styles overview - web vieweasy and accurate global changes. ... word instead creates a new document...

ACES 2016: Tips and Tricks for Using Microsoft Word StylesMike Pope

[email protected]

http://www.mikepope.com

ContentsStyles Overview.....................................................................................................................................2

Tips for Applying (and Clearing) Styles..................................................................................................3

Tips for Creating Styles..........................................................................................................................8

Tips for Working with Templates........................................................................................................13

Tips for Modifying Styles.....................................................................................................................18

Tips for Using Styles for Lists...............................................................................................................22

Tips for Troubleshooting Styles...........................................................................................................28

Tips for Using Styles for Document Structure.....................................................................................33

Tips for Controlling the Styles UI.........................................................................................................37

Tips for Managing Styles.....................................................................................................................40

Productivity Tips for Styles..................................................................................................................44

Other Tips...........................................................................................................................................47

Bonus Tips (Not Style Related)............................................................................................................50

But Wait, There's More.......................................................................................................................51

ACES 2016: Tips and Tricks for Using Microsoft Word Styles (Mike Pope) 1

http://www.mikepope.com/

mailto:[email protected]

Styles OverviewStyles allow you to package up formatting information for paragraphs, characters, tables, and lists. Using styles gives you these benefits:

Reusable formatting. You can define a style once and apply it many times. Consistency within and across documents. Easy and accurate global changes. When you change a style, you automatically change all text

that the style has been applied to. Integration with document features. Styles are the basis for working in Outline view and for

creating tables of contents (TOCs). Word has default styles for headings, headers, footers, comment text, and other document text.

Semantic formatting. You can format text in a document according to its function, not how it's supposed to look.

Potential integration with tools. Publishers often use tools that convert text in a Word document to another format for publishing, and the conversion process is often driven by styles.

All text in a Word document uses a style, even if no one applied any styles. (By default, all text starts off as Normal.)


Tips for Applying (and Clearing) Styles

Tip 1 Apply a style using the Quick GalleryThe Quick Style gallery is always visible in the Home tab of the ribbon.

The Quick Style gallery has these features:

o It provides a preview of the style.

o The current style is selected (if that style is in the gallery).

o It provides "live preview"--the current text in the document is changed to whatever you hold the mouse pointer over.

o The gallery doesn't doesn't necessarily show all available styles; you can control what is displayed—see Tip 54 and Tip 55.

Tip 2 Apply a style using the Styles paneOpen with Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S or from the Quick Style gallery.

The Styles pane has these features:

o It shows all paragraph and character styles (and more--see Tip 44).

o The current style is selected.

o The pane can show a style preview.

o You can control what's displayed—see Tip 55 and Tip 56.

Tip 3 Apply a style using the Apply Styles dialogOpen with Ctrl+Shift+S or from the Quick Style gallery.

The Apply Styles dialog has these features:

o It's keyboard friendly—you can enter a style name from the keyboard. (You can also use aliases--see Tip 64.)

o It displays the current style.

o You can use it to apply any style, as long as you know the style name. (No styles are hidden.)

Tip 4 Apply a style using the mini-toolbar (Word 2013)When you select text with the mouse, Word displays the mini-toolbar. In Word 2013, the mini-toolbar lets you select from the same styles that are displayed in the Quick Style gallery.


The gallery in the mini-toolbar supports live preview.

Tip 5 Apply a style using a built-in keyboard shortcutWord has these built-in shortcuts for applying styles:

o Ctrl+Alt+1: Heading 1



o Ctrl+Shift+N: Normal

You can create your own shortcut keys—see Tip 65.

Tip 6 Apply a paragraph style by copying the paragraph markShow formatting marks (Ctrl+Shift+8), if they're not already visible.

Copy just the paragraph mark (¶).

Paste the paragraph mark at the end of the target paragraph, replacing existing one.

Tip 7 Apply a table style to change the look of a tablePut the insertion point anywhere in the table you want to style. The ribbon changes to show the Design tab.

Click the More button to display the gallery of table styles.


In addition to general formatting like font and color, table styles including formatting for the header row, left column, alternating (banded) rows, and a totals row.

Tip 8 Don't choose a style based on what it looks likeChoose a style based on function, not on how it renders. For example, don't choose a style just because it renders as italics and you want italics. Choose a style based on the function of the text.

