Dario Airoldi
January 14, 2026
Apply consistent formatting rules that make documentation scannable, accessible, and globally translatable
Mechanical consistency creates predictability for readers.
When capitalization, punctuation, and formatting follow consistent patterns, readers focus on content rather than deciphering style variations.
Microsoft’s mechanical rules are more prescriptive than most style guides, with particularly strong stances on capitalization and UI terminology.
This article covers:
Prerequisites: Microsoft Voice and Tone covers the philosophical foundation these mechanics support.
Microsoft takes one of the strongest stances in any style guide on capitalization:
“Default to sentence-style capitalization—capitalize only the first word of a heading or phrase and any proper nouns or names. Never Use Title Capitalization (Like This). Never Ever.”
The rule: Capitalize only:
Everything else stays lowercase.
| ✅ Correct (Sentence Style) | ❌ Wrong (Title Case) |
|---|---|
| Getting started with Azure | Getting Started With Azure |
| How to configure your settings | How To Configure Your Settings |
| Authentication and security | Authentication And Security |
| What’s new in Windows 11 | What’s New In Windows 11 |
| Using the command-line interface | Using the Command-Line Interface |
Use sentence style for:
Exceptions (use as-is):
Product names follow Microsoft’s trademark list, not sentence-style rules:
| Product (As Trademarked) | In Sentence |
|---|---|
| Microsoft Azure | “Deploy your app to Microsoft Azure.” |
| Visual Studio Code | “Install Visual Studio Code first.” |
| Power BI | “Create reports with Power BI.” |
| Xbox Series X | “Games for Xbox Series X” |
Note: “Azure” alone is acceptable after first use of “Microsoft Azure.”
When spelling out acronyms, only capitalize if proper nouns:
| Acronym | Spelled Out | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| API | application programming interface | Common noun |
| URL | uniform resource locator | Common noun |
| SDK | software development kit | Common noun |
| GUI | graphical user interface | Common noun |
| HTML | Hypertext Markup Language | (Product name origin) |
| HTTP | Hypertext Transfer Protocol | (Product name origin) |
“When in doubt, don’t capitalize.”
If you’re unsure whether something is a proper noun or common noun, choose lowercase. This prevents the creeping capitalization that plagues technical documentation.
❌ Overcapitalization: “The System Administrator should configure the Network Settings in the Control Panel.”
✅ Correct: “The system administrator should configure the network settings in Control Panel.”
(Only “Control Panel” is capitalized—it’s a product feature name.)
Microsoft requires the serial (Oxford) comma:
“In a list of three or more items, include a comma before the conjunction.”
| ✅ Correct (With Oxford Comma) | ❌ Wrong (Without) |
|---|---|
| Red, white, and blue | Red, white and blue |
| Save, close, and exit | Save, close and exit |
| Accuracy, clarity, and consistency | Accuracy, clarity and consistency |
Why it matters:
Without the Oxford comma, ambiguity can occur:
❌ “This book is dedicated to my parents, Ayn Rand and God.” (Are your parents Ayn Rand and God?)
✅ “This book is dedicated to my parents, Ayn Rand, and God.” (Three separate entities)
Skip periods on:
Use periods on:
Spacing: One space after periods, not two.
Use em dashes for:
Formatting: No spaces around em dashes.
✅ Correct: “The feature—available in all plans—syncs automatically.” ❌ Wrong: “The feature — available in all plans — syncs automatically.”
Use en dashes for:
Not for:
❌ Wrong: “from 2020–2024” ✅ Correct: “from 2020 to 2024” or “2020–2024”
Use hyphens for:
Don’t hyphenate:
Use colons to:
Capitalization after colons:
✅ “Remember one thing: Always save your work.” ✅ “You need three items: a keyboard, a mouse, and a monitor.”
Use quotation marks for:
Punctuation placement:
✅ “Save your changes,” the dialog said. ✅ Did you click “Submit”?
Spell out zero through nine:
Use numerals for 10 and above:
Always use numerals for:
Commas: Use commas in numbers with four or more digits.
Decimals: Use periods for decimals.
Don’t start sentences with numerals:
❌ “15 users reported the issue.” ✅ “Fifteen users reported the issue.” ✅ “The issue was reported by 15 users.”
Preferred format: Month day, year
For global content: Spell out the month to avoid confusion.
Format: Include AM/PM, no periods.
Spell out ordinals in prose:
Numerals acceptable in:
Microsoft’s guidance on UI terminology is distinctively input-neutral—avoiding device-specific terms like “click” or “tap.”
