Some people don’t use Microsoft Word to its full advantage. This word processing software contains a significant number of tools for its users to help make their life—and their word processing—easier.

One of the best tools that Microsoft has is the ability to create templates. Creating a template is a great tool for people or businesses who create multiple documents that may not contain the same information but do contain the same formatting.

Having templates on hand will help save you time when it comes to creating documents. Rather than fuss around with all the formatting tools, you can create a template and use this template over and over again for multiple documents. All you have to do is change out the text, and the template will control the formatting.

Templates do not have to be strictly made for formatting either. They can also contain headers and footers, macros, specific toolbars as well as specific dictionaries. Once a template is made, it is not set in stone either. If you find that you have to make adjustments down the road, you have the ability to do so.

The following are items to include in your templates.

1. Dates

You can set your template up to generate the current date. This way, you don’t have to mess around with it, and it will be done for you.

2. Signatures

If your template is for letters, you can include your signature as part of the template. That way, you don’t have to sign anything, and your signature line will already be there.

3. Footers

If you include your company contact information on your documents, you should place this information as a footer. This way, it will be generated automatically on each page, and you won’t have to add it in yourself. Just make sure that if you have a copyright and a date, that you update the date every year to remain current.

4. Page Numbers

Page numbers are a pain to add yourself. You can set your template up to have this information automatically generated. If you want, you can also set up the table of contents to generate based on your page numbers, but you have to make sure that you implement headings.

5. Formats

You can set up the template to consist of appropriate formatting. For example, if you have bold headings with body copy in a certain size font, you can have this in the template so that other users have the same stylized documents.

6. Tables

If you use the same table to showcase information, you can set the table up in your template so that you don’t have to create it over and over again. Along with the table itself, you can also set up the formatting.
Templates are extremely beneficial to save time and keep a consistent look. Just make sure that if your template has headings or any copy that you proofread it. If you have a misspelling or grammatical error on your template, it will continue on every other document you create using it.