Microsoft Word 2016:What you need to know for your Legal Analysis

Writing and Research (LAWR) Class

Brian DetweilerStudent Services Librarian

Terry McCormackAssoc. Director of Law Library

For PC and Mac

Still Using an Old Version of Microsoft Office?PC

Mac

• Google “ub software download”– Click on first result: “Downloading Software…”

• Download the latest version of MS Office

from UB IT (for free!)

• Select 32-bit

regardless

of your OS

Why is this important?• Your respective faculty want to focus on teaching legal research and writing

skills rather than spend class time teaching the features of Microsoft Word.

• Easily preventable

formatting mistakes

may needlessly

cost you points on

your assignments!

Basic Terminology:

Ribbon:

Menu /

InterfaceTabs:

Change options

on the Ribbon

Status BarPage &

Word

Count

(View) Layout &

Zoom-In/Out

Quick Access

Toolbar

How to Set Font Type & Size1. Select the Home tab

2. In the Font group you will see

drop down menus for font

type and font size

• The same method works for Mac

How to Adjust Line Spacing1. Place cursor in blank document or

highlight relevant paragraphs

2. From Home tab, select the Line and

Paragraph Spacing option

3. Under Line Spacing choose ‘Exactly’

4. Next choose the specific spacing (such as

24 point) or type in the spacing number

requested by your faculty member

How to Add or Remove Space

Before or After a Paragraph on PC1. Highlight the paragraph(s) you would like to change

2. Under the Home tab, click the Line and Paragraph Spacing menu and select the appropriate option

How to Add or Remove Space

Before or After a Paragraph on Mac

• Paragraph spacing options are located

under the Line Spacing menu

• Nonbreaking spaces are used to keep two words together, avoiding separation by line breaks.

• Hold down Ctrl and Shift as you press the Spacebar and Word will not break the line between the selected text.

• The same method works for Mac.

How to Insert Non-Breaking or “Hard" Spaces

How to Insert Symbols (¶, §, ©, etc.) on PC

1. Click the Insert Tab on the

ribbon

2. Click on Symbol menu on

the far right

3. If you don’t see the symbol

in the quick view window,

click on the ‘More Symbols’

option at the bottom of the

drop down menu

4. Select the symbol and click

InsertNext time…

• Bluebook Rule 12

How to Insert symbols on Mac

1. Click the Insert tab on the

ribbon

2. Click Advanced Symbol on

the far right

3. If you don’t see your symbol

in the default menu, select

the ‘Special Characters’ tab

4. Select the symbol and click

Insert

Next time…

Setting Indentation of Paragraphs and Headings

1. Click the View tab and check the box labeled “Ruler” if the Ruler does not appear by default

• The same method works for Mac

Creating a First-Line Indent with the Ruler

2. Place cursor where you want to add the indent

3. On the Ruler, drag the First Line IndentMarker (the top triangle located on the left side of the ruler) to the position where you want the text to start

• The same method works for Mac

Paragraph Indentation

1. Left click to highlight the relevant paragraph(s)

2. Slide the left and right indents to the desired locations on the ruler.

• Bluebook Rule 5.1

Paragraph Indentation (cont’d)

3. Justify the paragraph

(under Home tab)

• The same method works for Mac

• Bluebook Rule 5.1

Hanging Indent

1. Select relevant

paragraphs

2. Slide bottom indent

(bottom triangle) to

right

• The same method works for Mac

How to Set Margins

1. Click the Layout tab on the ribbon

2. Click on Margins

3. There are a variety of options to

choose from. If your professor

requests a unique margin setting

then choose the Custom Margins

option at the bottom of the drop

down menu

• The same method works for Mac

Creating and Indenting Bullet Points and Outline Sections

Under the Home Tab, select from the outline options on the ribbon; there are three types

to chose from and an option to customize your outline. Use Tab (right) and Shift + Tab

(left) to change levels.

