Top 10 tips for Microsoft style and voice

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

Write like you speak. Read your text aloud. Avoid jargon and overly complex or technical language. It should sound like a friendly conversation. 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 like it's, you'll, you're, we're, and 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 that 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 that 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 Recommended 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. Don't use title-style capitalization (Like This). 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

Use end punctuation in the right places

Don't use a period or a colon at the end of titles, headings, subheadings, and UI titles. 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 when it isn't necessary. Avoid weak phrasing like there is, there are, and 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.