Using Styles in Microsoft Word

Using styles can create great-looking documents quickly and easily.

The Styles formatting option in Word lets you create a consistent look for your document, and can let you create a Table of Contents in 1 easy step.

To apply a style to a section of your document, highlight the selection and then go to Format - Styles and Formatting. In Word 2003, this will open up a panel on the right-hand side of your screen with the styles listed. In earlier versions of Word, it will appear as a dialog box. Select the style you wish to use (eg Normal, Heading 1) and the selected text will change to use the new formatting defined by that style.

If you wish to modify the styles, right-click on the style and select 'Modify'. This will let you choose a new font, colour, size etc for that style. Everywhere you have used that style in the document wil automatically change to use the new style. You can even create your own style by pressing the 'New Style' button.

To create a Table of Contents once you have used styles to format your document, go to where you want the TOC to be placed. Select Insert - Reference - Index and Tables from the menu. Go to the Table of Contents tab. By default it will use the Heading 1, Heading 2 and Heading 3 styles to create the table of contents - you can change what styles are used by going to the "options" button.

Your reference table can be easily updated by clicking anywhere in the Table of Contents, and pressing the F9 key to update it.