Possible problems with choosing a style based on how it renders:

o The style definition changes, so the styled text looks different than you intended.

o One of style definitions is changed, and the changes are not reflected for the text correctly.

Tip 9 Don't mix styles and direct formattingUse a style for everything.

Assign commonly used keyboard shortcuts like Ctrl+B and Ctrl+I to styles like Strong and Emphasis, respectively. That way, you're assigning a style even when you use common gestures that would otherwise apply direct formatting like bold and italics.

Tip 10 Unstyle (clear) text in the Styles paneSelect the text to unstyle:

o Put the insertion point in the paragraph.

o Select the styled character.

In the Styles pane, choose Clear All

(In spite of what the command text suggests, the command clears only selected formatting.)


Tip 11 Unstyle (clear) text using the Quick Style gallerySelect the text to unstyle:


o Select the styled characters.

In the Quick Style gallery menu, choose Clear Formatting

Tip 12 Unstyle text using a keyboard shortcutFor paragraph styles:


o Press Ctrl+Shift+N. This removes paragraph styles and applies Normal.

For character styles:

o Select the styled characters.

o Press Ctrl+Space. This applies the current default character styles for that paragraph.

Tip 13 Change all instances of one style to anotherIn the Styles pane, select all instances of a style, and then choose another style.


Tips for Creating Styles

Tip 14 Define in advance the styles you'll needDevelop the set of styles that you need for the manuscripts you normally work on. (It might make sense to use different templates or style sets for different types of manuscripts.) You really want a style for every type of formatting you'll need, even formatting that you use rarely. In his blog post But Which Styles?, Jack Lyon lists the styles he uses for manuscripts at Waking Lyon Press.

Publishers often ask authors to use a specific set of styles, which they make available by letting you download their templates. For example, Lyon links to the templates for Wiley and Springer, which you can download and examine. (Sadly, these templates are for Office 2007.)

Tip 15 Use functional (semantic) namesName a style for what it's for, not what it looks like.

o Good: Alert paragraph, Blockquote, Placeholder text, Scientific name, Image in list

o Not as good: Italic paragraph, Wide paragraph, Green text, Indented image

If you ever change how a style renders, the name could be wrong.

Tip 16 Create a style "by example"Format the paragraph or text the way you want it to look.

In the Quick Style gallery menu, select Create a Style (Word 2013) or Save Selection as New Style (Word 2010).

Click Modify and set style type (paragraph, character). The formatting in your by-example text will already be filled in.

Note: The default style type is a linked style. (See .Tip 18) You must change the style type if you're creating a character style.

Tip 17 Create a style from scratchIn the Styles pane, click the New Style button:


Enter a style name and select a style type (paragraph, character, etc.). Use the formatting options to set the most commonly used style settings.

Click the Format button to display formatting options. The options on this menu are enabled according to what style type you're working with.


Tip 18 Create a style that can apply to either paragraphs or characters (linked style)

When you create a style, set the style type to Linked.

Linked styles are listed in the Quick Gallery and Styles pane with a combination icon: ¶a.

To apply as a paragraph style, put the insertion point into the paragraph and don't select characters, and then apply the linked style.

To apply as a character style, select the characters and then apply the style.

Note: The heading styles in Word (Heading 1, etc.) are linked styles.

Tip 19 Disable the ability to apply linked stylesIf you don't want the ambiguity of whether a linked style applies to a paragraph or to text, disable linked styles in the Styles pane.

Tip 20 Disable automatic updates for paragraph stylesFor paragraph styles, make sure that Automatically update is not selected.

If this option is enabled, any change you make to the formatting of a paragraph is automatically made to the style definition for the paragraph.

Note: This is almost never what you want unless you are creating styles in a template.

Tip 21 Specify what kind of paragraph should follow the current styleWhen you create a paragraph style, set the value for Style for following paragraph. When you press Enter, Word automatically creates a paragraph of that style.


This is particularly handy for styles that are often used for single paragraphs—headings, alerts, pull quotes, images, etc.

Tip 22 Create related styles with shared formatting by using "inheritance"You often create styles that are variations on one basic style—for example, Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3.

After you create the first style, create the second one and base it on the first one:

The second style inherits all the formatting of the "based on" style.

If you change the "based on" style, the second style inherits all the changes except the ones you've changed.

Tip 23 Create a table style by modifying an existing styleIt's possible to create a table style entirely from scratch. But it's usually easiest to modify one of the existing table styles and then save it.

