A recent update to Microsoft’s Office apps enables
you to create documents for free – as long as
you have a Microsoft account (Xbox Live or
Windows 8/10 login email account will do). The functionality
and features share a strong resemblance to the desktop
equivalent and the app has been adapted to the iPhone’s multi-
touch controls perfectly. It has plenty of formatting options
so you can create professional-looking documents on the fly.
In the tutorial we’ll show how to do this, though most of the
options should be easy to work out if you’ve used the desktop
version before. A good tip is to use the pre-installed templates
and edit the default text and images to suit your own needs.
A downside to the app is that it saves in the new .docx format
and certain features, such as tracking changes, require an Office
365 subscription (from £5.99 a month). However, most docs can
be opened and converted with the formatting left intact. You
can even open them from a OneDrive or Dropbox account or
work offline – as long as you’ve initially signed in online.
1: Microsoft account sign-in
Swipe through the intro tabs and tap ‘Sign In’.
Or create a new account. Follow the wizard
and, when prompted, enter your email address
(associated with your account) and password.
2: Create a new document
Once you have signed in, tap ‘Create and Edit
for Free’. Now tap Done at the top to bypass the
‘What’s New’ window and, from the resulting
interface, select New Blank Document.
3: Choosing a style
Rotate the iPhone to portrait, then tap the
far right icon (an A with a brush) and choose
a style; Title for instance. Now tap ‘Creating a
Word Document’ and press Return twice.
4: Basic font changes
Type in a few sentences, then long-press on the
first of these and choose Select. Now drag the
bar across to highlight the whole text and tap
the Calibri font to choose an alternative.
7: Resizing and wrapping text
With the image inserted, you can manipulate
the size by selecting it and dragging the ends.
Alternatively, you can use the Picture tab to
crop or wrap text to align the image properly.
5: Basic formatting changes
With the sentence highlighted, from the Home
tab choose the ‘A…’ icon, then pick from
standard formatting options such as Bold. Note:
in landscape mode these are listed separately.
8: Review tab
Select the Review tab and focus on the two
left-side icons. The first allows you to set the
proofing language for spell-checking, while the
second provides a useful word count function.
6: Inserting an image
Tap the screen twice and add a few returns.
Now select the Insert tab and choose Pictures.
When prompted, allow access to your photos
and then select an image you want to insert.
9: Save the document
When you are ready to save, tap the top-left
back arrow and from here you can give the
document a name and, via the left side, select
the storage location. Tap on Save to finish.