Paragraph styles

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Paragraph styles

You can save a frequently used paragraph format (indents, tabs, alignment, etc.) in a paragraph style and then apply it repeatedly to any paragraph you like.

If, for example, you want the headings in your document to be in large bold type and centered, simply create a paragraph style called "Heading" and apply it to the desired paragraphs.

Note: The difference between character styles (see Character styles) and paragraph styles is that character styles contain only saved character formatting (font, text styles, etc.), while paragraph styles contain both character formatting and paragraph formatting.

Furthermore, character styles are also applicable to individual characters, while paragraph styles are applicable only to whole paragraphs.

The following pages contain detailed information on working with paragraph styles. The following topics are covered:

Creating paragraph styles

Applying paragraph styles

Changing paragraph styles

Scope of paragraph styles

"Normal" paragraph style

"Based on" paragraph styles

Paragraph styles and the sidebar

Note: On the following pages, the procedure is mainly described by means of a dialog box, which you can reach by right-clicking with the mouse button and selecting Paragraph style in the context menu. These tasks can also be conveniently performed with the direct commands in the sidebar, which are described in the last section Paragraph styles and the sidebar.

If the sidebar is not visible, enable it on the ribbon tab View | group Windows | Sidebars.