Put the insertion point anywhere in the table you want to style. The ribbon changes to show the Design tab.

Click the More button to display the gallery of table styles.

Select a style that's close to what you want.

In the table styles gallery, right-click the selected style and click Modify Table Style.


Give the style a new name.

In the Apply formatting to list, select the table element whose formatting you want to change—odd or even rows, header row, left column, etc.

Save the style.

You can apply the table style by selecting it from the table style gallery or by typing its name into the Apply Styles dialog. Table styles are not displayed in the Styles pane.


Tips for Working with TemplatesTemplates store page layout, default text, macros, keyboard shortcuts, auto-text, and (most interesting to us) styles.

Tip 24 By default, documents use the Normal.dotm templateIf you create a new, blank document in Word, Word uses the Normal.dotm template. The styles available in the new document are in the Normal.dotm file.

If you make changes to styles (add or modify) and choose the Only in this document option, the changed style is stored in the document. If you change styles and choose the New documents based on this template option, the changes are written through to the Normal.dotm template. In that case, any new documents you create based on that template will have the changes. (Existing documents that use that template are not changed.)

Tip 25 Create a custom template by saving the current document as a templateTo create a custom template, create a new, blank document. Add or modify styles that you want, and any other features, like keyboard shortcuts or macros.

Save the file. When you do, select .dotm as the document type. (Note that this is .dotm, T for-template.) As soon as you change the document type to .dotm, Word changes the save location to the path for custom templates:

You can change this path—see Tip 29.

Tip 26 Create a document using a custom templateTo create a document based on a custom template, choose File > New.


Note: If you use Ctrl+N to create a new document, you don't get a chance to select the template.

Select Custom (not Featured), and then select the custom template to use.

Notes:

o This screenshot reflects Word 2013. The user interface for selecting a custom template has changed quite a lot across versions.

o This screenshot includes the SharedTemplates folder, which you might not have set. If not, you'll go right to a list of templates in the Custom Office Templates folder.

Tip 27 Attach a template to an existing documentAttaching a template to an existing document lets you copy the styles, keyboard shortcuts, and other template features to the current doc. (It doesn't copy any default text.)

Choose File > Options > Add-Ins.

In the Manage list, choose Templates, and then click Go.

Note: If the Developer tab is displayed in the ribbon, just click Document Template.

In the Document template box, click Attach to browse to the template you want to attach.


Select the Automatically update document styles option. This tells Word that you want to copy styles from the selected template to current document.

Click OK.

If you want to copy just the styles from a template or document, see Tip 59. You can also use a style set to store and reuse just a list of styles, without the other features in a template. See Tip 61.

Tip 28 Edit a template by opening it as a document in WordIf you want to make changes to a template, you open it the way you do any other Word document, change it, and save it. However, you must:

o Find the location for the template you want to open. The default template locations are:Word templates, including Normal.dotm: C:\Users\USERNAnmME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates

Custom templates: C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\Custom Office Templates

o Make sure you specify .dotm as the document type you're looking for. If you double-click a .dotm file in File Explorer to open that file, Word instead creates a new document (.docx file) based on that template.

Tip 29 Tell Word where to look for custom templatesBy default, Word looks for custom templates in this location.

C:\Users\USERNAMEr\Documents\Custom Office Templates

To change this location, choose File > Options > Advanced. In the General section, click the File Locations button.


In the File Locations dialog, select User templates or Workgroup templates, click Modify, and specify a new location.

The User template location is for personal templates. The Workgroup templates location is for templates to share between users. You can specify a file share location on a server or other shared location. In that case, it's wise to make the template files read-only, which prevents the user from modifying them. However, that also means that they can't save custom keyboard shortcuts and other information that's normally stored in the template.

Note: Word looks for the Normal.dotm file in one location only (C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates) If Word doesn't find Normal.dotm there, it creates a new version of that template with default settings.

Tip 30 Lock a document or template to disable direct formattingDisplay the Developer tab in the ribbon.


o File > Options > Customize Ribbon

o Select the Developer tab option.

In the Developer tab, click Restrict Editing.

In the Restrict Formatting and Editing pane, select the Limit formatting to a selection of styles option, and then click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.

Optionally, specify a password. To unlock the document or template, a user must have this password. If you do not specify a password, document styles will be locked, but users can unlock them.

To unlock styles, in the Restrict Formatting and Editing pane, click Stop Protection.


