Heading design in word

Headings make text stand out and help people scan your document.

The simplest way to add headings is with heading styles. Using heading styles means you can also quickly build a table of contents, reorganize your document, and reformat its design without having to manually change each heading’s text.

1. Select the text you want to use as a heading.

2. On the Home tab, move the pointer over different headings in the Styles gallery. Notice as you pause over each style, your text will change so you can see how it will look in your document. Click the heading style you want to use.

   

   If you don’t see the style that you want, click the More button to expand the gallery.

Tip: You can change the font and formatting of a heading style. Just select the heading text you want to customize, modify its styles the way you want, and then on the Home tab, in the Styles group, right-click the heading style that you customized and click Update Heading to Match Selection. Every time you apply that heading style in your document, the heading style will include your customizations.

Styles can do a lot more, including a table of contents. Here’s a short video on why to write first and format later using Styles.

Headings can make text stand out and help people scan your document. The simplest way to add headings is to use heading styles.

1. Select the text you want to use as a heading.

2. On the Home tab, click the heading style you want to use.

   

   If you don’t see the style you want, click a left, right, or down arrow to see more available styles.

Apply and Customize Headings in Word Documents

by Avantix Learning Team | Updated April 19, 2022

Applies to: Microsoft^® Word^® 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021 or 365 (Windows)

You can create headings in Microsoft Word documents by applying Word’s built-in heading styles (such as Heading 1 or Heading 2). After you have applied styles, you can modify them and change the font, size, color, and other formatting attributes so the entire document will update. Once you have applied heading styles, you’ll be able to navigate to the headings using the Navigation Pane and create a table of contents.

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Heading styles are very important because they create structure in your documents and are readable by screen readers or assistive technology programs used by people with vision impairments. They can also save you a lot of time formatting and reformatting documents.

In addition to creating structure, heading styles are also used to:

• Generate a table of contents
• Reformat a document using Style Sets
• Navigate using the Navigation Pane (select Navigation Pane on the View tab in the Ribbon)
• Rearrange a document using the Outline View
• Create a structured PDF (portable document format) file with heading tags

Note: Screenshots in this article are from Word 365 but are very similar in previous versions of Word.

Creating headings by applying Word heading styles

To create or designate headings, you will need to apply the built-in heading styles in order (Heading 1, Heading 2, Heading 3, and so) to paragraphs. There are 9 levels of headings available in Word.

Heading styles are technically available as paragraph and character styles, but it’s important to apply them as paragraph styles to entire paragraphs. A paragraph in Word is anything with a hard return after it (you have pressed Return or Enter).

Heading styles are affected by your theme choices (overall theme, color theme, and font theme). You can change theme options using the Design tab in the Ribbon.

To create headings by applying heading styles:

1. Click in the paragraph (title or subheading) you want to designate or format as a heading.
2. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon.
3. Click the heading style you want in the Styles Gallery (such as Heading 1) in the Style group. You may need to click the More arrow on the bottom right of the Styles Gallery to view more styles and then click the style you want to use.

All available heading styles do not appear initially in the Styles Gallery. When you apply a heading level (such as Heading 3), an additional heading level should appear in the Gallery (such as Heading 4).

The Styles Gallery appears on the Home tab in the Ribbon and typically displays top level headings:

If you click the More arrow on the bottom right of the Styles Gallery, an expanded gallery appears:

Modifying or customizing heading styles using the Styles task pane

If you modify heading styles, every instance of the modified style will change in your document. Not only will this save time, but it will also ensure consistency. There are many ways to customize heading styles in Word. In this article, we will modify heading styles using the Styles task pane.

The Styles task pane appears with styles in the document (you can change this display by clicking Options at the bottom of the task pane):

To modify or customize a heading style:

1. Click the Home tab in the Ribbon.
2. Click the dialog box launcher (diagonal arrow) on the bottom right in the Styles group. You can also press Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S. The Styles task pane will appear. If the task pane is floating, double-click the title bar.
3. Click in a paragraph using the style you want to modify.
4. Click the arrow to the right of the heading you want to modify in the Styles task pane and then select Modify from the drop-down menu. You can also right-click the heading style in the task pane and select Modify. A dialog box appears.
5. In the Modify Style dialog box, select the desired options such as font, font size, font color, alignment, and line spacing. Buttons in this dialog box are comparable to those in the Ribbon.
6. If you want to change some other formatting options (such as paragraph formats), select Format at the bottom of the dialog box and select other options from the drop-down menu.
7. Select Only in this document so that the style is modified in the current document only.
8. Do not select Automatically Update unless you want the document styles to update when a user changes heading formatting in the document. It’s typically best to leave this option unchecked.
9. Click OK or press Enter. The entire document will change unless a heading has been manually formatted (which overrides the style). You can simply reapply the style if this occurs.

