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Apply Normal style in MS Word Mac 16.64

Anonymous
2022-09-22T20:24:23+00:00

Hi, since the stone ages I formatted documents I'm editing with my Normal style using a key command - one I believe was built into the program (option-command-spacebar).

It was called Apply Normal Style.

You just highlight everything, issue the command, and everything is in right font and size, paragraph spacing, etc.

How do you do that today?

(And - sorry to be grumpy - whose idea was it to break such a basic feature, or change it in a way that longtime users can't find? )

TIA

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | Other | MacOS

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Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.7K Reputation points
2022-10-14T00:25:22+00:00

Whether you issue a command from the keyboard or from a menu shouldn't make any difference.

Assuming it is the same command, which in this case it is not.

When using the Styles pane you're simply applying the Normal paragraph style. The Shift+Command+N combo is assigned to the DemoteToBodyText command.

Note that whichever you use can be influenced by direct formatting as opposed to formatting by style in the selected text or - worse yet - a combination of the two. The latter sounds like what you may have encountered.

FWIW, my personal preference is to use the Clear Formatting item on the Styles Pane then apply the preferred style.

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John Korchok 232.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2022-09-22T23:31:43+00:00

A new document based on the default Normal.dotm automatically comes up with a single paragraph mark in Normal style. If you just start typing, the text will all be in Normal until you apply a different style. In Word for Mac, you can apply Normal style to selected text with Command + Shift + N.

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  1. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.7K Reputation points
    2022-10-12T01:43:46+00:00

    Yes, the keystroke John gave you does work but I was replying to your originsl message which referred to option-command-spacebar.

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  2. Bob Jones AKA CyberTaz MVP 435.7K Reputation points
    2022-10-12T00:48:26+00:00

    (And - sorry to be grumpy - whose idea was it to break such a basic feature, or change it in a way that longtime users can't find? )

    Well, if the keyboard shortcut you cited is accurate you can pass your blessings on to Apple :-). They own the operating system & over the last several releases of macOS they have commandeered quite a few combinations... some can be overwritten, others cannot. They've expropriated that one to launch a Finder window set for doing a search.

    If you're interested in seeing the extent to which Apple has gone hae a look at this KB as well as the additional links at the bottom of the page:

    Mac keyboard shortcuts - Apple Support

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  3. Anonymous
    2022-10-11T23:37:34+00:00

    This worked when I tried it after posting three weeks ago, but now...

    What you used to be able to do was highlight a bunch of text that came in formatted any which way, hit the command (shift-command-spacebar at the time, now I think shift-command-N), and what you've defined as "normal" would be applied to all the text.

    I just pasted in a press release from an email (Apple Mail), selected the mess, hit shift-command-N, and the result is that it totally ignores me.

    What is going on, please? Am I missing some steps?

    Thanks.

    Edit - clicking on Normal in the Styles pane does work, although I'm pretty sure it used to include font size in the applied file (it doesn't now). This is weird.

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