Tips for Modifying Styles

Tip 31 Modify a style "by example" (version 1)You can modify a style by changing the formatting of styled text (paragraph or character) and then having Word modify the style definition to match.

Modify the styled text.

In the Styles pane, display the dropdown menu for that style, and then click Update stylename to Match Selection.

Tip 32 Modify a style "by example" (version 2)You can also have Word prompt you to change a style when you've changed the formatting of text that uses that style.

Note: Use this approach with caution. I recommend enabling the option only when you're in style-editing mode, and disabling it for everyday use.

To enable this feature, choose File > Options > Advanced.

Under Editing options, select Prompt to update style.


When this feature is enabled, make changes to the text whose style you want to modify.

In the Quick Style gallery, Styles pane, or Apply Styles dialog, select the style. Word displays the Modify Styles dialog:

Choose whether you want to modify the style definition or revert the formatting of the selected text to the original style definition.

Tip 33 Modify the format for a style in all new documentsYou can modify the format for a style in the current document or in all new documents that are based in the template that is currently in use for the document.

When you modify a style in the current document, choose the New documents based on this style option. This causes the change that you're making to be written to the current document and to the template that you're using.

You can also edit the template directly and change the style there—see Tip 28.


Tip 34 Delete a styleIn the Styles pane, hold the mouse over the style you want to delete. A dropdown button appears; click that button.

Click either Delete stylename or Revert to stylename, depending on what command is displayed. The Delete command appears for styles that are based on Normal. The Revert command appears for styles that are based on styles other than Normal.

Word removes the style from the current document. Any text that had that style applied is reverted to what the deleted style was based on.

Note: You cannot delete built-in styles. However, you can delete any versions of those styles that you have changed in the current document. You can hide built-in styles, even if you can't delete them—see Tip 54, Tip 55, and Tip 55.

Tip 35 Delete a table or multi-level list styleList styles and table styles are not displayed in the Styles pane, so you can't delete them using that UI. However, you can manage them using the Manage Styles dialog.

At the bottom of the Styles pane, click the Manage Styles button.

The s dialog gives you a way to edit and perform other tasks with every style that's available in the current document.


In the Edit tab, select the style to delete, and then click Delete.


Tips for Using Styles for Lists

Tip 36 Auto-lists always use List Paragraph styleAuto-lists (lists you create using the Bullets or Numbering buttons in the ribbon) use the List Paragraph style.

Changing that style makes global changes to all auto-lists.

You can change: font, color, line spacing, text alignment.

You cannot change: bullet/number style, indentation. (The UI will seem to let you make these changes, but they’ll be overridden.)

In general, using auto-lists doesn't take full advantage of styles. For full control over list formatting via styles, create a list style and paragraph styles, and link those. See Tip 38 and Tip 40.

Tip 37 Don't use multi-level lists—use list stylesMulti-level lists (as labeled by Word) aren't styles. Use a list style instead.

Note: To add to the confusion, Word sometimes refers to list styles as multilevel list styles. Just be careful that you're working with a style.

Tip 38 Use built-in paragraph styles that have bullet/number formatting definedA way to get reasonable list behavior is to use the built-in List-named styles in Word:


o List Bullet, List Bullet 2, … List Bullet 5.

o List Number, List Number 2, … List Number 5.

o List Continue, List Continue 2, … List Continue 5.

These styles are all based on Normal, so you can changed their formatting independently. You can set the bullet and numbering styles for each level independently as well.

For the List Number (n) styles, you can get renumbering behavior.

You do not get tabbing behavior--for example, if you're in a paragraph that's styled List Bullet, pressing tab does not restyle the paragraph as List Bullet 2. For a better experience, see Tip 40.

Tip 39 List styles let you define bullet/number format and indentation levelsA list style lets you define the formatting for the bullet or number in a list, and for the indentation level of list levels.


List styles do not set font or paragraph formatting for the text of list items. The most effective way to use list styles is to link them to paragraph styles. See Tip 40.

Tip 40 Link paragraph styles to list styles to support tabbing and renumbering behavior

You can completely control list behavior by combining a list style with a set of paragraph styles.

Create a set of paragraph styles--one for each list level that you anticipate needing.

o Set paragraph formatting, including font and color, and line height and spacing.

o Do not set indentation or number/bullet formatting. Those will be handled by the list style.

o If you want to use the paragraphs as headings, set the outline level for each paragraph style.