The Modify Styles dialog box displays the style name, the type of style and options for modifying the style:

When you save the document, the modified styles are also saved.

Styles are the most important formatting feature in Word to automate formatting in longer documents. Heading styles also have the added benefit of creating structured documents and are integrated with several other Word features such as generated tables of contents.

This article was first published on May 15, 2021 and has been updated for clarity and content.

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Style is essential to making a strong first impression. Admittedly, this usually applies to fashion rather than formatting. But in the academic realm, you’ll win more points for applying clear and consistent heading styles in a document than for wearing a fancy outfit.

And since a well-formatted document is vital for clarity as well as grabbing the reader’s attention, today we’re taking a look at how to apply heading styles in Microsoft Word.

Using Headings

The ‘Headings’ styles in Microsoft Word are formatting options for making headings and subheadings stand out from the other text in your essay. This will help your reader, particularly in longer essays, by clearly indicating where different sections begin and end.

Microsoft Word actually comes with a number of default heading styles (named ‘Heading 1’ through to ‘Heading 9’). You can use these as you find them, but you may also need to change them to fit with any specific requirements for headings set out in your style guide.

But how should you use these headings? Like so:

1. Go to the ‘Styles’ section of the ‘Home’ tab on the main ribbon
2. Select the text you’re using as a heading and click on the appropriate ‘Heading’ style (e.g. ‘Heading 1’, ‘Heading 2’, etc.)
3. If the required style is not visible in the ‘Styles’ tab, click the little arrow in the bottom right to open a side menu with further options
4. If the required ‘Style’ still isn’t visible, click ‘Options…’ in the side menu and make sure ‘All styles’ is selected under ‘Select Styles to Show’, then click OK
5. Once the correct heading styles show in the menu, select the text you want to format and apply each heading and subheading accordinglyBe sure to use different styles to distinguish between different ‘levels’ of heading, since the formatting style of chapter titles should be distinct from those used for section or subsection headings: e.g. use ‘Heading 1’ for the main headings, then ‘Heading 2’ for the next level down, and ‘Heading 3’ for subsections, etc., being careful to apply each style consistently.

Numbered Headings

If you want to use numbered headings, Microsoft Word’s multilevel list options are very useful. This will apply numbering to titles and subtitles whenever a ‘Heading’ style is used, thereby ensuring clear and consistent numbering for all headings in your document.
To do this, you’ll need to:

1. Apply different heading styles to your document for each level of heading
2. Click on the ‘Multilevel List’ button in the ‘Paragraph’ section of the ‘Home’ tab
3. Select one of the list styles that refers to headings

This will apply a different numbering level to each heading style, while you can also modify and create multilevel list styles via the ‘Multilevel List’ menu.

This numbering will also update automatically if you add or remove headings, saving you the effort of re-numbering headings manually.

To add a heading style to text in Word, select the text, choose the Home tab in the ribbon, and in the Styles box, pick the heading style you want. When you save your document in another format for download, such as HTML or PDF, Word retains the headings styles, so everyone can still get the benefits of your headings.

How do you apply heading style to all headings?

Open the Styles Pane. Windows Key commands: Alt+H,F,Y,F6. Then right click on the desired Heading style you wish that text to resemble and select “Update Heading to Match Selection.” This will modify all the headings for this document.

How do I customize heading styles in Word?

Modify an existing style

1. Select text in your document that has the style applied, such as Heading 1.
2. Format the selected text with the new attributes that you want.
3. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, right-click the style that you want to change, and then click Update [Style Name] to Match Selection.

How do you automatically update headings in Word?

Using the Styles and Formatting task pane click Heading 1 and select “Modify” from the drop-down list. Make sure the Automatically update checkbox is ticked and save the changes. Highlight the first heading and apply some manual underline formatting.

