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: Stepping Through Head Formats.

Stepping Through Head Formats

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 1, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003


If you have a document that you want to format, you may not know exactly which type of heading you want to apply to your text. Word provides several different levels of headings, each defined by styles Heading 1 through Heading 9. You can quickly apply heading styles in your document by remembering a couple of helpful keystrokes:

  1. Position the insertion pointer in the paragraph you want to format as a heading.
  2. Press Shift+Alt+Left Arrow. The paragraph is formatted as Heading 1.
  3. Press Shift+Alt+Right Arrow. The paragraph is formatted as Heading 2.
  4. Continue pressing Shift+Alt+Right Arrow. The paragraph formatting steps through the rest of the headings, up through Heading 9.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (988) 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: Stepping Through Head Formats.

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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Counting Records Matching Multiple Criteria

Excel provides worksheet functions that make it easy to count things. What if you want to count records that match more ...

Discover More

Inserting a Special Symbol

The vast majority of what you enter into a document can be accomplished through the use of the regular keyboard. However, ...

Discover More

Adjusting Mouse Click Sensitivity

Mouse not working as you expect? Here are a few things that may get things back to the way they should be.

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)

Reversing Type

Most text appears black on white, not white on black. If you want to change this so that your type is reversed, here's a ...

Discover More

Automatically Formatting an ASCII File

Import a file from a source external to Word, and you can end up with a formatting nightmare. One big step is to remove ...

Discover More

Adding Borders to Paragraphs

Want to draw attention to a particular paragraph? A great way to do it is with a border. Word allows you to easily add ...

Discover More
Subscribe

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.

What is six minus 6?

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.

Videos
Subscribe

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

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.