Applying a style is easy. Just select your text and select the style you want to apply from the drop-down menu on the formatting toolbar. (If you select only part of a paragraph, Word will usually apply the style to the whole paragraph.)

By default, Word comes with four styles: Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, and Normal. There is also a Clear Formatting option, which will restore selected text to the Normal style.

Word also adds styles to the list based on what you type. For example, you can see a listing for Centred in the style list in the sample above. That’s because the text we typed in the document has been centred.

Even if you have formatted your text using styles, you can modify your text the same way you normally would. For example, if you have chosen a style that bolds your text, you can click the Bold icon on the formatting toolbar to un-bold the text.

You can also use styles the same way you use other formatting: turn the style on, type your text, and then turn the style off. The style you are currently using will be displayed in the style menu. Here’s an example:

And remember, you can only use one paragraph style at a time. For example, your text cannot be both Heading 1 and Heading 3, unless you create a style to combine those elements. (We’ll get to creating styles in a moment.)