By using AutoFormat, you can quickly apply formatting such as headings, bulleted and numbered lists, borders, numbers, symbols, and fractions to your text. Word can also:
automatically format Internet, network and e-mail addresses as hyperlinks
apply bold or italic character formatting to text surrounded by asterisks ( ) or underscores (
replace two hyphens ( ) with an em dash (
You can automatically format a document either as you type or after. Word analyzes each paragraph to see how it's used in the document - for example, as a heading or as an item in a numbered list - and applies a style that's appropriate for that item.
The two ways to use AutoFormat
Word offers two ways to automatically format a document. You can:
format text automatically as you type - When you set options on the AutoFormat As You Type tab (Tools menu, AutoCorrect command), Word formats text as you're typing the document.
For example, if you type a number followed by a period or hyphen, followed by a space or tab, followed by text, Word makes the text a numbered list.
You can select which types of automatic formatting changes Word does and doesn't make as you type. Turn on or off options for formatting a document as you type.
On Tools click AutoCorrect, and select the AutoFormat As You Type tab.
Select or clear the options.
Note: To turn off automatic formatting completely, clear all the options. If you do not want to turn off an option completely but don't want it applied in a particular instance, click Undo immediately after Word makes the automatic formatting change.
Automatic formatting has been turned off and Word still formats my document
Make sure that you have turned off the options on the correct tab. When you click AutoCorrect on Tools, you can turn off two types of automatic formatting:
AutoFormat As You Type controls changes Word makes as you type.
AutoFormat controls the changes Word makes when you format the document in a separate pass.
If neither of the above addresses your problem, try one of the following:
If unwanted symbols keep reappearing - If you've cleared the Symbol characters (--) with symbols ( - ) check box on the AutoFormat As You Type tab, and Word continues to insert symbols, one or more symbols may be set up as AutoCorrect entries.
On Tools, click AutoCorrect; select the AutoCorrect tab, and see if the Replace box contains the symbol Word is automatically replacing. You can either delete the entry by selecting it from the list and clicking Delete, or turn off AutoCorrect completely by clearing the Replace text as you type check box.
If text style changes unexpectedly - If Word keeps applying unwanted styles to text, make sure automatic updating is not turned on for the style that Word applied. To turn off automatic updating for styles, click Style on Format, select the style in the Styles box, and click Modify. Clear the Automatically update check box.
If Word keeps formatting text as headings - If Word continues to format text as headings even after you've cleared the Headings check box on the AutoFormat As You Type tab (Tools menu, AutoCorrect command), clear the Define styles based on your formatting check box under Automatically as you type.
Format a document automatically after you've written it When you use the AutoFormat dialog box (Format menu, AutoFormat command), Word can format text in one pass, enabling you to review all the changes and accept or reject each one.
In both cases, you can control which automatic changes Word makes. You can also turn off automatic formatting.
Results of formatting a document automatically
If you don't like the results you get by using AutoFormat, click Undo on Edit immediately after the automatic formatting is complete. You can also turn off the options you don't want.
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If you want to |
Type |
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Change quotation marks to smart (curly) quotes ( and ) |
Straight quotation marks: (' and ") |
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Change spaces and hyphens to an en dash (-): pages 3-10 |
Text, a space, one hyphen ( - ), one or no spaces, and more text: pages 3 - 10 |
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Change hyphens to an em dash ( - ): Many pines-ponderosa, for example-grow here. |
Two hyphens immediately preceded and followed by text: Many pines--ponderosa, for example--grow here. |
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Format text within asterisks with bold character formatting: Look up solar system in the dictionary. |
An asterisk (*) immediately followed by text and another asterisk: Look up *solar system* in the dictionary. |
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Format text within underlines with italic character formatting: Look up solar system in the dictionary. |
An underline (_) immediately followed by text and another underline: Look up _solar system_ in the dictionary. |
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Format an address as a hyperlink |
An Internet, network, or e-mail address: https://example.microsoft.com/ |
Tip: If you have selected the *Bold* and _italic_ with real formatting check box on either the AutoFormat As You Type or the AutoFormat tab (Tools menu, AutoCorrect command), you can customize the format by changing the style that Word applies to achieve the formatting.
For example, when you type *solar system*, you can have Word format it as solar system (bold and italic, instead of just bold), by modifying the Strong character style. Or modify the Emphasis character style so that Word applies the custom format instead of italic.
