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: Changing Styles.

Changing Styles

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 31, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Once you have defined a style in Word, you can change it at any time. To do this, follow these steps if you are using Word 2002 or Word 2003:

Choose Styles and Formatting from the Format menu. Word displays the Styles and Formatting pane.
In the Pick Formatting to Apply List, locate the style you want to change and simply point to it. (Don't click on it.) Word displays a down-arrow at the right side of the style name.
Click on the down-arrow. Word displays a drop-down menu.
Click on Modify. Word displays the Modify Style dialog box. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Modify Style dialog box.

Change the attributes of the style, as desired. You may need to use the Format button to make your changes.
When completed, click on OK.
To change other styles, repeat steps 2 through 6.
When you are done changing styles, close the Styles and Formatting pane.

If you are using Word 97 or Word 2000, the process is a bit different. Follow these steps to change a style:

Select Style from the Format menu. Word displays the Style dialog box.
In the Styles list, select the style you want to change.
Click on Modify. Word displays Modify Style dialog box opens.
Change the attributes of the style, as desired. You may need to use the Format button to make your changes.
When completed, click on OK. The Cancel button changes to Close.
To change other styles, repeat steps 2 through 5.
When you are done changing styles, click on Close.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (371) 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: Changing Styles.

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

Backing Up Quick Access Toolbars

The Quick Access Toolbar is a place where you can easily put your customizations. If you want to back up that toolbar ...

Discover More

Animated Recalculation in Excel

Excel includes some animation capability that is enabled by default. If the animation is bothersome to you, then you'll ...

Discover More

Searching for Adjectives and Adverbs

Searching for different types of words in your documents is a nice thing to contemplate, but it is much harder to do in ...

Discover More

Do More in Less Time! An easy-to-understand guide to the more advanced features available in the Microsoft 365 version of Word. Enhance the quality of your documents and boost productivity in any field with this in-depth resource. Complete your Word-related tasks more efficiently as you unlock lesser-known tools and learn to quickly access the features you need. Check out Microsoft 365 Word For Professionals For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Assigning a Shortcut Key to Styles

Shortcut keys are a great way to apply styles to text in a document. You can easily create a shortcut key assignment for ...

Discover More

Deleting Styles

As documents evolve, so do your needs for various styles. You may create new ones and, invariably, old ones need to be ...

Discover More

Listing All Styles in the Style Drop-Down List

Want to see all the built-in styles in the Style drop-down list? Here's the quick way to do it.

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 four more than 4?

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.