Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 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: Default Click and Type Paragraph Style.

Default Click and Type Paragraph Style

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 16, 2019)
This tip applies to Word 2000, 2002, and 2003

Normally, when you enter a paragraph by using the Click and Type method (available in versions of Word beginning with Word 2000), the paragraph is essentially formatted using the Normal style. Granted, there are some changes to the basic formatting of the style (such as right alignment, center alignment, or indentation), but it is nonetheless the Normal style.

You can control what style Word uses as the base style for any paragraph you enter using Click and Type. To do this, follow these steps if you are using Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003:

Choose Options from the Tools menu. Word displays the Options dialog box.
Make sure the Edit tab is selected. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Edit tab of the Options dialog box.

Using the Default Paragraph Style drop-down list at the bottom of the dialog box, select a style to use for your Click and Type paragraphs.
Click on OK.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1802) applies to Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Default Click and Type Paragraph Style.

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...

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