Borders
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If you want to |
Type |
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Place a border above a paragraph Available only on the AutoFormat As You Type tab |
Three or more of the following preceding the paragraph:
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Lists
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If You want to |
Type |
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Make text into a numbered list |
A number followed by a period, hyphen, closing parenthesis, or greater-than sign (>), and a space or tab and text. To end the list, press Enter |
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Make text into a bulleted list |
Any of the following, and a space or tab and text: An asterisk One or two hyphens A greater-than sign (>) An arrow created with a greater-than sign and a hyphen or equal sign (-> or =>) To end the list, press Enter twice. |
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Make text into a bulleted list where the symbol or picture is the bullet |
A symbol inserted with the Symbol command (Insert menu), or an inline picture (must be within 1.5 times the height of the line). Follow either with two or more spaces and text. |
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Repeat the same formatting to the lead-in text of the next list item. Word does not format the delimiter. For example: Paul: Catch the ball. George: I refuse! Available only on the AutoFormat As You Type tab |
A list item that starts with a bullet, asterisk, or similar character, followed by a space, followed by a space, followed by bold, italic, or underlined text, followed by a period, colon, hyphen, em dash, question mark, exclamation point, or similar character, and a space or tab, and plain text. |
Numbers
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If You want to |
Type |
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Insert a table, where the plus signs become the column borders, and the number of hyphens determines the column width. Available only on the AutoFormat As You Type tab. |
A plus sign, a series of hyphens, another plus sign, and so on (ending the series with a plus sign), and press Enter: |
Elements of a letter
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If You want to |
Type |
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Start the Letter Wizard, which you can use to add, modify, remove, and format the letter elements you want |
Elements in a letter, such as a salutation (be sure to include the punctuation): Dear Mr. Jones: |
Automatically format an entire document in one pass
On Format, click AutoFormat.
To have Word automatically format the document, click AutoFormat now.
If you want to review and accept or reject the automatic formatting changes, click AutoFormat and review each change.
Click a document type to apply the most appropriate formatting.
Notes:
If you selected the AutoFormat and review each change option, you can review and accept or reject the automatic formatting changes.
Once your document has been automatically formatted, you can use the Style Gallery to select a professional document design. Depending on which option you selected in step 2, either click the Style Gallery button in the AutoFormat dialog box, or click Style Gallery on the Format menu.
You can control what types of automatic changes Word makes. On the Format menu, click AutoFormat, and click Options. On the AutoFormat tab, select or clear the options you want.
What is a style?
A style is a set of formatting characteristics that can be applied to text in a document to quickly change its appearance. When a style is applied, a whole group of formats apply in one task.
For example, when formatting the title of a report to make it stand out instead of taking three separate steps to format your title as 16 pt, Arial, and center-aligned, you can achieve the same result in one step by applying the Title style.
When Word starts the new blank document is based on the
Normal template, and text that you type uses
There are a number of other styles besides
What are paragraph and character styles?
A paragraph style controls all aspects of a paragraph's appearance, such as text alignment, tab stops, line spacing, and borders, and can include character formatting. If you want a paragraph to have a particular combination of attributes that aren't in an existing style (for example, a bold, italic, center-aligned heading in the Arial Narrow font), you can create a new paragraph style.
A character style affects selected text within a paragraph, such as the font and size of text, and bold and italic formats. Characters within a paragraph can have their own style even if a paragraph style is applied to the paragraph as a whole. If you want to be able to give certain types of words or phrases the same kind of formatting, and the formatting isn't in an existing style, you can create a new character style.
Apply a different style to text
When you want to change the style of text, you can apply an existing style, also known as a built-in style. If you don't see a style with the characteristics you want, you can create a new style, and apply it.
Do one of the following:
To apply a paragraph style, click the paragraph or select the paragraphs to be changed.
To apply a character style, click the word or select the words to be changed.
On Format, click Style.
In the Styles box, click a style and click Apply.
If the style is not listed, select another group of styles in the List box. A paragraph mark appears to the left of each paragraph style. A bold, underlined letter a appears to the left of character styles.
Tips: To quickly apply a style, select a paragraph or character style in the Style box on the Formatting toolbar.
Use Format Painter to quickly copy character and paragraph styles.
To quickly change all the text that is formatted with a particular style, redefine the style.
For example, if your main headings are 14 pt Arial, flush left, and bold, and you later decide you want your headings to be 16 pt, Arial Narrow, and centered, you don't have to reformat every main heading in your document. Instead, just change the properties of that style.
On Format, click Style.
In the Styles box, select the style you want to modify, and click Modify.
Click Format, and click the attribute - such as Font or Numbering - you want to change.