Users interact with software through:
Input-neutral verbs work for all these methods.
| Action | Microsoft Verb | Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Activate a button or link | select | click, tap, press |
| Open an app or file | open | launch, run, start |
| Navigate to a location | go to | navigate, browse |
| Type text | enter | type, input, key in |
| Check a checkbox | select (the checkbox) | check, tick |
| Uncheck a checkbox | clear | uncheck, untick |
| Choose from options | choose or select | pick |
| Move to close | close | exit, quit, dismiss |
| Activate a toggle | turn on/off | enable, toggle |
❌ Device-specific: > “Click the Submit button.” > “Tap Settings and then tap Privacy.” > “Right-click to open the context menu.”
✅ Input-neutral: > “Select Submit.” > “Go to Settings > Privacy.” > “Open the context menu.” (Don’t specify how)
For simple sequential steps, use > with spaces:
✅ “Go to Settings > Privacy > Location.” ✅ “Select File > Save As.”
When not to use > :
Bold UI element names in documentation:
✅ “Select Save.” ✅ “In the Name field, enter your username.” ✅ “Turn on Location services.”
Don’t bold:
Formatting:
✅ “Press Ctrl+S to save.” ✅ “Use Alt+Tab to switch windows.”
Use bold for:
Don’t overuse bold. If everything is bold, nothing stands out.
Use italic for:
Use code formatting (monospace) for:
✅ config.json ✅ getUserById() ✅ SELECT * FROM users
❌ Avoid: bold and italic ❌ Avoid: bold code ✅ Prefer: One format per element
“The best procedure is the one you don’t need.”
If the UI is intuitive, don’t document what’s obvious. Focus procedures on:
Single-step procedures:
✅ “To save your work, select Save.”
Multi-step procedures:
✅
1. Open **Settings**.
2. Select **Privacy**.
3. Turn on **Location services**.Tell users where they are before telling them what to do:
❌ “Select Submit in the dialog.” ✅ “In the confirmation dialog, select Submit.”
❌ “Click the Delete button at the top of the page.” ✅ “At the top of the page, select Delete.”
Mark optional steps clearly:
✅ “(Optional) Add a description.” ✅ “If you want to customize the layout, select Options.”
Tell users what happens:
✅ “Select Save. A confirmation message appears.” ✅ “The file downloads to your Downloads folder.”
Microsoft content reaches global audiences. These rules support localization and non-native English speakers.
Deep dive: For a comprehensive treatment of internationalization, localization, translation workflows, and cultural adaptation, see 12-writing-for-global-audiences.md.
Don’t drop articles (a, an, the) for brevity:
❌ “Select button to continue.” ✅ “Select the button to continue.”
Articles help machine translation and non-native readers parse sentences.
Don’t drop relative pronouns:
❌ “The file you downloaded is ready.” ✅ “The file that you downloaded is ready.”
❌ “Users need admin access can change settings.” ✅ “Users who need admin access can change settings.”
Idioms don’t translate:
| Idiom | Literal Replacement |
|---|---|
| “hit the ground running” | “start quickly” |
| “at the end of the day” | “ultimately” |
| “ballpark figure” | “rough estimate” |
| “out of the box” | “by default” or “immediately” |
| “low-hanging fruit” | “easy improvements” |
Spell out months to avoid ambiguity:
| Format | Region | Interpretation |
|---|---|---|
| 1/5/2026 | US | January 5 |
| 1/5/2026 | UK | May 1 |
| January 5, 2026 | Universal | January 5 |
Include time zones for global events:
✅ “3:00 PM Pacific Time (PT)” ✅ “10:00 AM UTC”
This article is part of a 5-article series on the Microsoft Writing Style Guide:
| Article | Title | Focus |
|---|---|---|
| 00 | Overview and Philosophy | Guide structure, Top 10 Tips, philosophy |
| 01 | Voice and Tone | Three voice principles, contractions, person, bias-free communication |
| 02 | Mechanics and Formatting (this article) | Capitalization, punctuation, numbers, UI terminology |
| 03 | Comparative Analysis | Microsoft vs. Google, Apple, Wikipedia, Diátaxis |
| 04 | Principles Reference | Extractable rules (YAML/JSON) for prompts and agents |
📘 Official Sources
Capitalization 📘 [Official]
Complete capitalization rules including sentence-style mandate.
Punctuation 📘 [Official]
All punctuation guidance including Oxford comma requirement.
Numbers 📘 [Official]
When to spell out vs. use numerals.
Procedures and Instructions 📘 [Official]
Step-by-step procedure formatting and UI terminology.
Describing Interactions with UI 📘 [Official]
Input-neutral verb usage.
Global Communications 📘 [Official]
Writing for international audiences.