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Fast Word shortcuts for increase/decrease font size

Microsoft Word seems to have two pairs of shortcuts that do the same thing – increase or decrease the font size. This is how they are different.

The shortcuts are:

Ctrl + Shift + <   or Ctrl + Shift + >  – which are also buttons on the Home tab.

Ctrl +  [  and Ctrl + ]  – that have been in Word for as long as we can remember.

There’s a subtle difference between the two.

Change Font Size – Ctrl + Shift + < or >

The buttons on the Home tab and   “<  >” shortcuts step through the predefined font sizes on the Font Size pull-down list:

Change font size by 1pt Ctrl + [ or ]

Ctrl + [ and Ctrl + ]  step one point , up or down the font sizes. 

Use this shortcut to fine tune type sizes, e.g. adjust a heading to be as large as possible without going over a single line.

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