How to Format WordPad Documents

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WordPad is a text editor that comes with Windows. Unlike a word processor, WordPad doesn't include a lot of features or formatting options. WordPad is popular with HTML programmers and anyone who wants to be able take notes or write simple documents without having to load a heavy word processor, such as Word. The simple formatting features in WordPad allow users to format basics, but complex document formatting isn't possible. Learning to format a document in WordPad takes very little time and is easy enough for anyone to do.

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Step 1

Open WordPad and on the "File" menu select "Page Setup." Set your page margins here. Default is 1.25 inches for left and right margins and 1 inch for top and bottom margins. Use the arrow to increase or decrease the margins.

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Step 2

Go to the "View" menu and choose "Options." On the "Rich Text Tab" select how you want the words to wrap in WordPad. You can have the words wrap to the window, wrap to the ruler or not wrap at all. This does not affect the margins of your page, just how the words appear in the work space.

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Step 3

Go to the "Insert" menu to insert the date or time into your document. Place the cursor where you want these items to appear, then click to insert.

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Step 4

Format paragraphs, font, tabs and bullets on the "Format" menu. WordPad lets you use any font on your computer that another word processor can use. You can also set your first line indent here and add bullets.

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