you
a template is a pre-designed document
that you can use to create your own
documents quickly and easily with the
template things like font style layout
graphics and more are already taken care
of to use a template go to the file tab
then choose new there's something for
almost every occasion from resumes to
Flyers to business reports even birthday
cards you can download a template from
office.com or use one that's already
installed on your computer that's what
these sample templates are your choices
appear in this part of the window with a
preview on the right I'm looking for a
template for a letter something elegant
but professional this looks exactly like
what I had in mind one word of caution
if you're looking at templates provided
by office comm some of them are uploaded
by people not affiliated with Microsoft
so they're not guaranteed to be free of
viruses or defects for those templates
you'll get a warning message before you
download them this one is okay because
it's one of Microsoft's sample templates
just click create and it will open in a
new document first you may be wondering
about the name that appears at the top
sometimes templates add your name or
initials automatically based on the name
associated with your copy of office this
is called prefilled information I would
like to include the full last name so
I'm going to go ahead and type it here
then also go to file options to fix it
permanently if you're using a public
computer like one at the library you may
not want to change these settings
otherwise just identify your name here
then click OK now I can start
personalizing my document this text here
with the brackets around it is called a
placeholder just click and it turns into
a text entry box all you have to do is
type to replace what it says you can
continue to use the place
as a guideline this one is for the
company address some fields include a
drop down menu for you to select your
information rather than typing it this
is especially handy for dates and some
templates use fields that aren't true
placeholders but our regular text in
those cases just delete and type your
own text in its place this space is for
the recipients address now I can get to
work on the body of my letter templates
are great because they allow you to
focus on the content of your document
without having to worry about things
like design or formatting with so many
to choose from you're sure to find a
template that meets your needs
you