How to create a Word document

Create the file

On desktop Word, open the app and choose Blank document. If Word offers a pile of templates, Blank document is the one that does not drag in someone else's colors. On the web, go to office.com, sign in with the Microsoft account you want to own the file, and start Word. Microsoft's create-a-document article covers the desktop path if a menu in your version is named differently.

Save immediately. File, Save As, pick a folder you will find again, and keep the type Word Document (*.docx). The name should say what the file is: 'vendor-review.docx', not 'Document1.docx'. A .doc extension is the old binary format. Use .docx unless a very old system demanded otherwise.

Put a structure in before the prose gets long

Type the title, then a heading, then a paragraph. Apply Heading 1 from the Styles gallery on the Home tab instead of enlarging the font by hand. That single habit is what makes a table of contents possible later. The handbook page is the longer version of this idea, with page numbers and a cover.

If the words already live in a Google Doc, you do not have to retype them. Download the Doc as .docx from File, Download, Microsoft Word, or download a PDF and convert only if you no longer have the Doc. PDF conversion is lossy. The clean path is Google Doc to PDF when you need a snapshot, or a Word download when you need to keep editing.

Pictures, tables, and the other Office file

Insert pictures with Insert, Pictures, and set wrapping to In Line with Text until you know you need something else. Floating images are why a sentence jumps to the next page. Tables are Insert, Table. Do not draw a table with underscores.

A workflow with boxes and arrows is often clearer in Excel than in a Word drawing canvas. The Excel workflow chart page is that method. You can paste the finished chart into Word as a picture after it reads clearly at the size of a page.

Steps

1. Open Word and choose Blank document. Desktop app, or Word on the web from office.com. Skip decorated templates unless you were told to use one.
2. Save as .docx with a specific name. File, Save As, a folder you control, type Word Document. Do this before the file is long.
3. Use Heading styles. Heading 1 for the main sections. Normal for body text. Avoid one-off font sizes as a substitute for styles.
4. Close and reopen once. Confirm the file is where you saved it and that it opens. Then keep writing.