Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007 and 2010. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Copying Character Formatting.

Copying Character Formatting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 27, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007 and 2010


5

Often it is beneficial to copy character formatting from one place in your document to another. Word provides shortcuts for doing this:

  1. Select the characters whose formatting you want to copy.
  2. In the Home tab of the ribbon look in the Clipboard group. Click on the Format Painter control to copy the format.
  3. Click and drag the mouse pointer over the text to which you want the formatting applied.

You can also copy the same format repeatedly by double clicking the Format Painter tool in step 2. You will then be able to apply the same formatting until you turn off format painting by clicking on the tool one more time or by hitting the Esc key.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8617) applies to Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Copying Character Formatting.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Controlling URL Formatting

When you type a URL into a document, Word helpfully converts it to a live hyperlink. If you don't want Word to be quite ...

Discover More

Finding All Instances of a Value

Searching for information in an Excel worksheet generally goes very smoothly. There can be times, however, when the ...

Discover More

Adding an Ellipsis to the Beginning of Some Paragraphs

The Find and Replace feature of Word is very powerful. You can even use it to add a unique character to the beginning of ...

Discover More

Comprehensive VBA Guide Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is the language used for writing macros in all Office programs. This complete guide shows both professionals and novices how to master VBA in order to customize the entire Office suite for their needs. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2010 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing Text Case

Word provides a built-in shortcut to change the case of a text selection. Understanding how that shortcut works (and the ...

Discover More

Quickly Displaying the Font Dialog Box

Want to quickly format some text in your document? Select, right-click, and make a selection, and you can get to the ...

Discover More

Shortening Word's Font List

When you format the text in a document, you can use any of the fonts that Word makes available to you. If that font list ...

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is 6 - 0?

2016-12-31 12:23:07

Steve Baker

What is the shortcut key for this functionality for Word for Mac 2011?


2016-08-23 09:39:33

Eileen Lis

Edward and I are on the same page!

Sorry, didn't see his response before responding myself.


2016-08-23 09:38:21

Eileen Lis

I also have used shortcut keys to accomplish this.

Select the text, Ctrl+Shift+C, and then to paste it,select the text Ctrl_Shift_V.


2016-08-23 06:51:08

Edward Hamer

Hi there,
For this you can still use the Shift + Ctrl + C and Shift + Ctrl + V keyboard shortcuts. So, to do this:

- Select the text with the format you wish to copy.
- Press Shift + Ctrl + C
- Select the text you wish to apply the format to
- Press Shift + Ctrl + V


2015-01-31 09:20:54

TB

I have been trying to find a way to copy the same format repeatedly. When I double click it in Word 2007, it just cancels out the copy formatting rather than allowing it to copy repeatedly.

Thoughts about why?

Thanks for the great tips!


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.