Document Formatting
What this domain tests
Document Formatting focuses on character and paragraph appearance: font, size, bold/italic/underline, colour, highlighting, and case changes, plus paragraph-level controls such as alignment, indentation, line spacing, and space before/after. You must distinguish direct formatting (applied to selected text) from styles (named sets of formatting applied to a paragraph or character). Understand that a style can be modified once and update everywhere it is used, which is the key advantage over direct formatting.
Paragraph versus character
A frequent source of error is applying a paragraph setting to a partial selection. Alignment, indentation and spacing apply to whole paragraphs - the cursor only needs to sit inside the paragraph, no selection required. Font and bold apply to the selected characters only. Know the four alignments (left, centre, right, justified) and what justification does to word spacing. Understand first-line indent versus hanging indent, and how line spacing (single, 1.5, double) differs from space before/after a paragraph.
Traps to watch for
Questions often confuse the Format Painter (copies formatting, not text) with copy/paste. Another trap is assuming clearing formatting removes text - it removes formatting only. Watch for case-change questions: changing case alters display of letters but does not retype content. Also be ready for questions where a style is applied and then direct formatting overrides it; the direct formatting wins until cleared.
Worked example
A candidate is asked how to make every Heading 1 in a long report blue without editing each one. The rule of thumb: if the change should apply to all instances of a named style, modify the style definition, not the individual paragraphs. Selecting all headings and applying colour directly works but breaks if new headings are added later.