Double Strikethrough, Small Caps, and Change the Underline Color

When you click the dialog box launcher in the Font group on the Home tab, the Font dialog box opens. You can perform many of the Font options located on the Ribbon by using the Font dialog box. You can change the font, font size, font case, and font color and apply superscript, subscript, strikethrough, bold, italic, and underline.

To set the font, font style, or font size, click to select the option you want. To select a font color, underline style, or underline color, click the down-arrow next to the appropriate field and then select the option you want. For any of the Effects options, check the check box to select the effect or uncheck the check box to remove the effect. You can select as many options as you like. When you finish making your Font Dialog box selections, click OK.

The Font dialog box provides some options that are not on the Ribbon but may be of interest to you, such as double strikethrough, small caps, and changing the underline color.

Double Strikethrough

By using the Strikethrough button, you can single strikethrough text. The Font dialog box gives you an additional option of double strikethrough.

EXAMPLE: Double Strikethrough

Double strikethrough

Small Caps

You can change the case of text to uppercase by selecting the Uppercase option after clicking the Change Case button. The Font dialog box offers a variation of this: small caps. When you select small caps, Word converts all lowercase characters to uppercase in a smaller point size.

EXAMPLE: Small Caps

Before: Small Caps

After: Small Caps

Underline Color

When you underline, the underline color is the same color as your text by default. You can change your underline color.

EXAMPLE: Underline Color

Underline Color

Hidden Text

Hidden text is text that you can choose whether or not it displays or prints. If you choose to display hidden text, it displays with dotted lines under it. You can use hidden text for things such as writing notes to yourself as you compose a document.

Double Strikethrough

1. Select the text you want to double strikethrough. Word highlights the text.
2. Choose the Home tab.
3. Click the dialog box launcher in the Font group. The Font dialog box opens.
4. Choose the Font tab.
5. Check Double Strikethrough.
6. Click OK. Word double strikes through your text.
7. Click in the text area. The highlighting disappears.

Small Caps

1. Select the text you want to set in small caps. Word highlights the text.
2. Choose the Home tab.
3. Click the dialog box launcher in the Font group. The Font dialog box opens.
4. Choose the Font tab.
5. Check Small Caps.
6. Click OK. Word small-caps your text.
7. Click in the text area. The highlighting disappears.

Change the Underline Color

1. Select the text that has the underline color you want to change. Word highlights the text.
2. Choose the Home tab.
3. Click the dialog box launcher in the Font group. The Font dialog box opens.
4. Choose the Font tab.
5. Click the down-arrow next to the Underline Style box and then click to select an underline style.
6. Click the down-arrow next to the Underline Color box and then click to select an underline color.
7. Click OK. Word underlines your text in the color you selected.
8. Click in the text area. The highlighting disappears.

Create Hidden Text

1. Select the text you want to format as hidden. Word highlights the text.
2. Click the dialog box launcher in the Font group.
3. Choose the Font tab.
4. Check the Hidden check box.
5. Click OK. Word formats the text as hidden text.
6. Click in the text area. The highlighting disappears.

Tip

You can choose whether to display hidden text and whether to print it. 1) Click File. A menu appears along the left side of the window. 2) Click Options. The Word Options dialog box opens. A menu appears along the left side of the dialog box. 3) Choose Display. 4) In the Always Show these Formatting Marks on the Screen section, check Hidden Text or Show All Formatting Marks to display hidden text on-screen. 5) In the Printing Option section, check Print Hidden Text to print hidden text when you print your document.

Activating the Show/Hide button  in the Paragraph group displays hidden text and is the same as checking Show All Formatting Marks in the Word Options dialog box. Hidden text shows on-screen with a dotted line under it. When hidden text is set to show or print, it affects line and page numbering.