Changing Font Size Using a Shortcut Key

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 25, 2025)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

One of the interesting shortcut keys in Word is the one that allows you to change the point size of a text selection. The shortcut key is Ctrl+Shift+P, but exactly how the shortcut functions depends on what you have displayed on the screen.

This may sound odd, but you can try it out. If you have the Formatting toolbar displayed (as most people do), then pressing Ctrl+Shift+P selects the Font Size control on the toolbar. You can then type the font size you want to use and press Enter. (Pretty handy if you don't want to take your hands off the keyboard.)

If you don't have the Formatting toolbar displayed for some reason, then it seems obvious that the Font Size control can't be selected—it isn't even visible. Instead, pressing Ctrl+Shift+P results in the Font dialog box being displayed, and the Size control being selected. Again, you can type the desired font size and simply press Enter.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1451) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Determining How Many Windows are Open

You can open multiple documents at the same time in Word, and each document occupies its own document window. Here's a ...

Discover More

Understanding Monospace Fonts

Information in a worksheet needs to be displayed using fonts. If you understand the two different types of fonts ...

Discover More

Making Highlighting Disappear when Typing

Select a highlighted word or phrase and start typing, and Word may maintain the highlighting on what you enter. If this ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Understanding Monospace Fonts

Monospace fonts allow you to easily achieve a specific "look" with your text or to line up information in a certain way. ...

Discover More

Using Non-Printing Notes

Adding notes to your document in Word is a handy tool. But what if you don't want those notes to be seen on the screen or ...

Discover More

Understanding Underlines

Part of the formatting you can add to your text is underlining. That simple word (underlining) represents quite a few ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is one less than 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.