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

Making All Occurrences Bold

Want to make instances of a given word or phrase bold throughout a worksheet? Here's a way you can make the change quickly.

Discover More

Hiding Rows Based on Two Values

It's easy to use filtering to hide rows based on the value in a cell, but how do you hide rows based on the values in two ...

Discover More

Multiple Taskbar Icons for Documents

If you like to see your open documents in multiple icons on the Taskbar, you may wonder how to make that happen. This is ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Resetting Default Character Formatting

If you need to remove any explicit character formatting from some text, you'll want to commit the shortcut in this tip to ...

Discover More

Embossing Text

Word can make your text look as if it has been embossed on the page.

Discover More

Replacing Quoted Text with Italics

If you have text surrounded by quotes in a document, you may want to remove the quote marks and make the text that was ...

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 4 - 3?

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.