You can apply direct formatting without changing the underlying style. As you work, you will often apply additional direct formats.įor instance, you might bold or italicize a word or phrase. To quickly change formatting, you can apply a different style, create a new style, or modify the current style (which I don't recommend).įigure A A style is a collection of formats you apply as a group. Even if you don't manually apply a style, you're (always) using one-Normal is Word's default style. Terminology The safest formatting route is a style, a collection of formats saved as a single unit.You can use any Word file or you can download the badly formatted. Reveal Formatting I'm using Word 2016 on a Windows 10 64-bit system, but these features are available in older versions.In this article, we'll review the following tools: Whether you're sharing a document with users who don't stick to styles or you've inherited a document, you might need to fix things before inconsistencies get out of hand.įortunately, Word provides a few easy-to-use tools that can help. Image: /Anchiy Inconsistent formatting can flip a seemingly stable document into chaos.