Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. If you are using a later version (Word 2007 or later), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for later versions of Word, click here: Deleting Styles.

Deleting Styles

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated November 21, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

As you work with styles in Word, there may come a time when you want to delete a style you previously defined. To do this, follow these steps if you are using Word 2002 or Word 2003:

Choose Styles and Formatting from the Format menu. Word displays the Styles and Formatting pane at the right of the document window.
In the list of styles shown in the pane, hover the mouse pointer over the style you want to delete. A down-arrow appears at the right side of the style name.
Click on the down-arrow that appeared in step 2. Word presents you with a list of actions you can take.
Choose Delete from the list of actions. You will be asked to confirm you action; click on Yes.
To delete other styles, repeat steps 2 through 4.
When you are done, close the Styles and Formatting pane.

If you are using Word 97 or Word 2000, then you should follow these steps instead:

Select Style from the Format menu. You will see the Style dialog box.
In the Styles box, select the style you want to delete.
Click on Delete. You will be asked to confirm your action; click on Yes.
To delete other styles, repeat steps 2 and 3.
When you are done deleting styles, click on Close.

Regardless of the version of Word you are using, you cannot delete styles that are predefined in Word. If you select these styles, the Delete button becomes unavailable.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1047) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Deleting Styles.

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

Calculating the Distance between Points

Want to figure out how far it is between two points on the globe? If you know the points by latitude and longitude, you ...

Discover More

Compound List Formatting

Word can help you do quite a bit of complex formatting to your lists, both bulleted and numbered. Using the steps ...

Discover More

Cleaning Old Cookie Sheets

Sometimes baked-on stains can be very stubborn to remove from metal cookware. Here are some ideas that may help get rid ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (menu)

Jumping to Styles in the Task Pane

Mouse versus keyboard selection of styles in Word.

Discover More

Adding Individual Styles to the Template

One of the things you can store within templates are styles. When you use styles, it is critical that you understand how ...

Discover More

Making Sure Styles Do Not Update Automatically

One of the features of Word that can cause some problems is one that allows styles to be automatically updated based upon ...

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 eight less than 8?

2022-03-09 17:33:43

Larry Watkins

I am so sick of trying to get Microsoft Word to behave. I want to delete all styles, and then just construct my own and put them in. One of my most frustrating things is that the document looks great sometimes, then it will flip out and add several paragraph symbols and number them, messing up my numbered headings, especially when I reset the number values. Is there a fix for this?

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.