Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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 Paragraph Formatting with the Mouse.

Copying Paragraph Formatting with the Mouse

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 16, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

Often it is beneficial to copy paragraph formatting from one place in your document to another. Word provides a quick way you can do this by using the mouse:

Select the paragraph whose formatting you want to copy.
On the Home tab of the ribbon click on the Format Painter tool. (It is in the Clipboard group.) (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. The Format Painter tool.

Using the mouse, select the paragraph you want formatted.

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 pressing Esc.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (9693) 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: Copying Paragraph Formatting with the Mouse.

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. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Understanding Footnotes and Endnotes

Footnotes and endnotes are often used in scholarly and formal writing as a way to provide additional information about a ...

Discover More

Different Table Captions on Multiple Pages

If you have a table that spans multiple pages, you may want to add a caption to the table and have that caption use ...

Discover More

Specifying a Paper Tray in a Macro

You may want to use a macro to process and then print your document. Part of that printing may involve specifying which ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Mysterious Blue Line between Paragraphs

Do you ever have mysterious lines show up between paragraphs either on your screen or on your printouts? It could be ...

Discover More

Typing Beyond the Right Margin

In the days of typewriters, you could type beyond the right margin by using the MarRel lever or key. This tip discusses ...

Discover More

Extending a Paragraph into the Left Margin

Word allows you to format a paragraph so that it extends into the left margin of the document. This is done by setting a ...

Discover More

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.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is eight more than 9?

2021-10-18 09:46:45

Andrew

My preferred way to do this is to select the source's paragraph marker at the end of the paragraph, right-click, and click copy from the context menu. Then I select the target's paragraph marker and paste.

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.