Clever Clogs tip # 755
4 June 2025


Reveal Formatting minus the keyboard acrobatics (Microsoft Word) *

Hello and welcome to the tip of the month June.

Each month, I share a tip inspired by the little 'oohs' and 'aahs' that pop up during training sessions... those hidden gems that truly resonate. This month's tip is inspired by Ellie and Debbie who I know put this into practice immediately... Reveal Formatting minus the keyboard acrobatics.

When we looked at how to fix weird formatting in Word documents, I shared one of my all-time favourite keyboard shortcuts: SHIFT + F1. It opens the Reveal Formatting pane on the right side of the screen, showing the exact formatting applied to your text and can be lifesaver when troubleshooting inconsistencies or trying to select all text with matching formatting.

But let's be honest... SHIFT + F1 isn't exactly easy to remember. So why not stick it as a button on your Quick Access Toolbar? That way, it's always visible - one click, no fuss.

Here's how:

  1. Right-click any of your buttons - for instance, your Undo button - and select Customise Quick Access Toolbar.

    2. NOTE: If you cannot see the Quick Access Toolbar, go to File > Options > Quick Access Toolbar and make sure Show Quick Access Toolbar is ticked. And while you're there, why not change the default toolbar position to Below Ribbon, giving you some more space and making it - in my opinion - easier to spot.

  2. In the "Choose commands from" drop-down list, change Popular Commands to All Commands.
  3. Click anywhere in the list of options and type (part of) Reveal Formatting and click Add. (You can obviously scroll down the list of All Commands, but getting to the letter "r" can take a while.)
  4. If - like me - you want it as your very first button click your newly added Reveal Formatting button and click Move Up until it's at the top.
  5. Click OK.

That's it. Now it's on your Quick Access Toolbar and always visible - one click, no fuss!

By the way, the keyboard shortcut SHIFT + F1 also works in Outlook - and I use it when I've been copying and pasting text and wonder what's going on - but I cannot find the button in the list of All Commands. How weird!

Hope that's useful. And remember... if you want to see these tips in action I'd love to help! From bite-size webinars to onsite training to conference talks. Just drop me a line!

Related tips

  1. Reveal, select and modify all text with similar formatting (Word and Outlook): tip_498.php
  2. Top ten Microsoft Word shortcuts: tip_536.php
  3. Enable the F1 -F12 keys on a laptop: tip_710.php
  4. Quickly show (or hide) paragraph marks and other hidden formatting symbols -tip_394.php

LinkedIn

I've decided to take a step back from posting on LinkedIn, but my legacy is still there... plenty of useful tips just waiting to be (re)discovered.

And don't worry... the monthly tips aren't going anywhere! I'll continue sending them by email and publishing them on my website - at least until the "oohs" and "aahs" stop rolling in when I hit Send. With thanks to everyone who's reached out or reacted... it genuinely means a lot to know these tips are landing where they're needed.

K.

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Copyright © 2025 Roem Ltd


* Unless stated otherwise this tip is written for Microsoft 365 desktop apps and Windows 11 users, but might also be useful in Office 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019.