View or Modify Formatting with the Task Pane

You can use the new Reveal Formatting task pane in Word 2002 to view a detailed description of any text in your document. You can also use it to modify or clear the formatting; compare the formatting of different selections, or to find blocks of text with similar formatting. Here's how to use it:

1. Select the text you want to examine or reformat.

2. From the Format menu, select Reveal Formatting.

3. Do any of the following:

§ To change any formatting properties, click one of the underlined commands from within the task pane, and then change any options you want in the dialog box that appears.

§ To determine the formatting source, such as whether the formatting comes from a style, select the Distinguish style source check box.

§ To show formatting marks, such as paragraph marks and tabs, select the Show all formatting marks check box.

§ To format a text selection like the text that surrounds it, select the text. In the Selected text box, click the arrow, and then click Apply Formatting of Surrounding Text.

§ To view a feature-by-feature comparison of your text selection with another block of text, select the Compare to another section check box and then select another block of text.

Editor's Note: You can also open the Reveal Formatting task pane by choosing What's This? on the Help menu or selecting text within your document and pressing SHIFT+F1.