Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Resetting Default Character Formatting.

Resetting Default Character Formatting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 23, 2020)

Word provides an easy way to remove any explicit character formatting that was done to a group of characters. This is all you have to do:

Select the text from which you want the formatting removed.
Press Ctrl+Space Bar.

The character formatting for the selected characters will be set back to its default condition. This means the characters will take on the default attributes associated with the paragraph's style.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (180) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Resetting Default Character Formatting.

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...

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