Cleaning Up a Document that Mixes Styles with Direct Formatting.
Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 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:When a document is formatted with styles, it is much easier to create and maintain a consistent format. When someone adds direct formatting, it can create some formatting problems. If you are using Word 2002 or Word 2003 there is a relatively easy way to locate the direct formatting. Perform these steps:
Figure 1. The Edit tab of the Options dialog box.
Once you have all this text selected you have several options. You can reapply the original style, in which case the Modify Style dialog box may appear and you'll have the option of updating the style to reflect the recent changes or reapplying the formatting of the style to the selection. (You want the latter option.)
You can also use Ctrl+Q to set the paragraphs back to their original format, or you can use Ctrl+Spacebar to remove any direct character formatting from the selections.
WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (5402) applies to Microsoft Word 2002 and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Cleaning Up a Document that Mixes Styles with Direct Formatting.
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