List styles are marked with a list icon ( ) in the user interface. A list style contains settings that specify the formatting of the paragraphs in lists, such as alignment, indentation, numbering scheme or type of bullets, and the default character formatting.Table styles are marked with a table icon ( ) in the user interface. A table style contains settings that specify the formatting of elements in tables, such as borders, row and column coloring, alignment, and text formatting.Character styles are marked with the letter a in the user interface. A character style contains settings that specify the formatting of characters, such as the font name, font size, underlining, bold formatting, italic formatting, text color, borders, and shading.Paragraph styles are marked with a paragraph symbol ( ¶) in the user interface. A paragraph style contains settings that specify the formatting of paragraphs, such as text alignment, tab stops, indentation, line spacing, borders, and the default character formatting for text in a paragraph.There are several types of styles that you can apply to different elements in a document: In addition, when you modify a style, Word automatically updates all instances of the style in the document. Although you can apply formatting directly to elements of your document, by using styles you can apply the same formatting to similar elements in different locations in your document without the need to specify the settings again at each location. For example, styles let you easily apply the same formatting to all headings of a certain level, set the spacing between paragraphs in the body of your document, and add a specific color or other formatting to words or phrases that you want to stand out.

A style is a set of formatting characteristics that you can apply in a single step to an element of a document or to the entire document.

Styles dialog box launcher