Mouseless Formatting in Word

Basic formatting can be done quickly from the keyboard, reducing the amount of time you spend using the mouse. As with any formatting it starts with selecting text, which also can be done from the keyboard. To select text, try the following:

• Use the directional arrows located between the keyboard and numeric keypad to position the insertion point at the beginning of the target text. 

• Hold the Shift key down while you press the right arrow key to select the desired text
• Once the text is selected, you can apply basic formatting with the following keystrokes (press the red keys simultaneously)
  • Ctrl + B ~ bolds the selected text
  • Ctrl + I ~ italicizes the selected text
  • Ctrl + U ~ underlines the selected text
  • Ctrl + = ~ subscripts the selected text(creates smaller letters below the text baseline)
  • Ctrl + Shift + + ~ superscripts the selected text (creates smaller letters above the text baseline)
  • Ctrl + Shift + > ~ increase font size of the selected text
  • Ctrl + Shift + < ~ decrease font size of the selected text

Now that you’ve applied formats to your test, you might want to copy the format to different text rather than having to apply format to that text separately. This is a neat trick for copying just the format of text, not the text, and applying just the format to alternative text.

The savvy Word user is probably familiar with the Format Painter tool but that requires a mouse. The mouseless process is similar to a keyboard copy and paste, but with a different outcome. To copy formats use the following keystrokes ( press the red keys simultaneously):

• Select text that has the format you want to copy to alternative text (use the keyboard to select the text)
• Ctrl + Shift + C ~ copies just the format of the selected text, not the text
• Select the alternative text whose format you want to change
• Ctrl + Shift + V ~ pastes the format over the alternative text

Bravo! You have successfully copied a format onto alternative text!

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