Word has a neat trick that allows you to copy formats between documents. First, select the text that has the formatting that you want.

Next, click the Format Painter icon () on the standard toolbar, or use the Ctrl + Shift + C shortcut. (Your cursor will turn into a paintbrush.)

Then, click the text you want to format.

The text in both documents is now the same:

The great thing about the format painter is that like regular copying and pasting, you can copy formats to other documents. Once the format is pasted onto text, a style containing those options will be created. Here’s an example:

Now, we can format text in this second document using the styles pane.

Remember that formats are not stored on the clipboard, and you can only copy formatting for one set of text at a time.

The format painter captures all kinds of formats, including:

-          Paragraph formatting (spacing, alignment, indents)

-          Font formatting (effects, spacing, font type, size, colour, animation, and highlighting)

-          Borders, fills, shading, and patterns

-          Bullets and numbering

-          Columns