Word Tutorial - Format Text With Styles
Word Tutorial - Format Text With Styles
Practice file
Tutorial lessons are designed to be viewed in order. Use the practice file Styles.docx for hands-on
experience while taking the tutorial.
25 minutes
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
1. Preview styles
Before you apply a style, you can see all of the available styles and preview how they will appear when
applied.
Let's look at two places where you can preview the available styles.
On the Home tab, under Styles, point to any style, and then click the arrow that appears.
Tip If you dont see the Styles group on the Home tab, increase the width of your document
window.
Notice that a preview appears for the most commonly used styles.
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
Under Styles, click Manage the styles that are used in the document.
Hints
All documents have standard built-in styles (for example, Normal, Title, Heading 1). The default
style for text is Normal.
The template that a document is based on (for example, Normal.dotx) determines which styles
appear on the ribbon and on the Styles tab in the Toolbox.
Find and preview styles on the ribbon and on the Styles tab.
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
Current style: The name and a preview of the style that is applied to the text selected in the
document.
Styles ScreenTip: Details about the formatting associated with a style. To see details, rest the pointer
on the name of the style.
Style type: The type of style applied in your document. For example, if you apply a paragraph style,
the whole paragraph uses that style. The four types of Word styles are: Paragraph , Character , List
, and Table
List pop-up menu: A filter to specify which styles you want to appear under Pick a style to apply.
Styles Guides options: When selected, visual indicators of applied styles and direct formatting appear
in the document margin.
Hints
To see all available styles, on the List pop-up menu, click All Styles.
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
3. Apply a style
When you apply a style, part of your document takes on the formatting that is defined by the style. For
example, if you apply a Heading 1 style, the text takes on specific formatting (for example, Calibri, 16point, blue, bold font).
Let's apply styles to several headings in the practice file. The headings will be included in the table of
contents that you will create in a later lesson.
Open the practice file, which is located at the beginning of this tutorial.
Note The practice file for this tutorial is set up so that when you apply the Heading 1 style, the
content moves to the second page of your document to make room for a table of contents that you will
add in a later lesson.
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
Notice that each heading is formatted with the style that you selected.
Hints
To clear formatting or a style from document text, click anywhere in the text that contains the
formatting or style. Then, on the Styles tab, under Pick a style to apply, click Clear Formatting.
By default, Word applies a paragraph style (for example, Heading 1) to the entire paragraph. To
apply a paragraph style to part of a paragraph, select only the words that you want the style to
apply to.
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
Notice that the color-coded numbers on the Styles tab correspond to the color-coding that appears in
the left margin of the document.
Note Word doesn't color-code styles that are applied to text boxes, frames, floating objects, or
floating images.
In the document, click anywhere in the words Grant Proposal Building Beautiful. The color-code
1 indicates that the Normal style is applied.
Note Until you apply a different style, Normal is the default paragraph style.
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Tip If the Title 1 style doesn't appear on the Styles tab, on the List pop-up menu, click
Recommended.
Notice that the new color-code indicates that the style is now a Title 1.
Note The numbering and color-coding for Styles Guides depends on the option that you select on
the List pop-up menu.
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Hints
To identify text that was formatted without using styles (for example, a bold, 30-point font was
applied instead of a style), on the Styles tab, select the Show Direct Formatting Guides check box.
The colors and numbers attributed to each style are automatically determined by Word and may
differ between documents and may change whenever you reopen a document.
To hide the Styles Guides color-coding, clear the Show Styles Guides check box.
5. Modify a style
Word has many built-in styles (for example Normal, Title, and Heading 1). If any of these styles dont suit
your needs, you can modify the style so that it looks exactly how you want it to.
Let's change the color and size of the built-in Heading 2 style.
On the Styles tab, point to Heading 2, and then click the arrow that appears to the right of the style
name.
Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
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Microsoft Office for Mac 2011 tutorial: Format text with styles
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Tip To make the modified style available in all documents, select the Add to template check box.
Click OK.
Notice that the Heading 2 preview updates on the Styles tab, and that all instances of the Heading 2
style in the document appear in the new size and color.
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Hints
You can modify any built-in Word style (for example, Normal, Title, and Heading 1). You cannot
delete built-in styles.
If you select the Automatically update check box when you modify a style, each time you change
the formatting of any text that uses that style in your document, Word automatically updates all
instances of text using that style.
Modify a built-in style and view the updated style in your document.
On the Document Elements tab, under Table of Contents, point to any table of contents style, and
then click the arrow that appears.
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Notice that Word inserts a table of contents that includes entries for all headings in the document.
Note For this practice file, additional headings appear in the table of contents because some heading
styles were already applied.
Hints
By default, Word includes only Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 styles in a table of contents.
To modify the levels and appearance of a table of contents, on the Document Elements tab, under
Table of Contents, click Options.
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Confirm that the table of contents includes entries for all document headings.
Click in the table of contents, and then on the Table of Contents pop-up menu, click Update Table.
In the Update Table of Contents dialog box, click Update entire table, and then click OK.
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Notice that the table of contents updates to include the revised heading.
Hints
To hide the Table of Contents pop-up menu, click anywhere in the document text.
To delete a table of contents, click in the table of contents, and then on the Table of Contents popup menu, click Remove Table of Contents.
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Do this
Apply a style
Select the text (or click in the paragraph) that you want to apply the style to.
Then, on the Home tab, under Styles, click a style.
On the Styles tab, under Pick a style to apply, rest the pointer on the name
of the style. A ScreenTip appears that lists all formatting information for the
style.
On the Styles tab, on the List pop-up menu, click All Styles.
On the Styles tab, select the Show Styles Guides check box. The guide
appears in the left margin of the document.
On the Styles tab, select the Show Direct Formatting Guides check box.
Click anywhere in the text that contains the formatting or style. Then, on the
Styles tab, under Pick a style to apply, click Clear Formatting.
On the Styles tab, under Pick a style to apply, point to the style that you
want to modify. Click the arrow that appears to the right of the style name,
and then click Modify Style.
When you modify the style, in the Modify Style dialog box, select the Add to
template check box.
Click in the table of contents, and then on the Table of Contents pop-up
menu, click Update Table.
More Hints
By using styles, you can apply several types of formatting (for example, font, size, and color) in one
click instead of applying them one by one. Styles also make it simple to insert a table of contents
based on heading styles.
There are four types of styles: paragraph, character, list, and table.
All documents have standard built-in styles (for example, Normal, Title, Heading 1). The default
style for text is Normal.
If you don't see the Styles group on the Home tab, try increasing the width of the document
window.
The numbering and color-coding for Styles Guides depends on the option that you select on the List
pop-up menu.
The option that you select on the List pop-up menu (for example, All Styles) determines which styles
appear on the Styles tab.
Styles Guides appear as color-coded numbers in the left margin of the document. Styles Guides can
help you identify formatting errors and distinguish between styles and direct formatting.
By default, Word includes only Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3 styles in a table of contents.
Make sure that you apply one of these styles to the headings that you want to appear in a table of
contents.
For new or revised document headings to appear in the table of contents, you must update the table
of contents.
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