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University of Wyoming

Word
Styles

[pdf version]

Introduction

Applying Styles Manually

Creating Your Own Style

Introduction

Word keeps track of, or saves, formatting information as a style in the Styles and Formatting task pane.  To display the Task Pane, click:

  • View
  • Task Pane
  • Drop down arrow at the top
  • Styles and Formatting

Or

  • Format
  • Styles and Formatting

"A style is nothing more or less than a shorthand for formatting:  Put a bunch of formatting specifications together, give it a name, and you have a style."¹

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Applying Styles Manually

  1. Click once inside the paragraph, or select one or more paragraphs.  Choose the paragraph style from the Styles and Formatting task pane.
  2. Choose the style you want from the Styles and Formatting task pane.

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Creating Your Own Style

Suppose you often want a left- and right-indented paragraph enclosed in a border for emphasis.  The following steps would create that style.

Note:  You can create the paragraph first with all the attributes you want.  Then, assign it a new style name, or you can create the new style from scratch.

  1. Select New Style from the Styles and Formatting Task Pane.

New Style dialog box

New Style dialog box
  1. Give your style a name - something you will easily identify such as indented paragraph with border.
  2. Select paragraph for Style type.
  3. Style based on - generally select Normal.  If you base this style on a different style, and then change the original style, the style you are creating will take on the formatting of the style based on.  If this sounds convoluted, it's because it is and can get very messy, very fast.  I would stick with Normal until you are very sure of what you are doing.
  4. Style for following paragraph - again, you will generally want to return to Normal unless you want succeeding paragraphs to use a style other than normal or the same style as you are creating.
  5. Make all the formatting changes you want associated with this style by clicking on Format and selecting your indentations, borders, etc.
  6. If you want this style saved to be used with future document created with your current template, be sure to check the Add to Template check box.  Generally, you will be working in the Normal template.  Otherwise, it will be available in this document only!

¹Special Edition Using Microsoft Office XP, Ed Bott and Woody Leonhard, QUE

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Updated 09/15/2006