

Click Templates. It's near the middle of the drop-down menu.

Click Go…. This button is to the right of the "Manage" drop-down box.

Click Attach…. It's in the upper-right side of the page.

Select a template. Click a template that you want to use.

Click Open. It's at the bottom of the Template window. This will open your template.

Check the "Automatically update document styles" box. You'll find this box below the template's name near the top of the page.

Click OK. It's at the bottom of the window. Doing so will apply your template's formatting to the document.

Save your document. Click File in the upper-left side of the page, click Save As, double-click a save location, enter your document's name, and click Save.

Applying a Template to an Existing Document on Mac

Open your Microsoft Word document. Double-click the document you want to open. This will only work for recently-opened templates. If you haven't recently opened the template you want to use, open the template and then close it before continuing.

Click Tools. This menu item is on the left side of the Mac's menu bar. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu. If you don't see Tools, click your Microsoft Word window to make it appear.

Click Templates & Add-Ins…. It's an option near the bottom of the drop-down menu. Doing so opens a window.

Click Attach. You'll find this in the Templates & Add-Ins window.

Select a template. Click a template that you want to apply to your document.

Click Open. Doing so will apply the template's formatting to your document.

Save your document. Click the File menu item, click Save As, enter a name for your document, and click Save.

Creating a Template on Windows

Open Microsoft Word. Double-click the Word icon, which resembles a white "W" on a dark-blue background. If you want to create a template from an existing document, double-click the document itself and skip to the "edit your document" step.

Click the "Blank document" template. It's in the upper-left side of the Word window.

Edit your document. Any formatting changes you make (e.g., spacing, text size, font) will be parts of your template. If you're creating a template from an existing document, you might not need to edit anything.

Click File. It's a tab in the upper-left side of the page.

Click Save As. This option is near the top of the File pop-out window.

Select a save location. Double-click a save folder or location here to set it as the template's storage spot.

Enter a name for your template. Type in the name you want to use for your template.

Click the "Save as type" drop-down box. It's below the file name text box. A drop-down menu will appear.

Click Word Template. This option is near the top of the drop-down menu. You can also click Word Macro-Enabled Template here if you put macros in your document.

Click Save. It's in the bottom-right side of the window. Doing so saves your template. You'll be able to apply the template to other documents if you want to.

Creating a Template on Mac

Open Microsoft Word. Double-click the Word icon, which resembles a white "W" on a dark-blue background. If you want to create a template from an existing document, double-click the document itself and skip to the "edit your document" step.

Click the New tab. It's in the upper-left side of the home page. If there isn't a home page, click the File tab and then click New from Template first.

Click the "Blank Document" template. It's a white box. This will create a new Word document.

Edit your document. Any formatting changes you make (e.g., spacing, text size, font) will be parts of your template. If you're creating a template from an existing document, you might not need to edit anything.

Click File. It's a menu item in the top-left side of the page.

Click Save As Template. You'll see this option in the File drop-down menu.

Enter a name for your template. Type in the name you want to use for your template.

Click the "File Format" drop-down box. It's near the bottom of the window. A drop-down menu will appear.

Click Microsoft Word template. This option is in the drop-down menu, and has the ".dotx" extension next to it. You can also select Microsoft Word Macro-Enabled template if you put macros in your document.

Click Save. It's the blue button at the bottom of the window. Doing so will save your template. You'll be able to apply the template to other documents if you want to.