Microsoft Word Styles

 

Top 10 tips for Microsoft style and voice

• 01/19/2018
• 3 minutes to read
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Use bigger ideas, fewer words

Our modern design hinges on crisp minimalism. Shorter is always better. To learn more, see Brand voice.

Example
Replace this: If you're ready to purchase Office 365 for your organization, contact your Microsoft account representative.

With this: Ready to buy? Contact us.

Write like you speak

Read your text aloud. Does it sound like something a real person would say? Be friendly and conversational. No. Robot. Words. To learn more, see Brand voice.

Example
Replace this: Invalid ID

With this: You need an ID that looks like this: someone@example.com

Project friendliness

Use contractions: it’s, you’ll, you’re, we’re, let’s. To learn more, see Use contractions.

Example
Replace this: To help you avoid traffic, remember anniversaries, and in general do more, Cortana needs to know what you are interested in, what is on your calendar, and who you are doing things with.

With this: To help you avoid traffic, remember anniversaries, and in general do more, Cortana needs to know what you’re interested in, what’s on your calendar, and who you’re doing things with.

Get to the point fast

Lead with what’s most important. Front-load keywords for scanning. Make customer choices and next steps obvious. To learn more, see Scannable content.

Example
Replace this: Templates provide a starting point for creating new documents. A template can include the styles, formats, and page layouts you use frequently. Consider creating a template if you often use the same page layout and style for documents.

With this: Save time by creating a document template that includes the styles, formats, and page layouts you use most often. Then use the template whenever you create a new document.

Be brief

Give customers just enough information to make decisions confidently. Prune every excess word. To learn more, see Word choice.

Example
Replace this: The Recommended Charts command on the Insert tab recommends charts that are likely to represent your data well. Use the command when you want to visually present data, and you're not sure how to do it.

With this: Create a chart that's just right for your data by using the Recommend Charts command on the Insert tab.

When in doubt, don’t capitalize

Default to sentence-style capitalization—capitalize only the first word of a heading or phrase and any proper nouns or names. Never Use Title Capitalization (Like This). Never Ever. To learn more, see Capitalization.

Examples
Replace these:
Find a Microsoft Partner
Office 365 Customer
Limited-Time Offer
Join Us Online

With these:
Find a Microsoft partner
Office 365 customer
Limited-time offer
Join us online

Skip periods (and : ! ?)

Skip end punctuation on titles, headings, subheads, UI titles, and items in a list that are three or fewer words. Save the periods for paragraphs and body copy. To learn more, see Punctuation, Headings, and Lists.

Example
Replace this:
Move a tile.
1. Press and hold the tile.

With this:
Move a tile
1. Press and hold the tile.

Remember the last comma

In a list of three or more items, include a comma before the conjunction. (The comma that comes before the conjunction is known as the Oxford or serial comma.) To learn more, see Commas.

Example
Replace this: Android, iOS and Windows

With this: Android, iOS, and Windows

Don’t be spacey

Use only one space after periods, question marks, and colons—and no spaces around dashes. To learn more, see Punctuation.

Example
Replace this: Use pipelines — logical groups of activities — to consolidate activities that are part of a task.

With this: Use pipelines—logical groups of activities—to consolidate activities that are part of a task.

Revise weak writing

Most of the time, start each statement with a verb. Edit out you can and there is, there are, there were. To learn more, see Verbs and Word choice.

Example
Replace this: You can access Office apps across your devices, and you get online file storage and sharing.

With this: Store files online, access them from all your devices, and share them with coworkers.

Feedback

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Accessibility terms

• 01/19/2018
• 2 minutes to read
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Write in a way that puts people first by using the phrase person with or person who.

Don’t use language that defines people by their disability, such as disabled, impaired, and the deaf. A person might have a visual impairment, but that person isn’t impaired.

Examples
Person with visual impairment, person who is blind
Person with hearing loss, person with deafness
Person who is nonverbal, person who uses sign language
Person who uses a wheelchair
Person with a prosthetic limb, person without a limb
Person with autism
Person of small stature

It's OK to use words such as see, read, and look when calling out an example or another reference.

Example
For more information see Accessibility terms.

If necessary, use the following terms to describe people with disabilities or the disabilities themselves.

For an overview of Microsoft accessibility policies, see Accessibility guidelines and requirements.

To learn more about writing that conveys respect to all people and promotes equal opportunities, see the Guidelines for Inclusive Language from the Linguistic Society of America.

