We all know that there are styles that ship with MS Word, such as Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading three, Normal, etc. But what about user created styles? It's kind of ironic that Word's hierarchy is built on styles and that is the one thing that everyone is terrified of using and it actually makes like so much easier. Once I teach someone how to use styles properly they usually cannot figure out how they lived without them!
There are many times when we need to have a particular style in a document but it's been so long since we used it that we cannot remember how the heck we formatted it and now when the crunch is on we have to figure it out all over again. You remember those times - when you started frantically looking for that old document that had the setup you want for this document - oh geez...what did I call it?
Well see, that is the whole beauty of using Styles in MS Word. Once you have something set up exactly the way you want it, formatted perfectly, you can save it as a style. Then, the next time you need that style (like a block quote) all you have to do is click the drop-down arrow next to the Style area and select the style you need. Doesn't that sound a lot easier than frantically trying to find an old document while someone is standing next to you tapping their toe waiting for your document to be finished?
Although MS Word ships with a hundred or so defined styles, you will find very quickly that they do not always apply to your situation and your special needs. And so, it makes a lot of sense to set up your own styles which can be done very easily. You can set up a paragraph style by formatting a paragraph the way you like and telling MS Word the name of the style based on your formatting.
Follow the steps below to learn how:
- Format an entire paragraph to have all the attributes you want - both character and paragraph formatting apply.
- Click once inside the paragraph. If you have used multiple fonts or font styles in the paragraph, the new paragraph style will use the font formatting at the point where you click.
- Click New Style in the Style and Formatting task pane, and type in a name for the new paragraph style in the Name box.
- In the Style Type box, choose Paragraph to create a paragraph style, or Character for a character style.
- In the Style Based On box, choose the style you want your new style to be based on. Any changes you make to the style listed here will also apply to your new style. If you want your style to stand on its own, choose no style from the top of the list.
- The Style for Following Paragraph box lets you tell Word which style it should use for the next paragraph when you press Enter.
- Select or clear the Add to Template check box. If this box is cleared, the new style is only saved in the current document. If the Add to Template box is checked, however, the style is added to the document's template and is available for use with any other document based on that template.
- Select the Automatically Update box if you want every change you make to a paragraph formatted with this particular style to be automatically applied to every paragraph in the document with that style. Do not select this checkbox if you want the formatting of the style to remain fixed. I personally never use the Automatically Update feature as it causes lots and lots of headaches.
- Click the Format button to apply any additional formatting that you desire.
- Click OK. If no style with that name is in existence, a new one will be created for you and placed in the document.
To apply the style that you just created, simply click the style name in the Styles and Formatting task pane to apply it to your text.
If you decide to modify your new style, click the drop-down arrow next to the name of the style and select Modify and you will have all formatting options there at your disposal.
Now you have a new style and don't have to re-invent the wheel the next time you need it!
Carol Bratt is the Office Applications Editor at Daves Computer Tips. She has authored several informative Microsoft Office books and writes the monthly Word Bytes Newsletter with more tips and tricks in each issue. Visit Carol's website for more great Microsoft Office tips and tricks! Click here to see her latest books! You can read more about Carol here.