Provided by APA Formatting in Microsoft Word 2021
The Academic Center for Excellence 1 Updated July 2024
APA Formatting in Microsoft Word 2021
To begin a Microsoft Word project, click on the “Start” bar in the lower left corner of the screen. Scroll
down and select “Word.”
The following steps detail how to correctly construct the document.
APA Formatting Guide:
Click the links below to navigate to specific sections of this handout.
Step 1: Select preferred font: pg. 2
Step 2: Add one-inch margins: pg. 3
Step 3: Select double spacing: pg. 3
Step 4: Remove space after paragraph: pg. 4
Step 5: Insert page numbers: pg. 4
Step 6: Create title page: pg. 5
Step 7: Format Abstract: pg. 7
Step 8: Create title: pg. 7
Step 9: Indent paragraphs: pg. 8
Step 10: Set up references page: pg. 9
Adjustments for Word in Microsoft 365 pg. 11
Provided by APA Formatting in Microsoft Word 2021
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Step 1: Select preferred font.
On the “Home” ribbon, in the “Font” box, click on the font drop-down menu (the small arrow located
to the left of the font size box) to show available fonts. Use the drop-down menu to scroll down and
select the preferred font. An APA formatted paper can be written with one of the following fonts:
• Arial (font size 11)
• Calibri (font size 11)
• Georgia (font size 11)
• Lucida Sans Unicode (font size 10)
• Times New Roman (font size 12)
On the “Home” ribbon, in the “Font” group, click on the small arrow next to the box displaying a
number. Using the drop-down menu, scroll down, and select the font size for the document.
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Step 2: Add one-inch margins.
To set one-inch margins, click on the ribbon that is labeled “Layout.” In the “Page Setup” group, click
on the icon labeled “Margins.” Next, unless it is already selected, select the “Normal” setting.
Step 3: Select double spacing.
On the “Home” ribbon, in the “Paragraph” group, select the “Line and Paragraph Spacing” icon with
the two blue arrows facing up and down next to four horizontal lines. On the drop-down menu,
select “2.0” for double spacing.
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Step 4: Remove space after paragraph.
On the “Home” ribbon, in the “Paragraph” box, select the “Line and Paragraph Spacing” icon again.
On the drop-down menu, at the very bottom, select “Remove Space After Paragraph.”
Step 5: Insert page numbers.
To insert a page number, click on the tab labeled “Insert” to open the “Insert” ribbon. In the “Header
& Footer” group, click on the option “Page Number.” Select “Top of Page” from the drop-down
menu. This will create another separate drop-down menu with an option called “Plain Number 3.”
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By selecting this option, a gray “1” will appear in the top right-hand corner of the first page.
Highlight the entire line by pressing and holding the left button on the mouse while dragging over the
text, and then right click to bring up the shortcut menu. Change the font and the font size to match
the rest of the document. Press the red “x” within the “Close Header and Footer” group on the
ribbon to finish.
Step 6: Create title page.
After all of the page specifications are set, the next step is to create the title page. First, space the
title of the paper so that it is four lines from the top of the title page. On the first line, center the title
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and put it in boldface. To center the insertion point, click on the second set of dashed lines at the
bottom of the “Paragraph” group.
Hit the Enter key twice, unselect the boldface setting, and then type the student’s name. Press
“Enter” again, and type the name of the college, the course information, the instructor’s name, and
the assignment due date.
In order to continue with the essay, click the “Insert” tab, and find the “Pages” group on the far left
of the ribbon. Press the “Page Break” button to go to the next page.
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Step 7: Set up Abstract.
Instructors may require students to include an abstract. Because the insertion point should already
be in the center, simply type the word “Abstract.” To type the content of the Abstract, press the
Enter key. Click on the “Align Left” button in the “Paragraph” group on the “Home” ribbon.
Step 8: Create title.
After finishing the abstract, insert a page break using the same method detailed at the end of Step
6. The insertion point should now be left-aligned on page three. Click on the “Home” tab and select
the “Center” button from the “Paragraph” group. Type the full title of the essay. Make sure the title
is in boldface but the text following it is not.
When finished, hit the Enter key, and then select “Align Left” to move the insertion point back to
the left.
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Step 9: Indent paragraphs.
The beginning of each new paragraph should be indented. To allow this to happen automatically,
go to the “View” tab, and check the box labeled “Ruler.”
Once the ruler is open, click on the very uppermost portion of the hourglass figure, called the “First
Line Indent” marker, and drag it halfway between 0 and 1 inch. It should come to rest on the half-
way point of the one-inch (0.5) mark.
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Step 10: Set up the References page.
To create a reference page, a page break needs to be inserted. (See the last section of Step 6 for
inserting a page break.)
Click on the “Home” ribbon, go to the “Paragraph” group, and click the “Center Text” button. Type
the page title “References,” put the text in boldface, and hit the Enter key. Go to the “Paragraph”
group once again and click the “Align Left” button. Before typing the citations, click on the small box
in the bottom right corner of the “Paragraph” group.
In the pop-up window, click the “Special” tab within the Indentation section. In the drop-down menu,
select “Hanging.” Then click “OK” to close the pop-up window. This will apply a hanging indent to all
the citations.
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Provided by APA Formatting in Microsoft Word 2021
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Adjustments for Word in Microsoft 365
With the Microsoft 365 version of Word a few of the steps will be a bit different than previously
noted for the desktop version.
Begin in the “Layout” tab to double space the document.
Once in the “Layout” tab, click on the three dots next to the “Page Color” button on the right-hand
side of the page. After clicking the three dots, a drop down will appear called “Paragraph Options.”
When the “Paragraph Options” button is selected, a pop-up menu will appear, where double spacing
can be added to the document. In this section, click on “Line Spacing” to add double spacing to the
document and then click “OK.”
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In this same section is a button to remove extra spacing after the paragraphs. Find the box labeled
“Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style” and check off the box. Then click “OK.”
To add a hanging indent, refer to the “Paragraph Options” section again. When the “Paragraph”
menu is open, select the section titled “Special” and click “Hanging” from the drop-down menu.
Then click “OK.”
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To add paragraph indents, go to the “View” section to make the ruler visible on the document. Once
in the “View” section, click on “Ruler.”
After doing so, the ruler will appear. Follow the same process as stated earlier to add a paragraph
indentation.
For further information about the APA Style, please see the following Academic Center for Excellence
handouts: APA Format, APA Sample Paper, and APA Paper Checklist for College Writers. APA Style
information is also available online through a video tutorial and an interactive module on the
Academic Center for Excellence’s “Writing Resources” webpage.