TABLE 1

Use this	Instead of this
Blind, has low vision	Sight-impaired, vision-impaired
Deaf or hard-of-hearing	Hearing-impaired
Has limited mobility, has a mobility or physical disability	Crippled, lame
Is unable to speak, uses synthetic speech	Dumb, mute
Has multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, a seizure disorder, or muscular dystrophy	Affected by, stricken with, suffers from, a victim of, an epileptic
Without disabilities	Normal, able-bodied, healthy
Person with a prosthetic limb, person without a limb	Maimed, missing a limb
People with disabilities	The disabled, disabled people, people with handicaps, the handicapped
Cognitive disabilities, developmental disabilities	Slow learner, mentally handicapped, differently abled
TTY (to refer to the telecommunication device)	TT/TTD

Feedback

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Computer and device terms

• 02/28/2019
• 5 minutes to read
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In the modern world, customers get things done with whatever device is handy. When you write, focus on what the customer wants to accomplish. If you must write about the device itself, use the most general term that works—usually, that's device. Sometimes, it's computer, phone, or wearable device. Occasionally, it's laptop, smartphone, or fitness band.

Device interaction terms

Use these verbs to talk about using devices and peripheral devices:

• Use turn on and turn off, not power on, power off, switch on, or switch off.
• Use set up to describe preparing hardware or software for first use.
• Use install and uninstall to refer to adding and removing hardware drivers and apps.
• Use connect and disconnect to refer to establishing a relationship between devices (direct or wireless) and connecting a device to a network or the internet.

Preferred device terms

PREFERRED DEVICE TERMS

Term	Usage
device, mobile device	Use device to refer collectively to all types of computers, phones, and other devices. Use mobile device only when you need to call out the mobility. It's OK to modify device when it matters. For example, point-of-sale device.
computer, PC	Use computer when you need to talk about a computing device other than a phone, wearable device, or gaming console. It's OK to use PC when space is a constraint, but don't switch between PC and computer. Don't use mobile computer, portable computer, or mobile PC.
phone, mobile phone, smartphone	Use phone most of the time. If you need to call out the mobility, use mobile phone. Use smartphone only if you need to distinguish a smartphone from other types of phones. Don't use wireless phone, cell phone, or cellular phone.
tablet, laptop	Use a more generic term unless you're talking about a specific class of computers. Use tablet only to refer to a touchscreen computer without a permanently attached keyboard. Use laptop to refer to a portable computer with a permanently attached keyboard, with or without a touchscreen. Don't use slate or notebook.
wearable device, fitness band	Use only when it's necessary to differentiate devices that are meant to be worn from other devices. Avoid using wearable as a noun.

Acceptable terms for specific references

Use the following terms only when you need to be more specific than you can be by using the preferred terms.

ACCEPTABLE TERMS FOR SPECIFIC REFERENCES

Term	Usage
handheld device	Use only to refer to a small, limited-use device that accesses, captures, and updates information in real time, such as the devices often used in line-of-business (LOB) applications. If possible, just use device. Don't use handheld as a noun. Don't use handheld PC or handheld computer.
desktop	Use only to refer to a type of computer that isn't portable or a server computer. Don't use desktop as a synonym for computer or PC.
machine	Most of the time, don't use machine to mean a computer. Use computer instead. It's OK to use machine in content for a technical audience and in content about virtualization to describe both physical machines and virtual machines. Examples Updates help to enhance the security and performance of your computer. Move virtual machines from one physical server to another to balance the load among physical servers. A signed machine certificate uniquely identifies the computer.
client, server	Use client or server only if it's clear to the reader whether the client or server discussed is hardware or software. Use client computer or server computer if you need to clarify that you're discussing hardware. Don't use box in reference to client and server hardware.

Peripheral devices and hardware components

In general, use the most generic term that describes a peripheral device or hardware component.

