Paragraph Formatting

Once you have set a format for a particular paragraph, you can give it a style name by dragging over the existing style name (in the style box icon “20” as shown in the customized toolbar) and then typing over it with a name you choose. Accessing any of the shown style names while you have the cursor in any paragraph or while any number of paragraphs are selected will change the format of that or those paragraphs to the format of the style you choose.
Or from the menu access Format > Styles and Formatting.

If you do not want to create a style but rather only copy the formatting of a particular selected paragraph (include the backwards P at the end of the paragraph in your selection – without the backward P selected you will only copy the formatting of the text, not the paragraph), you can press CTRL SHIFT C to copy the format and then paste the copied format by pressing CTRL SHIFT V to apply to a subsequent paragraph where you reposition the cursor (or subsequent selected paragraphs – again, whether or not the backward P is selected can make a difference).

Note that CTRL C copies something while CTRL SHIFT C copies the formatting of that something (CTRL X simultaneously erases while copying it – hence moving it). CTRL V pastes that something to where you subsequently place the cursor, while CTRL SHIFT V pastes the formatting.

And note that whether you ctrl+c copy something or ctrl+shift+c copy the formatting of something to the clipboard, either will remain there until the next time you either copy or copy formatting (they are separate). So you can keep pressing ctrl+v or ctrl+shift+v many times without having to recopy each time.

And don’t forget the useful CTRL ALT V (custom set), which pops up the Paste Special window. For example, you want to copy some text and paste it into a new section which has different formatting (such as a larger, different font, with a hanging indent). One option is to paste in the copied text using the standard ctrl+v shortcut, then ctrl+shift+c copy the formatting of an adjacent paragraph, select the pasted text, then ctrl+shift+v to paste the formatting. Or you could simply put the cursor at the end of the paragraph you want your text to follow, press Enter to start a new paragraph (it retains the formatting of the previous paragraph), and ctrl+alt+v paste special, selecting Unformatted Text from the popout window.

And don’t forget that ctrl+shift+n will return a paragraph’s formatting to the default (Normal).
You can change the Normal (or any other) style in a document, or set it globally for all future files you ctrl+n create by opening the Normal.dot template and make changes there (such as the margins of the page, Times Roman font size 14 for easy reading).

Next – Tables