Jumping to Styles in the Task Pane

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated December 27, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2002 and 2003


Word 2002 introduced the concept of the "task pane" to Word. This area appears at the right side of your Word program window, and provides an area where you can quickly access task-related information. One use of the task pane is related to formatting. If you choose Styles and Formatting from the Format menu, Word displays a myriad of formatting choices--most of them style-related--in the Styles and Formatting task pane.

To those familiar with older versions of Word, the Styles and Formatting task pane essentially replaces the Style dialog box, which was accessible when you chose Style from the Format menu. There is an interesting difference, however. In the Style dialog box, you could press the first letter of any style's name, and that style would then be selected in the Styles list. Not so in the Styles and Formatting task pane; here you are required to use the mouse to display and select the style you want to use or modify. Unfortunately, there seems to be no way around this change.

There is a different approach you can take, however, if all you want to do is apply a style. The Style drop-down list on the Formatting toolbar still allows you to press the first letter of a style name to jump to a style. All you need to do is click on the Style list's drop-down arrow (to display the style list) and then type a letter.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1349) applies to Microsoft Word 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. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Understanding Document Variables

When working with macros, you may want to create a variable that will remain constant from one instance of the macro to ...

Discover More

Canceling an Edit

When editing a cell, you may want to cancel the edit at some point. There are two ways to do this, both described in this ...

Discover More

Clearing Only Filtering Settings

When you filter data in a worksheet, Excel also allows you to apply sorting orders to that data. Here is a ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Developing Style Families

Styles, as implemented in Word, represent a powerful way to help you easily standardize your formatting tasks. When ...

Discover More

Making Sure Styles Do Not Update Automatically

One of the features of Word that can cause some problems is one that allows styles to be automatically updated based upon ...

Discover More

Applying Styles

Styles are a powerful formatting tool for the text in your documents. Once you've created styles that describe how you ...

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 one less than 9?

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.