PERIPHERAL DEVICES AND HARDWARE COMPONENTS

Term	Usage
adapter	Use instead of adaptor.
disc	Use disc, not disk, to refer to a CD or DVD.
disk	Use disk only in the context of Azure cloud storage and virtual machines. Use hard drive, not disk, fixed disk, hard disk, or disk drive to refer to the drive on a PC where programs are typically stored.
display, screen, monitor	Use display as a general term for any visual output device, including the built-in display on a computing device and an external monitor or projector. Use screen to distinguish the usable portion of the display from its edges. Use monitor only when you need to refer specifically to a standalone desktop or mounted display device that can be connected to a computing device.
drive	Avoid talking about drives in content for a general audience. It's usually enough to prompt customers to save a file, picture, song, and so on. Use drive as the general term for any type of device where a customer can save or retrieve files, including hard drive, CD drive, DVD drive, USB flash drive, or any other removable storage device. Use hard drive when necessary to refer to a drive on a PC where programs are typically stored. Avoid referring to the type of drive if you can. Use drive C, not drive C:, drive C>, or C: drive, when necessary. Use network drive, not remote drive, to refer to a logical network drive name. Example network drive X
mouse, pen, controller, joystick, touchpad, trackball	In general, don't talk about specific input devices. Most of the time, talk about how the customer interacts with the app or game by selecting, choosing, and so on. To learn more, see Describing interactions with UI. When you must discuss interacting with a specific type of device, don't use pointing device or input device. Instead, use the specific term for that device: mouse, pen, controller, joystick, touchpad, or trackball. Use tablet pen on the first mention, and pen thereafter. Don't use stylus. Joysticks have controls (not options) for controlling movement on the screen.
network adapter	Use instead of network card to describe hardware that supports connecting a computer to a network.
touchscreen	One word. Use sparingly. Most of the time, talk about how the customer interacts with the app or product by selecting, choosing, and so on. See Describing interactions with UI to learn more.
USB	Don't spell out. Use only as an adjective. Examples USB drive USB hub USB 3.0 port Cloud-computing terms 04/08/2019 2 minutes to read As cloud computing evolves, the consistent use of its terminology across Microsoft content presents a clear story to customers. This section covers common cloud-computing terms. For more information about creating new terms or using emerging terminology, see Use technical terms carefully. TABLE 1 Term Usage cloud Don't capitalize. Don't use Microsoft Cloud or the Cloud. Use cloud mostly as an adjective. Use sparingly as a noun (the cloud). Don't use cloud interchangeably with internet or web. cloud platform, cloud services Use cloud platform only in content for a technical audience, such as content about Azure. In content for a general audience, just refer to cloud services. community cloud Never use. Use hybrid cloud, private cloud, or hosted private cloud instead. dynamic service capacity Don't use. Use elastic service capacity instead. elastic service capacity Use to describe the flexible allocation of computing resources over the internet as demand changes. Define on first mention for audiences that might not be familiar with the concept. hosted service Use to describe a service, an IT solution, or an application that's hosted by a service provider and made available to customers over the internet. hosting provider, hoster It's OK to use cloud hosting provider and web hosting provider, if necessary, to distinguish cloud service providers from web hosts. Don't use hoster. hybrid cloud OK to use for technical audiences who are comfortable with cloud technology, but define on the first mention. For other audiences, just talk about a hybrid model. infrastructure as a service (IaaS) Use for technical audiences only. Spell out on the first mention. After that, it's OK to use IaaS. Don't capitalize as IAAS. Don't hyphenate as a modifier, but include the abbreviated form in parentheses. Note Don't compare IaaS with common utilities, such as power utilities. IT as a service (ITaaS) Use for technical or business-decision-maker audiences only. In content for a general audience, refer to the specific type of service, such as applying software updates, in a cloud-computing model. Spell out on the first mention. After that, it's OK to use ITaaS. Don't capitalize as ITAAS. measured service Don't use to describe contractually defined and metered services (often per user or per hour). Microsoft cloud platform, cloud platform Use for technical audiences only. Always lowercase cloud and platform. After the first mention, it's OK to use cloud platform. Don't use Cloud OS. Microsoft cloud services, Microsoft cloud Use to refer collectively to Microsoft business and enterprise products, services, and customer experiences that are delivered and consumed in real time over the internet. Don't use in content and communications for a consumer audience. Always lowercase cloud and services. After the first mention, it's OK to use cloud services from Microsoft or cloud services offered by Microsoft. on-premises, off-premises Hyphenate in all positions. Premises is plural. Don't use on-premise, off-premise. Don't use on-premises cloud or off-premises cloud. platform as a service (PaaS) Use for technical audiences only. Spell out on the first mention. After that, it's OK to use PaaS. Don't capitalize as PAAS. Don't hyphenate as a modifier, but include the abbreviated form in parentheses. private cloud, hosted private cloud, public cloud Define these terms on the first mention. service-oriented