Headings

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Headings

Firstly, what are 'Headings'? Similar to what you have been seeing through our guides, and like the word 'Headings' above in the navy bar, they are larger versions of text that are used to distinguish the difference between a standard paragraph of text and the title / heading of that paragraph.

For example, look at the word 'Scenario' (below this and the next paragraph), by seeing that heading, it shows that this current section/paragraph has come to an end, and there is a new topic starting below the heading 'Scenario'.

So why would we need to use these? The main purpose of a Heading in Word is to make it easier for us to create our Table of Contents, as Word looks for text with the 'Heading' style applied to it, and then creates a list of all these headings with page numbers automatically, this is explained in the guide (which is about Table of Contents).

Scenario:
Imagine you have found a paper that you want to read as part of your studies, but when you open it, there is no table of contents, and no headings, it's just pages and pages of text, chances are, it's going to be difficult to find what you need, in Word, the Headings style are used not only to change the style of your text, but to separate your paragraphs and allow word to identify what to put in your Table of Contents.

Note: If you followed the steps in the previous guide (modifying styles), you do not need to follow the steps below as the steps are the same, just excluding the modify instructions.

How to apply a heading:

First, if you don’t have a heading already, type in your heading (for example ‘Introduction’) and then highlight it, or, if you already have a heading already, highlight that heading, then head to the list of styles on the 'Home' tab and select 'Heading 1'.(If you would like to create a sub-heading, you can select 'Heading 2')

Hint: If you don't see the styles list, it may be under a sub-menu called 'Styles', click this first. (A screenshot can be found under the screenshot below)

A screenshot of the home tab in Word, displaying the location of the styles group.

If you can't see the Styles options, you can find them under the sub-menu 'Styles' as shown below.

A screenshot of the home tab in Word, displaying the location of the ‘styles’ sub-menu, which is expanded to display the list of styles.

How to apply a heading:

First, if you don’t have a heading already, type in your heading (for example ‘Introduction’) and then highlight it, or, if you already have a heading already, highlight that heading, then head to the list of styles on the 'Home' tab and select 'Heading 1'. (If you would like to create a sub-heading, you can select 'Heading 2')

Hint: If you don't see the styles list, it may be under a sub-menu called 'Styles'; click this first. (A screenshot can be found under the screenshot below)

If you can't see the Styles options, you can find them under the sub-menu 'Styles' as shown below.

A screenshot of the home tab in Word, displaying the location of the ‘styles’ sub-menu, which is expanded to display the list of styles.

How to apply a style:

First, if you don’t have a heading already, type in your heading (for example ‘Introduction’) and then highlight it, or, if you already have a heading already, highlight that heading, then click the dropdown next to the word 'Normal’ and then choose 'Heading 1' from the list. (If you would like to create a sub-heading, you can select 'Heading 2')