Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated May 16, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021
The general way you accomplish tasks in Word is to select the text on which you want to perform an action and then perform the action. For instance, if you wanted to make a text selection bold, you would first select the text and then click on the Bold tool on the Home tab of the ribbon, or press Ctrl+B.
If you want to apply formatting to a single word in your document, you don't need to first select it. All you need to do is make sure the insertion point is located within the word. To test this out, follow these steps:
You can try this out with virtually any character formatting. It even works if you make changes in the Font dialog box (press Ctrl+D). Any changes you make in the dialog box are automatically applied to the entire word.
If this whole-word formatting doesn't work for you, it could be because of the way you have Word Options configured. Check this setting:
Figure 1. The Advanced options of the Word Options dialog box.
This setting controls not only how words are selected, but also how they are formatted when using the technique described in this tip. If the check box is selected, then the formatting works as described here; if the check box is not selected, then whole-word formatting won't work.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8794) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Applying Formatting to Words.
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