Microsoft Office’s intelligent designer layout feature, which we’ve known for some time in PowerPoint, was also promised for Word. It’s time. Now you can also improve Word formatting thanks to artificial intelligence. The function is not yet available in the desktop version, but you can already use this design help in the online version of Word.
It’s not unusual for Designer to be available first in the browser version of the word processor. Before new Microsoft Officefeatures pop up in the desktop application for Windows or macOS, they are often first introduced in the cloud.
Open any document in Word Online and click the tab Start on the right side on the button Designer. Similar to PowerPoint, you’ll see some templates in a side pane. However, there are important differences from PowerPoint Designer. For example, the Word Assistant doesn’t show live preview thumbnails. The templates shown are therefore not based on the document you are working on.
Also read: Always beautiful slideshows with PowerPoint Designer
By clicking on such a thumbnail, Word formats the document like the template. The new design applies to the entire document. So you can’t apply Designer’s suggestion to a piece of text or to a specific section.
Consistent formatting
In addition, Designer shows a number of formatting improvements to make the document more style-fixed. Click on the sidebar at the top view x number of formatting solutions and the document shows with diamond icons where the changes were applied.
Click on such a diamond to see the details. That way you can make the formatting correction To apply or Undo. The option Show context adds the first words of the modified paragraph to the dialog box. At the bottom of the dialog you will see arrows to switch between the formatting corrections.
To check
Of course you can also use the buttons accept all and reject all to use. The best results will of course be obtained if you have applied a style format with headings, subheadings and normal text. It is a good idea to check the formatting corrections, because they are not always perfect. We expect it to improve further in the coming months.
We also hope that the number of available templates will be expanded. There are about a dozen suggestions for each document. If you are not satisfied, use Ctrl+Z (cmd+Z under macOS) to revert to the original content.
