Automatic styles in tables

[gyeakley]

I can understand Word automatically assigning the style Table Grid to a new
table, even though I have autoformat turned off. I can always delete the
style and manually reformat the table the way I want it to look, even if
Word won't let me change the style's settings.

What I'm having a problem with is that I'm getting tables formatted with the
style Endnote Text, which I can't modify, delete, or even search and
replace. My only option is to convert the table to text, assign it Normal,
then reconvert to a table and manually format. Once is fine. I have dozens
of tables in one document this is happening to.

Any ideas on how to fix?

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi gyeakley

There are three things you can do to get Word to calm down a bit:

First, Tools > AutoCorrect Options. On the "AutoFormat As You Type" tab (not
the AutoFormat tab), un-tick everything in the "Apply as you type" and the
"Automatically as you type" sections.

Second, you can change your default table style to Table Normal, which
produces a plain vanilla table. To do that, Format > Styles and Formatting.
If Table Normal doesn't appear in the list in the Styles and Formatting task
pane, then at the bottom of the pane, click Show, choose Custom, click Show
All and click OK. Now, find Table Normal in the list, right-click it and
choose Set as Default Table Style.

Third, you can modify the Table Grid style to look any way you like (you can
modify any of the built-in table styles except Table Normal). To do that,
use the Styles and Formatting pane as above, right-click Table Grid and
choose Modify.

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word

 

[gyeakley]

I already did all three before my post. This is the result I get after. And
while I can go through the motions of modifying Table Grid, the changes seem
to be ignored -- they don't take.

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi gyeakley

The settings for the AutoFormat As You Type tab are saved in the registry.
If you have changed these settings (and, just to be absolutely clear, it's
"AutoFormat As You Type" that you need to change; not "AutoFormat"), and
they're not holding between sessions, then there may be something wrong with
your Data key in the registry. There's information at the following that
explains what the Data key is about and how to delete it so Word will
re-construct it:

What exactly does the Data Key in the Registry store?
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/DataKeySettings.htm

The table style settings are saved in a template. If you didn't specify
which template you wanted to modify, then Word will modify normal.dot. When
you exit Word, you may be asked if you want to save normal.dot. If you have
seen that question, did you say Yes?

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word