Create a list style.


Click the Format button, then Numbering.

Select a list level (A). Then for that level, set the number/ bullet format (B) and indentation level (C). Repeat this for each list level that you need.

Click More to expand this dialog.


Select a list level (as before), and in the Link level to style list, select the paragraph style to link the list level to. Repeat this for each list level, until each list level is associated with a different paragraph style.

In the Styles pane, the previews for the linked paragraph styles are updated to reflect the list formatting.

Apply the paragraph styles as usual. Use the Tab key to demote or promote paragraphs to different list levels.

Tip 41 To modify a list style, find it in the Multilevel List galleryDisplay the Multilevel List gallery, and under List Styles, right-click the style to modify.


You can also use the Manage Styles dialog, which you can get to from the Styles pane—see Tip 35.


Tips for Troubleshooting Styles

Tip 42 Know the precedence that Word uses for formattingWord applies formatting starting with the document defaults. It then applies styles in a particular order (for example, paragraph styles before character styles). Direct formatting always is applied last and therefore always takes precedence.

Note: If you're familiar with HTML and CSS (cascading style sheets), you'll find that the order of precedence for applying formatting is roughly similar in Word.

Tip 43 Have Word mark formatting inconsistenciesWord can use squiggly lines to mark text that has been directly formatted, but for which a style is available. This is helpful is you get a document from someone else who does not know about your styles, and you want to find the formatted text that should be styled.

Choose File > Options > Advanced.

Under Editing options, select Keep track of formatting and then select Mark formatting inconsistencies.


Tip 44 Display direct formatting information in the Styles paneIn the Styles pane, choose Options, and then select the options to show paragraph and font formatting.

The Styles pane displays separate entries for the combination of style and local formatting.


Tip 45 Use the Style Inspector to see style + direct formattingDisplay the Style inspector from the Styles pane.

The Style Inspector pane shows you paragraph and character styles of the selected text, plus any direct formatting that has been applied.

Note: You can also use the eraser buttons on the side of the Style Inspector pane to remove formatting from the selected text. For other options, see Tip 10, Tip 11, and Tip 12.

Tip 46 Use the Reveal Formatting pane to see everything about formattingOpen with Shift+F1 or from the Style Inspector pane.


The Reveal Formatting pane shows the succession of formatting information that's been applied to text.

Note: If you're familiar with the style-reporting feature of browser developer tools (F12), you'll find that this pane works in a similar way.

Tip 47 Display paragraph style names in Draft and Outline viewsIn Draft and Outline views, you can display the names of paragraph styles:


To enable this feature, choose File > Options > Advanced.

Under Display, set a width for Style area pane width in Draft and Outline views.


Tips for Using Styles for Document Structure

Tip 48 View and reorganize a document using heading styles in Outline viewOutline view lets you view and organize a document based on the built-in heading styles. You can choose which outline levels to display.

Outline view will display linked styles if a) the linked style is used as paragraph styles and b) the linked style has an outline level.

In this view, you can:

o Move sections of the document using the up and down arrows.

o Promote and demote levels. However, this works only for the built-in heading levels.

Tip 49 Create a table of contents (TOC) using stylesIn the References tab, click the Table of Contents button and then choose the layout.


By default, Word bases the TOC on styles and their outline levels. For example, if a paragraph style (such as Heading 2) is set to Level 2, Word includes that paragraph text as the second level of the TOC.

The TOC will include portions of paragraphs that are styled using a linked style at the appropriate level of the TOC.

Tip 50 Create a TOC based on arbitrary stylesYou can create a TOC based on any paragraph styles available in the document, and using any heading level that you assign to those styles.


In the References tab, click the Table of Contents button > Custom Table of Contents.

Click the Options button.

In the Table of Contents Options dialog, Word displays a list of all the paragraph styles that are in use in the document.

Enter a TOC level for each style whose text you want to have in the TOC. Clear the numbers for any styles that you don't want to have in the TOC.

Tip 51 Change the look of a TOC using stylesWhen Word generates a TOC, it styles each level of the TOC using built-in styles: TOC 1 for the first level, TOC 2 for the second level, out to TOC 9.

These are paragraph styles, and you can modify them to change the font, color, spacing, tab filler, and other settings for the TOC. If you set tab stops for the TOC styles, you can also move the page number and change the tab leader characters.