How do you style a heading?

Add a heading

1. Select the text you want to use as a heading.
2. On the Home tab, move the pointer over different headings in the Styles gallery. Notice as you pause over each style, your text will change so you can see how it will look in your document. Click the heading style you want to use.

How can you apply a style to the selected text?

To apply a style:

1. Select the text you want to format, or place your cursor at the beginning of the line.
2. In the Styles group on the Home tab, click the More drop-down arrow.
3. Select the desired style from the drop-down menu.
4. The text will appear in the selected style.

How do I link headings to Table of Contents in Word?

Add the link

1. Select the text or object you want to use as a hyperlink.
2. Right-click and then click Hyperlink .
3. Under Link to, click Place in This Document.
4. In the list, select the heading or bookmark that you want to link to.

How do you apply the main topic character style?

To apply a style:

1. Select the text you want to format, or place your cursor at the beginning of the line.
2. In the Styles group on the Home tab, click the More drop-down arrow.
3. Select the desired style from the drop-down menu.
4. The text will appear in the selected style.

How do I create a multi level table of contents in Word?

3 Answers

1. Click on your top level number/symbol.
2. “Define new multi-level list”
3. Click “More >>”
4. Click on your top level line and click “link level to style”
5. Select “heading 1” or your own custom style, I don’t care.
6. OK.
7. References > Table of contents > Insert table of contents.
8. Show levels: 1.

How do you set a heading level?

Highlight a header in the text, then open the Paragraph dialog box (right click the paragraph and choose Paragraph from menu). In the Indents and Spacing tab, change Outline level to proper number.

How do you apply styles in a document?

Styles give your document a consistent, professional look.

1. Select the text you want to format. Tip: If you place your cursor in a paragraph, the style is applied to the whole paragraph.
2. On the Home tab, point to a style to preview it. If you don’t see a style you want, click the More button.
3. Select a style.

Where is the Styles group in Word?

the Home tab
The Styles group is located on the Home tab and contains a set of Quick Styles. To Modify a Style: To quickly change all the text that is formatted with a particular style, you can redefine the style.

How do I select a design in Word?

Select the words, paragraph, list or table to edit. On the Home tab, select a style.
Themes add a professional look to your document.

1. Select Design > Themes.
2. Point to a theme to preview how it will look.
3. Select the theme you want.

How do you add a heading to a Table of Contents?

For each heading that you want in the table of contents, select the heading text. Go to Home > Styles, and then choose Heading 1. Update your table of contents.

How do I select headings in a Table of Contents?

Go to References > Table of Contents. Select Custom table of contents. Use the settings to show, hide, and align page numbers, add or change the tab leader, set formats, and specify how many levels of headings to show.

How do I create a clickable link in a Word document?

Select the text or picture that you want to display as a hyperlink. Press Ctrl+K. You can also right-click the text or picture and click Link on the shortcut menu. In the Insert Hyperlink box, type or paste your link in the Address box.

How do you apply intense emphasis style in Word?

Click the Home tab. Click the formatting (Font, Font Style, Size, Bold, Italic, Underline (select a style and color), Strike-through, Superscript, Subscript, or Font Color (select a color or a Gradient) you want.

How would you apply a style available in Styles and Formatting window onto a document object?

To open the Styles and Formatting window, do any one of the following:

1. Click on the icon located at the left-hand end of the object bar.
2. Choose Format > Styles and Formatting.
3. Press F11.

How do I show Heading 4 in a table of contents?

To include Heading 4’s, there are a couple more steps.

1. Click the References tab and select Table of Contents, except this time, you will select the Custom Table of Contents to change options.
2. Under the General section, click the up arrow next to Show levels: to add Heading 4 to the Table of contents.

How do I create a level 3 heading in Word?

To begin, click anywhere inside the list area, and then do the following:

1. Click Multilevel List in the Paragraph group, and then choose Define New Multilevel List.
2. Select 1 in the Click level to modify list to choose the first level.
3. From the Number style for this level dropdown, choose I, II, III, (Figure E).

How do you insert a 3 heading?

When you have the selection where you want to insert a Heading 3 style paragraph, press CTRL+SHIFT+s to display the Apply Styles dialog and in the Style Name control type Heading 3 and then click on Apply.