Style Duplicated When Task Closed

Question

Style Duplicated When Task Closed

Mark Lewandowski 0

I have several different styles created in Outlook.

One has been created just for emails to deal with how I want my replies to look called "Replies" (because my organization has decided to control the font we use which prohibits me saving any reply style). This style also appears under the Style Gallery for Tasks. (Yes, I'm still using Tasks, and not To Do because it works better for me.)

Whenever I close a task, that style gets duplicated, so when I want to use a style in the test of my task (to highlight when part of a task is completed), I often have to wade through Replies1, Replies2, Replies3, Replies4, Replies5, Replies6 etc. to get the style I want.

Thoughts on how to prevent it?

My task styles do not appear under the Style Gallery for the emails, but I don't know how I did that or how to reverse the process for having my email-only styles not be part of the Tasks Style Gallery.

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Answer 1

Ian-Ng 11,405 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi @Mark Lewandowski,

Welcome to the Microsoft Q&A forum.

Thank you for the detailed description. I understand how disruptive it is to keep seeing like Replies1, Replies2, Replies3 multiply every time you finish or close a Task.

In Classic Outlook, the editor for emails and Tasks is based on Word’s style sets. These style sets are shared across email messages, Calendar items, and Task items. Because of this shared editor behavior, a custom style you created for an email can easily bleed over into Tasks. When the same style name is repeatedly re-created, re-applied by Outlook/Word components, or conflicts with a template upon closing an item, it may result in these numbered duplicates.

I have outlined some steps, please try the following steps to stop the duplication and untangle your styles:

1/ You can disable "Automatically Update" and formatting tracking to check

A possible culprit for rogue style duplication is the "Automatically update" setting.

Open a Task where the style appears.
Right-click the Replies style in the Style Gallery and select Modify.
At the bottom of the dialog box, ensure Automatically update is unchecked. Check the radio button for Only in this document, then click OK.
Next, go to File > Options > Mail > Editor Options > Advanced. Under the "Editing options" section, uncheck Keep track of formatting and Mark formatting inconsistencies, then click OK.

2/ Then try with safe mode

Remove the duplicate styles manually from the gallery.
Fully exit Outlook, then reopen it in Safe Mode (this runs Outlook without COM add-ins or customizations).
Try closing a task. If the style duplication stops in Safe Mode, a third-party add-in or customization may be contributing to the issue.

3/ Run an Office quick repair

If the issue keeps remaining in Safe Mode, try running a Quick Repair of your Office/Outlook installation through your Windows app settings.

4/ Reset and isolate the email template

If the behavior seems stuck at the template level, you can force Outlook to reset it. Outlook uses a specific template for emails (NormalEmail.dotm).

Close Outlook. Locate the NormalEmail.dotm file on your computer and rename it (for example, to NormalEmail_old.dotm). Renaming instead of deleting keeps a backup just in case.
Reopen Outlook (it will automatically recreate a fresh template).
Open a new email, recreate your "Replies" style, and when modifying it, ensure you select New documents based on this template. This helps wall it off exclusively for emails. Please note whether this changes how the style gallery behaves in Tasks vs emails.

If the behavior persists after trying these steps, please share a few key details to help isolate the cause:

Your exact Windows version and Outlook version/build.
The exact steps you take when the duplication triggers (such as clicking the "Mark Complete" flag, saving and closing the window, moving it to a Completed folder, etc.).

Looking forward to your reply.

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

Mark Lewandowski 0 Reputation points

2026-03-06T18:56:04.37+00:00
Thank you for your thorough instructions. Here are the steps I followed and their results:

I confirmed that "Automatically update" setting was already unchecked as were the items under the Options menu.

I restarted in Safe mode. The issue went away.

I did not do the repair as it went away in Safe mode.

I reset my NormalEmail.dotm. The issue went away in my task. However, the point of this style is to use it in replies, and it did not show up in the Style Gallery when I went reply because it was based only on NEW documents. It did show up in a new email as expected.

I am using Microsoft® Outlook® for Microsoft 365 MSO (Version 2602 Build 16.0.19725.20126) 64-bit on Windows 11 Pro Build 26100.7462.

The duplication occurs after a save and close of the task (if a change has been made). Not sure if it happens on the save or on the open.
Ian-Ng 11,405 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-06T23:28:15.91+00:00
Hi @Mark Lewandowski,

Thank you for the excellent troubleshooting and for providing your version information. The results from your testing are very helpful.

Because the issue completely goes away in Safe Mode, I can confirm that a background COM Add-in is causing the style duplication when your tasks are saved and closed. Additionally, the inline reply feature in Outlook often hides custom styles or relies on slightly different template parameters than a brand-new email.

Here are the steps to isolate the add-in and fix your reply style:

1/ Identify the conflicting add-in

Now that we know an add-in is the trigger, you need to find out exactly which one is causing the duplication.

Open Outlook normally.

Go to File > Options > Add-ins.

At the bottom of the window, ensure Manage is set to COM Add-ins, and click Go.

Uncheck all the boxes in the list to disable your add-ins, then click OK.

Restart Outlook and test modifying, saving, and closing a Task.

If the duplication doesn't happen, go back to the COM Add-ins menu and enable them one by one (restarting Outlook and testing the Task after each) until the "Replies1, Replies2" issue returns.

Once you identify the specific add-in causing the loop, you can leave it permanently disabled or check with the developer for an update.

2/ Make your style available for Replies

When you reset the template and selected "New documents," Outlook applied it strictly to brand-new compositions. To get it to stick for replies, you can apply it directly from a popped-out reply window.

Open any email in your inbox and click Reply.

Click Pop Out (usually at the top left of the reading pane) to open the reply in a standalone window. This gives you access to the full formatting ribbon.

Format a line of text exactly how you want your "Replies" style to look.

Highlight that formatted text, go to the Format Text tab, expand the Style Gallery, and select Create a Style.

Name it Replies, click Modify, and ensure Add to the Styles gallery is checked.

Select New documents based on this template and click OK.

By creating and saving it directly from a popped-out reply window, the style should now anchor itself to your reply to workflow.

Thank you for your patience. Please let me know if you have further questions.
Ian-Ng 11,405 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-09T17:39:08.1466667+00:00

Hi @Mark Lewandowski,

May I kindly ask whether you have had a chance to review my previous response?

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.

I look forward to hearing from you.
Mark Lewandowski 0 Reputation points

2026-03-10T18:11:52.1933333+00:00

I have not yet been able to try the second suggestions
Mark Lewandowski 0 Reputation points

2026-03-10T18:17:21.99+00:00

So I disabled all the Add-Ins, and the duplication continues.

I did not attempt the second step yet.
Ian-Ng 11,405 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-03-10T22:49:58.92+00:00

Hi @Mark Lewandowski,

Thank you for the update. I would appreciate it if you could keep me informed of the outcome of the second step.

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Style Duplicated When Task Closed

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