Bulleted Lists Numbered

Lists

Multilevel Lists

• Mac uses a similar operation

Find and Replace on PC• From the Home tab, select either Find or Replace on the far right-hand side of the screen

or use CTRL + F

Find and Replace on Mac

• Search using the field at the top of the page next to the magnifying glass

icon or use command + F

• Click on the arrow next to the icon to replace the word

Spelling & Grammar Check

• Located under the Review tab

• Remember to reproof your document manually!

• The same method works for Mac

Do not rely solely on Spelling & Grammar

check to catch all of your miss takes!

Managing AutoCorrect and other proofing options on PC

Enable or disablespell check andgrammar features

Enable (or disable) for ALL CAPSor numbers

1. Click File tab

2. Select Options,

then Proofing

3. Make desired

changes

• Bluebook Rule 10

Turn off superscript

Managing Spell Check & AutoCorrect on Mac

Turn off superscript

1. Select Word menu

2. Select Preferences

3. Make desired

changes

Setting Passive Voice Check on PC? Not Yet.

10/5/2015

• Microsoft Word 2013 for PC

No Passive Voice Check on Mac yet, either.

• Microsoft Word 2011 for Mac

?

Inserting Page Numbers on PC

• Formatting page #’s:

Location options

Inserting & Formatting Page Numbers on Mac

Changing Page Number Font

1. Double-click the page number in the Footer

2. Right click the number to bring up the editing options

3. Adjust font type and size using the drop-down menus

Double-click the page number and

use the options on the Home tab

ribbon to adjust font type and size

PC:

MAC:

Inserting Next Page Section Breaks

1. Place cursor at the

desired location for the

page break

2. Under the Layout tab,

click the Breaks drop

down menu and select

Next Page Page Break

Section Break

• The same method works for Mac

Changing Page Number Fonts Within the Same Document

3. Select Arabic page

Numbers (or other

format changes) for

the remainder of

the document

1. Double click the

top margin of the

page after the

inserted break

2. Under Design tab, de-select “Link

to Previous” by clicking on it

• The same method works for Mac

Creating Section Headings1. Insert page numbers

2. Select headings to be included in the Table of Contents

by holding Ctrl and left-clicking (highlighting) each one

– Mac users: hold command while highlighting

3. Choose a heading format under Home tab

• The same method works for Mac

Building a Table of Contents

1. Place cursor at

the desired

location for the

Table of Contents

2. Under the

References tab

select the Table of

Contents menu

3. Choose desired format

for Table of Contents

• The same method works for Mac

Updating a Table of Contents

1. Left click in the Table of Contents

and select “Update Table”

2. Choose “Update page

numbers…” and click OK a) If you changed the name of one

or more headings, select “Update

entire table” instead

• Updating a TOC in Mac

is essentially the same

Creating a Table of Authorities

1. Select and mark your citations

• Show/Hide Formatting Symbols:

2. Place cursor at the desired location

for the table and click OK

• The same method works for Mac

Enabling Text-to-Speech on PC

3. Select Speak from the

All Commands list and

click Add, then click OK

1. Click File tab

2. Select Options,

then Quick

Access Toolbar 4. Highlight the text to be read with your

cursor and click on the Speak button

in the Toolbar; an automated voice

will read the text aloud.

Enabling Text-to-Speech on Mac

3. Select Text to Speech and ensure the box

is checked (this is the default setting)

1. From the

system ribbon,

select System

Preferences

2. Select Dictation

& Speech 4. Highlight the text to

be read and hit

option + esc on the

keyboard.

Tracking Changes

• Mac uses a similar operation

• Select the Track Changes option under the Review tab

Law Library Website: • Access our slides and instructional videos on MS Word

http://guides.kentlaw.iit.edu/wordforlawschool/fundamentals

www.customguide.com/cheat_sheets/word-2016-quick-reference.pdf

Other Online Guides for Word 2016

Questions? Come see us!

Brian DetweilerStudent Services Librarian

211a O’Brian Hall

briandet@buffalo.edu

(716) 645-2384

Terry McCormackAssoc. Dir. Of Law Library

542 O’Brian Hall

cormack@buffalo.edu

(716) 645-2831