Free demo · Microsoft Word · Lesson 3 · Basics · Fonts, paragraphs & styles

Format text and apply styles

Select, then format: the Home tab holds fonts, bold and colour, and the Styles gallery formats a whole heading with one click.

Summer camp 2026

Classes start on Monday 15 June at 9 am. Please bring a water bottle every day.

What to bring: sun hat, lunch box, notebook

  • Sun hat
  • Lunch box
  • Notebook
  1. 1Select first: click in the title line
  2. 2Home › Styles › Heading 1: one click sets font, size, colour and spacing
  3. 3Select the date › Ctrl + B (bold); Ctrl + I italic, Ctrl + U underline
  4. 4Font Color and underline for the reminder
  5. ✓Home › Bullets for the list
  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. Enrol

Tip: press → or Space to step through, ← to go back, R to replay.

About this lesson

Formatting in Word always follows the same pattern: select the text, then choose a command on the Home tab. Bold, italic and underline (Ctrl + B, I, U), the font box, size, Font Color and Text Highlight Color change the selected characters. Styles such as Heading 1 and Title apply a whole set of formatting with one click and keep a document consistent; they also power the navigation pane and automatic tables of contents. Bullets and numbering live in the Paragraph group. The full course goes on to indents and tabs, borders and shading, the Design tab and custom styles.

Key points

  • Select first, then format
  • Bold, font, colour and highlight
  • Why styles beat manual formatting