Understanding the Organizer

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 6, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003

Word provides the ability to work with templates, which in turn allow you to associate styles, macros, and AutoText entries with a particular document. In versions of Word prior to Word 2007, templates can also be used to modify the appearance of toolbars, buttons, and menus.

As you can tell, templates are very powerful and they provide a great deal of flexibility to Word. Sometimes, however, it can be a real pain to get a good "overall" view of what you have available in a particular template or even in a document.

This is where the Organizer comes into play. Word provides the Organizer (a deceptively simple name) to provide a degree of control over what customization elements are included in a template or a document. While you don't use the Organizer to create any of these elements, you can use it to copy them from one template or document to another, or to delete them completely.

Exactly what you can do with the Organizer depends on the version of Word you are using. The Organizer can be used to manage styles, toolbars, AutoText, and macros.

There are several different ways you can start the Organizer:

Choose Style from the Format menu. This displays the Style dialog box, on which you should click the Organizer button.
Choose Macro from the Tools menu, and then Macros from the resulting submenu. This displays the Macros dialog box. Click on the Organizer button.
Choose Templates and Add-ins from the Tools menu. This displays the Templates and Add-ins dialog box, on which you should click the Organizer button.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (1350) 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...

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What is two more than 7?

2019-08-16 13:05:20

Steve

Word is soooooooooooo Frustrating. Where is the tools menu?

2018-11-19 10:20:45

Alonzo Mosley

There is no "Format" menu in the new versions of Word.

One way to get to the Organizer is (if you have the "Developer" tab activated) is to go to Developer=>Templates, click on "Document Template" icon and look for an "Organizer" button in the lower left. I don't think you can get there through Home=>Styles.

2018-03-24 16:32:11

Lewis Eigen

I was under the impression that the Normal.dot template only stores the formatted AutoCorrect entries and the others are stored somewhere in the Office folder. So how does this move those unformatted AutoCorrects?

2015-07-17 12:15:22

dflak@newbreed.com

Where is the format menu in Word 2103?

2014-07-11 15:18:17

Jeff

Is there a shortcut to the organizer in Word 2013 that I can place in my quick access ribbon? I've already got "Manage Styles" up there, but I'd like a direct link to the organizer.

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