- Open a new Microsoft Word document.
- In the home tab, change the font to Times New Roman, size 12.
- In the home tab and within the paragraph settings, change the spacing to double (2.0).
- Click the spacing button once more and select remove space after paragraph. If it says add space after paragraph, then do not mess with this setting.
- Starting in the top left of the page (this is the default place where the document begins), type out your first and last name.
- Press enter once. Type the name of the teacher or professor.
- Press enter once. Type the name of the class.
- Press enter once. Type the paper's due date or the date written, whichever works best. Use the format DD Month YYYY (ex: 15 January 2015). A leading zero in the case of 01 January is optional.
- Press enter once. Center this line. This is where the title of the paper goes.
- Press enter once. Indent once using the tab key. This is where the first paragraph begins.
- For the next paragraphs, press enter only once. The indentation serves as a method to distinguish paragraphs, so there is no need to leave two lines between each paragraph.
- At the end of the document, go to the page layout tab and find breaks. Select next page.
- On the new page, press center and type Works Cited. Below this is where the citations will go.
- Double-click at the top of the first page of the document.
- A new design tab should open for the header and footer. Find page number, and choose top of page, aligned right.
- Type your last name and a space. The page number at the end automatically changes for each page.
- The document is now in MLA format, and you are ready to begin writing.
20 January 2015
Microsoft Word: How to Set Up MLA Format 2015
How to set up an MLA format paper (2015) in Microsoft Word.