architecture Hyphenate. Spell out on the first mention. After that, it's OK to use the acronym SOA. software as a service (SaaS) Spell out on the first mention. After that, it's OK to use SaaS with technology industry audiences. Don't capitalize as SAAS. Don't hyphenate as a modifier, but include the abbreviated form in parentheses. Bits and bytes terms 01/19/2018 2 minutes to read In general, spell out bit and byte terms on the first mention unless: Your audience is familiar with the abbreviation. You’re working on UI text. In those cases, or after you’ve spelled out the term on the first mention, it’s OK to use abbreviations for -bit or -byte terms. Use abbreviations only with numbers in specific measurements, such as 128 TB. Insert a space between the abbreviation and the numeral, or hyphenate if the measurement modifies a noun. Examples 512 gigabytes (GB) of RAM From 1 GB to a maximum of 2 GB 23 MB/day up to 2 terabytes of physical memory with 8 terabytes of address space 200 MB of available hard-drive space a 650-MB limit In measurements, when the unit of measure isn't abbreviated, use the singular form of the unit of measure when the number is 1. Use the plural form for all other measurements. Examples 0 megabytes 0.5 megabytes 1 megabyte 15 megabytes Use of to add a modifier to a measurement used as a noun. Example The operation requires 200 MB of available hard-drive space. Use commas in numbers that have four or more digits, regardless of how the numbers appear in the UI. Example 1,024 MB TABLE 1 Term Abbreviation Usage bits per pixel bpp bits per second bps Don't use as a synonym for baud. See Units of measure term collection for information about baud. byte None Don't abbreviate. exabyte EB Don’t use E, E byte, or EByte. gigabit None Don’t abbreviate. gigabits per second Gbps Don't spell out as Gb per second. gigabyte GB Don’t use G, G byte, or GByte. kilobit None Don’t abbreviate. kilobits per second Kbps Don't spell out as KB per second. kilobyte KB Don't use K, K byte, or KByte. kilobytes per second KBps Don't spell out as KB per second. megabit None Don’t abbreviate. megabits per second Mbps Don't spell out as Mb per second. megabyte MB Don’t use M, meg, M byte, or MByte. megabytes per second MBps Don't spell out as MB per second. petabyte PB Don’t use P, P byte, or PByte. terabyte TB Don’t use T, T byte, or TByte. zettabyte ZB Don’t use Z, Z byte, or ZByte. Chatbots and virtual agents 02/21/2019 2 minutes to read A virtual agent is a type of bot that can be used to: Provide information and answers. Complete tasks like booking meetings or buying tickets. Before you create a virtual agent, make sure it will add value to the customer experience. This type of bot is good for tasks where it's easier to ask for what you want rather than navigate through a menu or search for keywords. But a bot isn't a human, and there are some things that it isn't suited for. Technically speaking, there are two kinds: One kind is scripted. It can respond only to questions that it was programmed to understand. Another uses AI, so it can understand what the customer is telling it, and its knowledge grows the more it interacts with people. This section includes guidelines and tips to help you create this type of bot: Structural and technical considerations Writing for bots Care and feeding of the bot Learn more Microsoft's AI vision, rooted in research, conversations Bot Framework documentation Responsible bots: 10 guidelines for developers of conversational AI Content planning 07/31/2018 4 minutes to read Great content starts with a plan that begins with these questions. Who is your audience? This could be broad—developers, for example—but defining your audience more specifically will help you refine your plan. Is your audience writing software? Apps? IT tools? Games? Are they hobbyists, full-time developers, or IT pros who write code? What development software do they use? What do they want to accomplish? Are they deciding whether to buy your product? Setting up a new computer? Learning new software? Preparing for a migration? Struggling with a PivotTable? Planning for network security? Is their need urgent? Few customers come to us to see what’s new. Understanding why they come will help you satisfy their needs. What is your business goal for providing the content? Are you building enthusiasm for an upcoming product launch? Establishing a competitive position in the marketplace? Documenting an out-of-band release? Providing support content to accelerate migration? Although the customer’s goals are paramount, every communication has a business reason, too. Do you have time or budget constraints? If time is of the essence, content you can create quickly might be best. The budget and the availability of an agency or specialized resources, like illustrators, designers, and video producers, will help you determine what content options are realistic. What kind of content best meets the customer's needs and business goals? If the concepts are hard to explain, video or infographics could be just the thing. If the customer is preparing for a major project, maybe they need checklists and sample project plans, or a pricing calculator. For breaking news, tweets or a strategic blog post might be the best approach. How will the customer find the content? What search terms will the customer use? Plan for search keyword optimization; links back to your content; and promotion through home pages, blogs, newsletters, events, third-party sites, communities, and social media if appropriate. To learn more, see Search and writing. Where will the customer look for information? Part of knowing your customers is understanding where they go for information. If they have a problem, they may look to product documentation, Microsoft support, or an expert community. For training, Microsoft Virtual Academy or a video platform like YouTube might be their source. For