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

Scrolling Text Sideways

Most people use the mouse wheel to scroll their document up and down. What if it starts scrolling left and right, ...

Discover More

Understanding Mirror Margins

Rather than have the margins of your documents always be the same, you can use what Word calls "mirror margins." Here's ...

Discover More

Identifying Digit-Only Part Numbers Excluding Special Characters

When working with data in Excel, you often need to determine if that data meets criteria that you specify. This tip ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Printing a Style Sheet

Styles are a fantastic way to format your documents easily and consistently. At some point you may want to print out a ...

Discover More

Getting the Expected Space Before a Heading

If your heading styles are designed to add extra space before the heading, you may be surprised when that extra space is ...

Discover More

Renaming a Style

Styles are invaluable when it comes to applying consistent formatting in and across documents. If you need to rename a ...

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 three more than 1?

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.