How to Edit Documents on iPhone

This article was co-authored by wikiHow staff writer, Darlene Antonelli, MA. Darlene Antonelli is a Technology Writer and Editor for wikiHow. Darlene has experience teaching college courses, writing technology-related articles, and working hands-on in the technology field. She earned an MA in Writing from Rowan University in 2012 and wrote her thesis on online communities and the personalities curated in such communities.

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This wikiHow teaches you how to edit documents on your iPhone. You can edit Microsoft Office Word documents using the iPhone version of Word. You need an Office 365 account to edit documents using Word. If you don't have an Office 365 account, you can edit Word documents using Pages. You can also edit text documents using Google Docs on iPhone.

Editing Word Docs on iPhone

When editing Word files on an iPhone, you have a few app options: Microsoft Word, Pages, or Google Docs. The Microsoft Word app requires a subscription to Microsoft 365, but the Pages app and Google Docs are both free. Simply install the app of your choice, open it, and open your document to start editing.

Method 1 of 3:

Using Word

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Open the App Store.
Tap Search.
Type Word in the search bar.
Tap Microsoft Word. [1] X Research source
Tap Get.

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You need to sign in to be able to edit documents. To sign in, tap "Sign In" in the upper-left corner and sign in with the email and password associated with your Office 365 account. If you don't have an Office 365 account, you can edit Word documents for free using Pages. See Method 2.

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To open a Word document saved to a Cloud service, tap "Add a place", tap a Cloud Service and sign in to the cloud service. You will then be able to open documents from the cloud service.
To open a Word document saved from an Email attachment, tap "More" and then tap the Word document.

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\n"> Tap the document text. This will display the keyboard.

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Type with the keyboard. Use the keyboard to edit the document text. The Bold, Italics, and Underline buttons are in the upper-right corner of the keyboard.

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Home: This tab allows you to change the font, text and background color, add bullet points, or numbered lists, and align your text to the left, center, right, or justified.
Insert: This tab allows you to add tables, images, shapes, hyperlinks, quote boxes, and more.
Draw: This tab allows you to draw on the document using your stylus or Apple Pencil. There are a number of marker options at the top of the page.
Layout: This tab allows you to change the orientation, page size, add margins, columns, and breaks.
Review: This tab has options for spellcheck, word count, track comments, and smart lookup.
View: This option allows you to change from print layout to mobile view, as well as turn rulers on and off.

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Save the document. To save the document, tap the paper icon in the upper-left corner and tap "Save a Copy", or tap the back arrow in the upper-left corner to back out and save all changes.

Advertisement Method 2 of 3:

Using Pages

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Open the App Store.
Tap Search
Type Pages in the search bar.
Tap the Pages app. [4] X Research source
Tap Get next to Pages.

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Open Pages. You can open it by tapping the Pages icon on your home screen, or tapping "Open" in the App Store.

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Tap Browse . It's the second tab that has an image of a folder. This will display a popout menu to the left.

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\n"> Tap On My iPhone . It's the second option under the "Locations" heading.

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\n"> Tap Pages . It's the folder with the Pages icon on it. [5] X Research source

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Tap a document and tap Done . You can open Pages or Word documents in Pages. Word documents may not be formatted properly in Pages. [6] X Research source

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\n"> Tap the document text. This will display the keyboard.

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Tap the Arrow with the line in the upper-left corner of the keyboard to indent the text or add a tab.
Tap the font name in the upper-left corner of the keyboard to change the font.
Tap the icon with the small "A" and the large "A" in the keyboard to change the font size and add bold, italic, or underlined text.
Tap the icon with the lines on the upper-right side of the keyboard to align the text.
Tap the symbol on the right side of the keyboard to add a comment, page break, line break, column break, bookmark, footnote, or equation.
Tap the paintbrush icon at the top of the page to change the font, font color, size, paragraph style, line spacing, and add bullets and lists.
Tap the "+" icon at the top of the page to add images, tables, graphs, and shapes.
Tap "⋯" to share the document, export the document, print, search for text, and change the document setup.

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\n"> Tap ⋯ . It's in the upper-left corner of the screen.

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\n"> Tap Export . It's the third option in the options menu.

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Select a format. You can export the document as a PDF, Word document, Rich Text Format (RTF), or EPUB. Afterward, you will be given the option to share the document.

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\n"> Select a share method. You can send the document over email, or messages, or save it to Files. Advertisement Method 3 of 3:

Using Google Docs

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Open the App Store.
Tap Search
Type Google Docs in the search bar.
Tap the Google Docs app. [8] X Research source
Tap Get next to Google Docs.

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Open Google Docs. You can open Google Docs by tapping the icon on your home screen, or tapping "Open" in the App Store.

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Sign in to Google Docs. You are required to sign in to your Google account the first time you open Google Docs. Tap "Sign In" in the lower-left corner, and sign in with the email address and password associated with your Google account.

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Google Doc doesn't have the ability to edit Word documents. However, it can export in Word .docx format.

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\n"> Tap the pencil icon

. It's the blue icon with the pencil in the lower-right corner. This will display the keyboard. [10] X Research source

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Type with the keyboard. Use the keyboard to edit and type text in the document. Use the buttons at the top of the screen to add bold, italics, underline, and strike-through text. You can also change the text alignment, add bullet points, numbered lists, and indents.

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Tap + . The "plus" button in the upper-right corner allows you to add links, comments, images, tables, horizontal lines, page breaks, and page numbers to a document.

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Tap the icon with "A" and with lines to the right. This icon allows you to modify the text. The "Text" tab allows you to change the font, font style, font size, and text color. The "Paragraph" tab allows you to change the text alignment, add indents, create bullet and numbered lists, and change the line spacing.

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Tap … . This options menu allows you to view a print layout, document outline, find and replace, explore, check word count, change the page setup, view document details, and share and export the document.

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Tap "…" in the upper-right corner.
Tap "Share & export".
Tap "Add people".
Type the email address of a recipient in the "People" line.
Tap the icon that resembles a paper airplane in the upper-right corner of the popup.
You can also turn on Link Sharing, tap "Copy Link" and send the link to people over email, text, or instant message.

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To save the document as a Word document, tap "…", then tap "Share & export", then tap "Save as Word (.docx)".

Advertisement Common Questions: Using an iPhone to Edit Files

Can I edit a Word document in the Pages app?

Yes, you can open Word documents in the Pages app. You can also save documents as a Word (.doc or .docx) file in the Pages app. The Pages app can also open iBooks Author files and text files (with a .txt or .rtf extension).

Can I edit Word documents for free on my iPhone?

Yes, you can edit Microsoft Word documents using the free Pages app. This app comes pre-installed on your iPhone since it's created by Apple, but if you deleted it or you can't find the app, you can reinstall it via the App Store. You can also use Google Docs (or Google Drive) to edit Word documents on your iPhone.

Why can't I edit Word documents on my iPhone?

To use the Word app, you need a Microsoft 365 account. This could be one reason why you're not able to edit Word docs on your iPhone. You should also try opening the document via the Word app, not via your iPhone files or OneDrive. If nothing else works, try reinstalling the Word app, or switch to Pages or Google Docs.

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