tips and tricks, maybe it’s social media and blogs. What devices will the customer use to experience the content? Laptops? Tablets? Phones? Wearable devices? Entertainment consoles? All of those? Plan for a great experience across devices the customer is likely to use. Will the content be translated or localized? If so, plan your content to streamline those processes and contain costs. To learn more about developing content for translation and localization, see Global communications. How will you measure success? Do you have numeric targets for views, clicks, or downloads? Goals for mentions or backlinks? Targets for lead generation? Planning for specific objectives up front will help you create content that meets them. With these questions answered, you can narrow your approach. For example: If the customer need is immediate, maybe you blog today and create a more polished article later. If budget and timeline are tight, you might choose a simple text format. If the audience is large and the topic complex, a short, professionally produced video might make sense. If content will be localized in multiple languages, graphics supported by text might meet the customer and business need at a lower cost. Content ideas for specific user needs CONTENT IDEAS FOR SPECIFIC USER NEEDS Need Content types Examples Complete a simple task or use a simple feature in an app UI text Documentation Short video Blog, if it's a common issue or cool, little-known feature Setting up email Recall and replace sent messages 5 easy and powerful Excel features you may not know about Complete a complex task or use a complex feature in an app UI text Video Webcast Documentation Tutorial End-to-end scenarios or conceptual articles Technical papers or articles Wizard Try the latest touchpad gestures OneNote for (holiday) planning Create an ASP.NET web app in Azure App Service Set up Office 365 for business Getting started with Microsoft Intune Set up Microsoft account on your devices Get timely communications, including news, announcements, event updates, tips, and stories Blog Newsletter OneNote, The Microsoft Office Blog Virtual PC Guy’s blog MSDN Flash newsletter Get answers and expertise from a community Wiki Forum TechNet wiki Exchange Server Forum Microsoft Answers Learn a complex or comprehensive concept or skill Online training Tutorial Technical white paper Interactive graphics System architecture Make and receive calls using Skype for Business SharePoint Automation with DSC Azure Network Security (PDF) Technical diagrams for SharePoint 2013 Learn or increase knowledge and skills related to a product, service, technology, or business concept Concept papers E-books Infographics Azure Security, Privacy, and Compliance (PDF) SharePoint with SQL Server AlwaysOn Microsoft Dynamics NAV: Grow Your Business e-book Learn product tips and tricks UI text Web documentation Apps Microblogs (such as Twitter) Blogs E-books Newsletters Communities Useful Tips and Tricks to Bring with You to the Vermintide 2 Beta on Xbox One Skype: Keeping you connected on your vacation Windows 10 Tip: Go back and forth in time with Timeline Understand a process Interactive graphics Interactive flow charts Sample workflows Sample files What is governance in SharePoint 2013? Overview of the upgrade process for SharePoint 2013 Upgrade worksheet for SharePoint 2013 Troubleshoot a problem Interactive flow chart UI troubleshooter How to run the Audio Troubleshooter in Windows 10 Responsive content 01/19/2018 2 minutes to read If you’re writing for the web, assume your content will be used on a variety of devices. Many websites today are responsive—that is, they reconfigure automatically based on the device in use. Assume your content will be viewed at small sizes. Keep it short Short text is always better, but on mobile devices, it’s imperative. Try to write sentences and paragraphs that are short enough to read on a mobile screen without scrolling. It’s hard to read a paragraph when you need to scroll to see the second half. Try to keep headings to one, short line. Two-line headings take up twice as much scarce vertical space. Use short words in headings, too, if you can. If a customer uses larger fonts to improve accessibility, long words may break across lines. Short sections—headings and the text that follows—are easier to read on small screens. Short sections also make it easier for customers to stop reading and later pick up where they left off. Use simple images, charts, and tables Keep in mind that the width of your customer's screen may be just a couple of inches. Keep content simple so it’s easy to read and understand. Choose simple images and crop extraneous detail. Always describe the image using alt text if it conveys useful information. Create infographics carefully. Provide a way for readers to open an infographic in an application where they can enlarge specific areas. Organize infographics in compact sections that readers can magnify and view on a small screen. Or, present individual sections of the infographic within text, and provide a link to the full infographic. Simplify charts and graphs so readers can easily read the whole thing on a small screen. Craft very short chart titles, metrics labels, and axis labels. Limit the number of columns in tables and keep the text in each cell brief—ideally one line. Tables with more than a few narrow columns may be hard to read. Too much text in a cell may cause a table to exceed the height of a mobile screen. Consider flow As you create content, think about how it will flow on a 360-pixel screen. Typically, content on the right side of the page moves below content on the left side. Will the content still make sense? Work with the designer or developer to determine where breaks in the content will occur, how much content displays at each potential resolution, and the order in which content will appear on small devices.