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Formatting an existing document

Anonymous
2024-01-28T18:48:30+00:00

Often we receive documents that are poorly formatted or imported from pdf files. Sometimes even removing a section break can mess up the rest of the document.

Is it possible to define an overall document template including fonts, margins, indentations, tabs, styles, header & footer, paragraph and line spacing and then apply it to an existing document?

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Jay Freedman 207.5K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-01-29T02:35:14+00:00

    I was hoping there was a way to apply the new template to reformat the existing document.

    You didn't read far enough down that article. In Section 2.7 "Styles" is this information:

    You can update the document with its template's styles. To do that:

    ...

    • In Word 2007 and Word 2010 [and later]: Developer > Document Template; tick the Automatically Update Document Styles box

    Having ticked that box, immediately go back and un-tick that box. Don't leave the box ticked.

    This updates the definition of each style in the document to match the same-named style in the template. That changes all of the things that are part of the styles: font (including size, color, etc.) and paragraph settings (line spacing, above/below spacing, indents, alignment, etc.). These changes take effect immediately.

    If there are headers/footers in the template, you'll have to copy/paste those from the template to the document -- they aren't part of a style. I suspect the document's margins, orientation, and page size won't change automatically either, as those are section properties and not part of a style.

    Since the new template is now "attached" to the document, any customizations stored in the template (building blocks, keyboard shortcuts, template-specific Quick Access Toolbar commands) are available.

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  1. Charles Kenyon 166.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-01-28T20:40:16+00:00

    To import an important document that I expect to edit or use in the future, I will often create a new document with the features I want and then paste the content of the old document into it as plain text. The old document or pdf can provide a reference point.

    I then do the formatting in the new document using styles.

    The Importance of Styles in Microsoft Word

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  1. Charles Kenyon 166.4K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-01-29T03:45:26+00:00

    Thank you for this helpful information.

    That page reminds us that "Nothing happens when a new template is attached to a document. The document inherited styles, content and page settings from its parent template when it was created. You are not creating a new document so the style, content and page settings in the newly-attached template will not affect the document at all."

    I was hoping there was a way to apply the new template to reformat the existing document.

    Incidentally, this forum is not allowing pasting of content in the posts. Is this normal?

    You can, as pointed out by Jay, import the styles, over-writing existing definitions if you want.

    This does not help if styles were not used or if the styles used are not in the new template.

    Page setup is not changed.

    What is the relationship between a Microsoft Word document and its template?

    See also:

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  1. Jay Freedman 207.5K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-01-29T18:08:48+00:00

    If you attached a different template to a document, as we've been discussing, the styles in the document were changed but the Normal.dotm template remained untouched.

    If you now want the styles in the document redefined as they are in the Normal template, you can go back to the Developer > Document Template dialog and attach the Normal template. Check the "Automatically update document styles" box and immediately uncheck it.

    If you're thinking about the Normal template as the source of styles for new blank documents, you don't have to do anything.

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  2. Jay Freedman 207.5K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2024-01-28T20:08:32+00:00

    Yes, Word supports the application of a template to a "foreign" document. This is best described in https://shaunakelly.com/word/templates/attachtemplate.html . Although that article was last updated during the Office 2010 era, everything there is still applicable.

    There is one caveat: Attaching a different template to a document can update the definitions of styles that have the same name in both the document and the template, but it can't apply a heading style to text that was in Normal style, or create a bulleted or numbered list from undifferentiated text. It also won't create headers/footers where none existed. You'll still have to deal with such things manually.

    For removing section breaks, see https://wordmvp.com/FAQs/Formatting/WorkWithSections.htm .

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