Tip 52 Use styles to format headers and footersWhen you insert a header or footer, Word uses the built-in Header and Footer styles. To change the look of the header or footer, modify these styles—don't use direct formatting. If you insert a page number or other field into the header or footer, the fields are also formatted using the Header or Footer styles.

Tip 53 Insert text dynamically based on stylesFields let you insert text into a document, such as the current date and time, the current page number, hyperlinks, etc. You can use the StyleRef field to insert text that's been styled using a specific style. This can be handy in a document's header or footer, where you can use a style reference to insert the document's title or the current heading.


In the Insert tab of the ribbon, click Quick Parts > Field.

Under Field names, choose StyleRef, and the select the style whose text you want to insert. The following screenshot shows how you can insert the text that's currently styled as Heading 1, where current here means the most recent instance of that style.


Tips for Controlling the Styles UI

Tip 54 Add or remove styles in the Quick Style galleryTo add a style to the Quick Style gallery, in the Styles pane, display the dropdown menu for that style and then click Add to Style Gallery.

To remove a style, do the following:

o Right-click the style in the gallery and then click Remove from Style Gallery.

o In the Styles pane, display the dropdown menu for that style and then click Remove from Style Gallery

Tip 55 Change what's displayed in the Styles paneIn the Styles pane, click the Options link.

In the Select styles to show list, select an option.

In current document means styles that have been added or modified in the current document; unchanged styles from the template are not shown. Recommended refers to a weighted value for each style—see Tip 56.

In the Select how list is sorted list, select the order in which styles are shown.


Note: If you find that you frequently change these options, you can record a macro of yourself changing to a particular view and then assign a keyboard shortcut to that macro.

Tip 56 Control what is "recommended" in the Styles paneYou can change both the content and the order of the list of styles that is displayed in the Styles pane.

In the Styles pane, click the Manage Styles button.

In the Manage Styles dialog, click the Recommend tab.

For Sort order, select As Recommended, and make sure that the Show recommended styles only option is selected.

To control the order in which styles are recommended, select one and then move it up or down in the list using the Move Up, Move Down, Make Last, or Assign Value buttons.


Click Hide to:

o Hide the style in the Styles pane. (The style will still be visible if you choose to show all styles.

o Remove the style from the Quick Style gallery.

Hide until used is just what it sounds like--if a user applies the style, it will appear in the list.

Tip 57 Control the order in which styles appear in the Quick Style GalleryThis is the same procedure as for controlling the order in which styles are recommended in the Styles pane--see Tip 56. (I included an extra tip for this in case people are looking specifically for how to work in the Quick Style gallery.)


Tips for Managing Styles

Tip 58 Copy a style to another documentBy default, when you copy styled text from one document to another, the style is added to the target document along with the text itself.

To change this behavior:

o Choose File > Options > Advanced.

o Under Cut, copy, and paste, choose the paste options that you want. An important option is what happens when the target document already has a style with the name of the style that you're copying.

Tip 59 Bulk-copy styles from another documentYou can copy styles from another document or template to the current document. This can be useful if you get a document from someone and want to use styles that you've defined in a different document.

Note: This is different from attaching a template (see Tip 27), because it copies the styles, and only the styles, into the current document.

In the Styles pane, click the Manage Styles button.

At the bottom of the Manage Style dialog, click the Import/Export button to open the Organizer dialog. The list on the left lists the styles in the current document. The list on the right lists styles you can import. By default, Word displays styles from the current template.


If you want copy styles from a different document, click Close File. The button changes to Open File.

Click Open File and navigate to the document you want to import from and open it.

Note: In the Open dialog box, Word sets the file type to .dotm (that is, to templates). If you want to copy styles from a document (.docx file), change the file type to All Word Documents.

In the right-hand list, select the styles you need, and then click Copy.

Tip 60 Remove styles you don't needAs general housekeeping advice, remove styles that are not needed in the current document. This can include styles that were added accidentally or that you added but don't need.



Tip 61 Save styles in a style setA template stores styles, macros, keyboard shortcuts, and text. To store just a collection of styles, you can use a style set. You can then select that style set in order to use those styles in a document.

In a Word document, configure the styles you need.

In the Design tab, click the More button in the Style Sets gallery.

Click Save as a New Style Set. Word creates a .dotx file that contains the styles in the current document. (By default, the file is saved in C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\QuickStyles).

To use a style set, click the More button in the Style Sets gallery and then pick the style set you want to use. Word replaces the styles in the current document with the styles from the style set.

