I need to change the format of an entire document with another format

Question

Hello
We have about 300 documents that used to be formatted in our old format ( blue titles, arrow bullets, black arial font for content, blue tables). We have to update them all to our new company format/template ( orange tahoma titles, black arial font, orange circles bullets, black and white tables).
I have tried creating a template with the new format and applying it by going to options/add-ins/manage template/selecting the template and applying it but it never works.
I tried several online support forms and video tutorials and still, it doesn't work.
Can you please help me?
Can you tell how we can update the 300 documents from old format to new format without having to do all manually? I thought applying a template was the way to go ... but perhaps it is not?
Maybe my template (.docx) is wrong?
Can you please let me know what I am doing wrong and how to fix this issue?
Many thanks
Dominic

We are using Windows 10 with PC

Answer 1

If the style names are identical in the new and old designs, you should be able to update the styles by attaching a new template to the documents:

1. Open a document in the old format.
2. Choose File>Options>Add-ins.
3. Set the Manage dropdown to Templates, then click on the Go button.
4. Check the Automatically update document styles check box.
5. Click on the Attach button and find the new template. Select it and click on the Open button.
6. Close the dialog and save the updated document.
7. Repeat steps 2 and 3.
8. Uncheck the Automatically update document styles option. OK out and resave.

It would be possible to automate the conversion using VBA macros. It's not a beginner project.

Answer 2

This would be easily done with [Quick] Style Sets and Themes.

• https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm#quick_style_set
• https://www.addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm#Themes

However, I suspect that you really need to be using templates rather than documents. See https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/using-a-read-only-master-document-as-a-template/3d939570-3abe-47ec-a3d7-51a1b42b6a7f.
As a lawyer, I agree with Paul Edstein (macropod) that you should not be altering documents that have been used, rather you should be creating new documents based on templates. If you set up those templates using Themes and Style Sets, future branding changes should be very easy.

Answer 3

Here is a macro to get you started:

Sub Demo()  
Application.ScreenUpdating = False  
With ActiveDocument.Range.Find  
  .ClearFormatting  
  .Replacement.ClearFormatting  
  .Format = True  
  .Forward = True  
  .Wrap = wdFindContinue  
  .MatchWildcards = False  
  .Font.Size = 14  
  .Font.Name = "Arial"  
  .Font.Color = wdColorBlue  
  .Replacement.Style = wdStyleHeading1  
  .Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll  
End With  
With ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleHeading1)  
  .Font.Name = "Tahoma"  
  .Font.ColorIndex = wdColorOrange  
  .Font.Size = 14  
End With  
With ActiveDocument.Styles(wdStyleNormal)  
  .Font.Name = "Arial"  
  .Font.Color = wdAuto  
  .Font.Size = 12  
End With  
Application.ScreenUpdating = True  
End Sub  

As coded, the macro applies the Heading 1 Style to your titles, and modifies its attributes to match what you've told us so far. The Normal Style is then also updated to match what you've told us about its attributes so far.

Doubtless other changes could be made via code but, without access to a representative document and full specification of the required changes, we'd only be guessing.