Working with Other People's Files

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated October 30, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

If you work in an office where Word is used, it is likely that you need to work with documents from other people. If you simply load up their document, then you have to put up with their formatting choices. This may be hard to do, especially if you don't like their choices in fonts or spacing. To overcome this, open a new file (based on the template of your choice) and insert their file in this new document. If there are any styles in their document that match names in your document, then your styles will take precedence. Thus, your formatting choices will be used, not theirs.

Note that this tip will not work if styles were not used in the original document. If the other person explicitly formatted text using the menus and toolbars, then the formatting they used will remain. To overcome this, you may want to select the entire document and reset it to the Normal style.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (999) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Finding the Smallest Even Value

When processing data in a worksheet, you may have a need to know what the smallest (lowest) even value in a range is. You ...

Discover More

Toggling Print Preview

Need to easily switch back and forth between print preview and your document? Here's a quick shortcut key you can use to ...

Discover More

Hyperlinks Not Found

When creating hyperlinks in a document, it is important to remember the difference between absolute and relative ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 365 applications with VBA programming. Written in clear terms and understandable language, the book includes systematic tutorials and contains both intermediate and advanced content for experienced VB developers. Designed to be comprehensive, the book addresses not just one Office application, but the entire Office suite. Check out Mastering VBA for Microsoft Office 365 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Saving in MS-DOS Text Mode

Over the years Microsoft has made changes in Word. One change is to the import and export filters provided with the ...

Discover More

Formatting Text Files with VBA

Got a bunch of text that you've imported from a text file? Need to make it look better? You can take a stab at it with ...

Discover More

Importing a Text File and Inserting after a Bookmark

Word macros are a great way to automate some of the ways in which you create documents. If you have a need to insert the ...

Discover More

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

Notify me about new comments ONLY FOR THIS TIP

Notify me about new comments ANYWHERE ON THIS SITE

Hide my email address

What is 7 + 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.