Tip 62 Copy styles using the Format PainterYou can use the Format Painter tool in Word to copy styles.

To paint with paragraph styles, select the whole paragraph, or select text in the paragraph to include the paragraph mark.

To paint with character styles, select one or more characters that use that character style.

Click Format Painter in the Home tab of the ribbon.


To paint a paragraph style, click in the paragraph where you want to apply the paragraph style.

To paint character styles, use the mouse to select the target text. As soon as you let go of the mouse button, the selected text is "painted" with the style you selected.


Productivity Tips for Styles

Tip 63 Back up the Normal.dotm file after every major changeWhen you create or modify styles and specify that the change should be for New documents based on this template, Word saves the changes in the template file that's currently attached to the document (usually Normal.dotm). Make a copy of this file whenever you make changes that you'd hate to lose. By default, the file is here:

C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates

a.k.a.

%appdata%\Microsoft\Templates

Note that this means that every user has a personal copy of the template, including their own customizations.

You cannot change the location where Word looks for this file. If the Normal.dotm file is deleted, moved, or damaged, Word creates a new one and adds it to this location. However, you can choose a different template that can be shared from a central location by users--see Tip 26, Tip 27, and Tip 29.

Tip 64 Create a style alias to make it easier to type style names in the Apply Styles dialog

To make it easier to type style names in the Apply Styles dialog, you can create aliases, which are shortened style names.

When you create or edit a style, in the Name box, add a comma and then the alias.

Then whenever you use the Apply Styles dialog, instead of typing the full style name, type a comma and then the alias.


There is a disadvantage. Once you've defined an alias, Word displays the alias in the Quick Style gallery instead of the full style name.

Tip 65 Create a keyboard shortcut for a styleWord includes built-in keyboard shortcuts for some styles--see Tip 5. You can also assign your own keyboard shortcuts to a style.

In the Create New Style or Modify Style dialog, click Format > Shortcut key.

In the Customize Keyboard dialog, put the insertion point in Press new shortcut key.

Press the key combination you want to use. (You don't type in the key names, you literally press the key(s) you want to use.)


Some notes:

o It can be difficult to find an unused key combination. I often end up overwriting key assignments that I don't otherwise use.

o You can use a sequence of keys (not just a combination). For example, in the screenshot, the shortcut key is Ctrl+;,X. This means "press Ctrl+; and then let go and then press X." Using key combinations greatly expands your repertoire of keyboard shortcuts, and allows you to group shortcuts for similar functions.

Click Assign when you're done! (This is easy to forget.)

Note: As with styles themselves, keyboard shortcuts can be stored in the document (Only in this document) or in the underlying template (New documents based on this template). If they're stored in the template, they are available if you create a document from that template (Tip 26) or attach that template (Tip 27).

Tip 66 Use styles in Microsoft OutlookIf you use the desktop client, you can use the Apply Styles dialog and Styles pane to create, apply, and manage styles for your emails.

As with styles in Word documents, you can save your styles in the template (see Tip 33).


Other Tips

Tip 67 Be careful how you paste text copied from elsewhereIf you copy text from one Word document to another, by default the style of the copied text is copied as well. You might not want this. If you copy text from a web page or other source of formatted text, results can be … unpredictable.

The Paste button in the Home tab of the ribbon has a menu that lets you choose how to manage formatting during the paste operation.

The options are:

o (Default) Word pastes the text using style information. If the text has been styled, the style is copied also. If the style already exists in the target document, Word applies the style from the target document.

Note: The default behavior is customizable—see Tip 58.

o Keep source formatting. This option keeps the original formatting (both character and paragraph formatting), but converts it to direct formatting.

o Merge formatting. This option copies basic character formatting (bold, italics, underline) as direct formatting, but does not copy any paragraph formatting.

o Keep Text Only. This copies the text as plain text, with no formatting. This is always the safest option.

As alternative or in addition, you can also use a program that "sanitizes" text as you paste, guaranteeing that you don't inadvertently paste formatting information. I use PureText, which is free.

Tip 68 Skip spell check and grammar check for a styleWith some blocks of text, it's not useful to have spell checking. This includes code listings, blocks of HTML pages, etc. When you define the style for this text, choose Language.


http://stevemiller.net/puretext/

Then choose the option not to use spelling or grammar check:

You can do this for both paragraph and character styles.