Click OK after you've changed each attribute, and repeat for any additional attributes you want to change.
Tip: To use the modified style in new documents based on the same template, select the Add to template check box. Word adds the modified style to the template that is attached to the active document.
Note that when you change a formatting element of the base style in a document, all styles that originate from the base style in that document will also reflect the change.
You can also have Word modify a style automatically, meaning that Word detects when you alter the formatting of text containing a style, and automatically updates the style. When Word automatically updates the style, all text formatted with that style is updated to match the formatting of the text you just changed.
Tips: To preview how your document will look with the different styles, click Document under Preview. To see a sample document with styles from the selected template, click Example. To see a list of the styles used in the selected template, click Style samples.
Copy individual styles from one template to another using the Organizer.
Create a new paragraph style
The quickest way to create a new paragraph style is to format a paragraph, select it, and base the new style on the formatting and other properties applied to the selected text.
Select the text that contains the formatting you want to include in your style.
Click in the Style box.
Type over the existing style name to create the name for the new style.
Press Enter.
Note: To set additional attributes for paragraph styles - such as the style for the next paragraph or whether the style is saved in the template - click Style on Format, click the style whose settings you want to change, click Modify, and select the options you want.
Create a new character style
On Format, click Style.
Click New.
In the Name box, type a name for the style.
In the Style type box, click Character.
Select the other options you want, and click Format to set attributes for the style.
Copy styles, AutoText entries, toolbars, or macros
On Tools, click Templates and Add-Ins.
Click Organizer, and click the tab for the items you want to copy.
To copy items to or from a different template or
file, click Close File to close the active document and its
attached template or to close the
Click the items you want to copy in either list, and click Copy.
To select a range of items, hold down Shift and click the first and last items.
To select nonadjacent items, hold down Ctrl as you click each item.
Note: If you copy toolbars to which you've assigned custom macros, you must also copy the macros.
Delete a style
On Format, click Style.
In the Styles box, click the style you want to delete, and click Delete.
Notes: If you delete a paragraph style that you
created, Word applies the
If
you click Styles in use in the List box, you can delete some built-in styles,
such as
Delete multiple styles, AutoText entries, toolbars, or macros
On Tools, click Templates and Add-Ins.
Click Organizer, and click the tab for the items you want to delete.
To delete items from a different template or
file, click Close File to close the active document and
its attached template or to close the
Click the items to delete, and click Delete.
Tip: To select a range of items, hold down Shift and click the first and last items. To select nonadjacent items, hold down Ctrl as you click each item.
Rename styles, AutoText entries, macros, and toolbars
On Tools, click Templates and Add-Ins.
Click Organizer.
Click the Styles, AutoText, Toolbars, or Macro Project Items tab.
In the In box on the left, click the entry to be renamed, and click Rename.
In the Rename dialog box, type a new name for the entry.
Click Ok, and click Close.
Every Word document is based on a template. A template determines the basic structure for
a document and contains document settings such as AutoText entries, fonts, key
assignments, macros, menus, page layout, special formatting, and styles. The two basic types of templates are global
templates and document templates. Global
templates, including the
For example, if you create a memo using the memo template, the memo uses settings from both the memo template as well as settings in any global template.
Word provides a variety of document templates, and you can create your own document templates.
When you click New on File, two factors determine which document templates are available and which tab each template appears on: the location of the template and your file location settings for User templates and Workgroup templates.
To check your template file location settings, click Options on Tools, and click the File Locations tab.
Workgroup templates - It is recommended that your system administrator store templates that you share on a network in the templates file location specified on the File Locations tab. To keep custom templates from being inadvertently altered by others, the administrator should mark them as read-only or store them on a server with limited permissions.
User templates - Save custom templates in the Templates folder. (In Windows 95 or 98, the Templates folder is located in either C:\Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates or C:\Windows\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Templates.) Templates saved in the Templates folder appear in the New dialog box (File menu). Any document (.doc) file saved in the Templates folder acts as a template.
If a template is saved in a different location, it will not appear in the New dialog box.
Modify a document template
On File, click Open, and locate and open the template to be modified.
If there aren't any templates listed in the Open dialog box, click Document Templates in the Files of type box.
Change any of the template's text and graphics, styles, formatting, macros, AutoText entries, toolbars, menu settings, and shortcut keys.
Click Save.
Note: The content of existing documents is not affected by changes made to the templates they're based on. Word will update modified styles when a document is opened only if the Automatically Update Document styles option is turned on. Set this option before opening an existing document by clicking Templates and Add-Ins on the Tools menu.
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