How to Create a Style from Scratch in Word 2013

Word 2010 For Dummies

Word 2013 gives you the option of creating a style from scratch if you need something that is not offered in the default styles. If you’re up to it, heed these steps to conjure a style from nothingness:

In the Styles task pane, click the New Style button.

If you don’t see the Styles task pane, press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S.

After clicking the New Style button, you see the Create New Style from Formatting dialog box.

Type a name for the new style.

Choose a name that will be memorable for you.

Ensure that Paragraph is chosen for the style type.

If the format is a character style, choose Character. An example of a character style is blue, bold, Courier, 12-point.

Choose an existing style as a base from the Style Based On drop-down list.

This step can save time. If the style you’re creating features a lot of the same formatting as an existing style, choose that style from the list. The settings from that style are not only copied over, but when you change one format for the original style, those formats also change for the new style.

Use the controls in the dialog box to set the style’s format.

Some controls are presented in the middle of the dialog box. For others, use the Format button to choose something to format, and then to set options, use the dialog box that appears.

Click the OK button when you’re done.

The new style is created.

About This Article

About the book author:

Dan Gookin has been writing about technology for 20 years. He has contributed articles to numerous high-tech magazines and written more than 90 books about personal computing technology, many of them accurate.
He combines his love of writing with his interest in technology to create books that are informative and entertaining, but not boring. Having sold more than 14 million titles translated into more than 30 languages, Dan can attest that his method of crafting computer tomes does seem to work.
Perhaps Dan’s most famous title is the original DOS For Dummies, published in 1991. It became the world’s fastest-selling computer book, at one time moving more copies per week than the New York Times number-one best seller (although, because it’s a reference book, it could not be listed on the NYT best seller list). That book spawned the entire line of For Dummies books, which remains a publishing phenomenon to this day.
Dan’s most recent titles include PCs For Dummies, 9th Edition; Buying a Computer For Dummies, 2005 Edition; Troubleshooting Your PC For Dummies; Dan Gookin’s Naked Windows XP; and Dan Gookin’s Naked Office. He publishes a free weekly computer newsletter, “Weekly Wambooli Salad,” and also maintains the vast and helpful Web site www.wambooli.com.