Quickly Decreasing Point Size

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 4, 2023)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Word for Windows provides a way to quickly decrease the point size of a selection. To do this, follow these steps:

Select the text whose point size you want to decrease.
Press Ctrl+[.

Every time you press Ctrl+[, the point size of the selection will decrease by one point. If you want more precise control over the point size (for instance, making something 11.5 points), you must use the Font dialog box by choosing Font from the Format menu.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1194) 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

Letters Bunched Up at the Left of the Page

If your documents don't behave as you expect, it may take a bit of sleuthing to figure out what is going on. This tip ...

Discover More

Printing Formatted Comments

When you print your worksheet, you may want Excel to include your comments or notes as they appear on the screen. Here's ...

Discover More

Maintaining Word Formatting on Differing Systems

When you open a document on a system other than your own, it is very possible that the document will look different than ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (menu)

Making Text Bold

Want a cool shortcut to make your text bold? Here's a method that fits in wonderfully with how things are done in the ...

Discover More

Missing Fonts in a Letterhead

When you create a document (such as a letterhead) that you want multiple people to use, you need to be concerned with ...

Discover More

Using Non-Printing Notes

Adding notes to your document in Word is a handy tool. But what if you don't want those notes to be seen on the screen or ...

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 - 1?

2023-02-04 07:17:14

Jules

thank you!

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.