Tip 69 Change the style for comment text to make your edits easier to readTo make it easier to read the comments that you or other reviewers add to a document, change these styles:

o Balloon Text sets the formatting for the reviewer names and date/time of the comment.

o Comment Text sets the font for the comment text itself. In the comment balloon, Word uses the font and color that you specify, but shows text at a fixed size. (Therefore, experiment with fonts to find the one that you can read most easily at the fixed size—Verdana seems to work well.) However, in the Revisions pane, Word displays comments using the font, color, and size that you set Comment Text to.


Tip 70 Search for styled textYou can find text that's been styled using a specific style.

Open the Find and Replace dialog, and then click the More button.

In the Find what box, enter the text to search for. (You can leave this blank if you want to just search for any text that has the style.)

Click the Format button and then select Style.

In the Find Style dialog, select the style that you're searching for.


Bonus Tips (Not Style Related)

Tip 71 Use Ctrl+Shift+8 to toggle formatting marksFormatting marks let you see what Word sees, like ¶ at the end of a paragraph. From a styles point of view, being able to see that you're selecting and copying something like a paragraph mark is very handy. You can toggle this view using Ctrl+Shift+8, a.k.a. Ctrl+*.

Tip 72 Use F4 to repeat last editThe F4 key repeats the last edit (very literally interpreted). This can including applying a style, which makes it handy when you want to repetitively apply the same style to different text.

Tip 73 Ctrl+Z is your friendThe Undo function (Ctrl+Z) is powerful—it can undo all manner of editing whoopsies, including things like inadvertently creating a new style.


But Wait, There's MoreThere is a lot of information about using styles in Word, but sometimes you have to dig around a little. Here's a short selection of articles/blog posts that I have found useful.

One caution: When you find information about Word, pay attention to any clues about versions. A lot of information is for older versions of Word. This information can still be useful, but the user interface is often quite different, and sometimes functionality has changed enough that a feature described for, say, Word 2003 is simply not available any more.

Styles (Word 2007 and later). A good, reasonably compact overview of using styles. If you're new to styles, this is a good introduction.

Style basics in Word. A support article from Microsoft that reviews the basics of style, Quick Style sets, and themes. The article was written for Word 2007, but the information is still relevant.

All about themes, Quick Styles, cell styles, and background styles. An article on the Microsoft Office support site about using themes and other ways to style and format documents.

Styles. Shauna Kelly's outstanding series of articles about using styles. As an example, here's her discussion of how to set up numbered paragraphs or headings: How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in Word 2007 and Word 2010.

Lyonizing Word: Taming Styles in Microsoft Word. A blog post by Jack Lyon on managing styles in the Normal template. Lyon has a number of good blog posts that provide general instruction in using Word—using the ribbon, using search and replace, etc.

The Why Behind Our Styles and Lists Designs. A blog post by Stuart Suple, one-time program manager in the Word group at Microsoft, on the vexing questions about list styles.

Lyonizing Word: But which styles? Another blog post by Jack Lyon, this one about planning out the styles you'll need for your manuscripts.

How to create a Word 2013 template from scratch. A blog post from Keith Soltys about how to set up a Normal template so that styles are already all configured.

Creating a Template – The Basics (Part I) (also, Part II). A two-part article by John McGhie that provides detailed recommendations for how to set up a template with styles for use with professional documents.

Changing your style in the new Word. n blog entry on the Office site that's about changes for Word 2013, and which includes an overview of style sets and themes.


https://blogs.office.com/2012/09/06/changing-your-style-in-the-new-word/

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

http://www.soltys.ca/blog/2015/07/how-to-create-a-word-2013-template-from-scratch.html

https://americaneditor.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/lyonizing-word-but-which-styles/

https://blogs.office.com/2010/01/28/the-why-behind-our-styles-and-lists-designs/

https://americaneditor.wordpress.com/2016/02/29/lyonizing-word-taming-styles-in-microsoft-word/

http://shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/numbering20072010.html

http://shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/numbering20072010.html

http://www.shaunakelly.com/topic/word/styles.html

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/All-about-themes-Quick-Styles-cell-styles-and-background-styles-2CF8FFB9-4C87-47B3-9B36-BB2E8A836288

https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Style-basics-in-Word-D382F84D-5C38-4444-98A5-9CBB6EDE1BA4#bm2

http://www.wordarticles.com/Articles/WordStyles/StylesPane.php