Word Writer Help

Short answers for the things people actually ask about. Every entry names the exact menu item, so you can go straight there.

Menu names are shown as they appear in the app, which is in English on every system language.

Writing and styling

Change the typeface, size and spacing Font ▸ Fonts…: Open the font panel to set typeface, size and colour. Line spacing and alignment are in the Format menu. To give another paragraph the same look, put the cursor in the one you like, copy its font and ruler, then paste them onto the target.
Bulleted and numbered lists Format ▸ List ▸ Bulleted: Turn the current paragraphs into a list, then use Indent and Un-indent to make sub-levels. Numbering renumbers itself as you add and remove items.
Put the text in columns Format ▸ Columns…: Set how many columns the page uses and the gutter between them. The default gutter is in Preferences.
Start a new page or column Insert ▸ Page/Column Break: Insert an explicit break rather than pressing Return until the text moves — a real break stays correct when the text above it changes.

Insert a table Insert ▸ Table…: Choose the number of rows and columns, then set borders, cell padding and cell background colours in the same panel. Tables saved in RTF open in Word and Pages too.
Insert an image Insert ▸ Picture: Place a JPEG, PNG, GIF, TIFF or PDF on the page, then resize it. This is one of the two Premium features — see below.
Headers, footers and page numbers Format ▸ Header/Footer…: Headers and footers are free-form: type anything, and add automatic page numbers and dates from the same sheet.
Margins, indents and tab stops Format ▸ Margins…: Set margins numerically, or show the ruler and drag the indent and tab markers directly on the page.

Which format to save in File ▸ Save: RTF and RTFD are the defaults, and they keep styling, tables and images while opening in Word, Pages, TextEdit and Google Docs. Plain text, ODT and HTML are also available. Saving as .doc or .docx is Premium.
Export a PDF File ▸ Export…: Export writes a PDF of the document as laid out on the page — the same result as printing to PDF, without the print dialog. It is free.
Backups File ▸ Backup: Backup writes a date-stamped copy next to the document, so you can go back to an earlier draft. It is a normal file in the same folder — nothing is uploaded anywhere.
Autosave Word Writer ▸ Preferences…: The app saves your work on a timer while you type. The interval is in Preferences, and you can turn it off there if you would rather save by hand.

Find and replace, including regular expressions Edit ▸ Find ▸ Find/Replace…: The find panel takes regular expressions, not just literal text, so you can match patterns across a whole document. Options for how newlines are treated are in Preferences.
Spelling Edit ▸ Spelling ▸ Check Spelling: Check the document once, or leave continuous checking on and have mistakes underlined as you type. Both use the dictionaries already installed on your Mac.
Word count View ▸ Live Word Count: Live Word Count shows words and characters in the window while you write, rather than making you ask for a count.

What Premium unlocks: Two things: inserting images into a document, and saving as .doc and .docx. Everything else — writing, tables, headers, lists, columns, find and replace, PDF export — is free and always has been.
How to buy it: It is a single one-time purchase inside the app, through your Apple account. There is no subscription and no account to create with us. The current price is shown on the Mac App Store listing.
I already bought it, on this Mac or another one Restore: Use Restore in the purchase window. It asks the App Store what your Apple account already owns and unlocks the features again — on any Mac signed in to the same account.

The app will not install or open: Word Writer 1.6 needs macOS 10.13 or later. On an older system the App Store keeps offering the previous release, which still works.
Save as .doc or .docx is greyed out File ▸ Save: That format is Premium. You can still open .doc and .docx files for free, and save the same content as RTF, which Word opens.

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