Paragraph styles

3. Use styles to format text

Formatting text in Microsoft Word. How to use Word styles to format text in Word.

Background and foreground: Shading in paragraph styles

For developers: The background colour in a paragraph style is controlled through the Shading object. It manages background and foreground colour and texture. The Word object model is straight-forward, but you need to choose the right texture as well as the background and foreground colours.

Borders in character and paragraph styles

How to control borders in Character and Paragraph styles. Includes bugs, annoyances and limitations.

Editing a document that someone else has prepared: 6 tips for managers

Even if you don't create many Word documents, you may edit documents your team members have created. 6 tips on how to edit a document someone else prepared.

Error 5848 “The style definition is empty”, or, why are there two Normal styles in my document?

How Paste Options works in Microsoft Word 2002 and 2003

In Word 2002 and 2003 you sometimes see a clipboard thingy with a drop down list every time you paste text. What is it? What does it do? How to use it.

How styles in Microsoft Word cascade

A Word style can be based on another style. A style inherits the format of its parent. This gives you powerful control over the format of your document.

How the Styles and Formatting pane works in Microsoft Word 2002 and 2003

All about the Word 2002 and Word 2003 Styles and Formatting pane. What it shows you (and what it doesn't). How to decipher its symbols strange text.

How to apply a style in Microsoft Word

15 ways to apply a style using the mouse or the keyboard in Microsoft Word.

How to control bullets in Microsoft Word

Overview of how to control bullets in Microsoft Word.

How to control the Quick Styles gallery on the Home tab in Word

How to create numbered headings or outline numbering

How to set up numbered headings or outline numbering in Word.

How to detect frames in paragraph styles

In the user interface, it is obvious if a paragraph style has a frame. It's not so obvious in the Word object model. There is no built-in method to determine whether a style has a Frame. This article identifies one possible way around this problem.

How to number headings and figures in Appendixes in Microsoft Word

The basic way to format text in Word is to apply a style: A Tip for managers

For managers: Word formats everything with styles. Controlling the format of Word documents using styles increases both productivity and consistency.

Tips for Understanding Styles in Word

Using styles in Microsoft Word is the best way to create consistent, well-formatted documents. In Word, a style is a collection of formatting instructions. Typically, a style is associated with a structural element of the document. For example: Title, Caption, Body Text, Footnote.

Understanding styles

What happens when I attach a new template to my document? or How do I copy content and settings from a template to a document?

You can attach a new template to a document. But when you do so, you might not get the results you expect. This article explains what happens when you attach a template to a document, and how to achieve what you may think should have happened.

What happens when I send my document to someone else? Will Word mess up my formatting?

Myths, urban legends, misunderstandings and confusion reign. Don't save your document if the 'Automatically update document styles' box in the Templates and Add-Ins dialog is ticked. If that box is not ticked then Word will not mess up your formatting if you send your document to someone else.

Why does text change format when I copy it into another document?

Why does Word sometimes override bold and italics when I apply a paragraph style, but sometimes it does not?

If you apply a style to a paragraph, and less than half the text in the paragraph has direct formatting, then Word retains the direct formatting. If you apply a style to a paragraph, and more than half the text in the paragraph has direct formatting, then the style overrides the direct formatting.

Why use Microsoft Word’s built-in heading styles?

16 reasons to use Word's built-in heading styles. Word's built-in heading styles have "magic" properties that you can't recreate in custom styles.