Deleting Custom Styles

[Delta2Nite]

I've created a few custom styles, but now am struggling to delete the ones I messed up on.

I can delete them for the document I'm working on at the moment, but the second I go to a new document, I'm back with the mess-ups.

I've been at this for hours, and something that should be as simple as "Delete -> Yes -> Gone", is the most frustrating thing I've every tried to do.

They come back over, and over, and over, and over again. I don't understand why this couldn't just be a simple process.

 

[Clive Huggan]

It *is* simple -- once you know how! But Word never loses an opportunity to
perplex...

The key is to open the Normal template, on which new blank documents are
based. You don't mention what version of Word, so I can't give the file
path: if you're in Tiger or Leopard, use Spotlight to show you.

Once you have opened the Normal template, make your changes, save and close.
You might have to quit Word and re-open -- sorry, haven't got time to
confirm right now. Then all new documents will behave as you want.

For more on styles, you might like to read from page 89 of some notes on the
way I use Word for the Mac, titled "Bend Word to Your Will", which are
available as a free download from the Word MVPs' website
(http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Bend/BendWordToYourWill.html).

[Note: "Bend Word to your will" is designed to be used electronically and
most subjects are self-contained dictionary-style entries. If you decide to
read more widely than the item I've referred to, it's important to read the
front end of the document -- especially pages 3 and 5 -- so you can select
some Word settings that will allow you to use the document effectively.]

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from North America and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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[CyberTaz]

First let's be sure we're clear on one point: When you say "go to a new
document" do you actually mean create a new blank document or open a
different *existing* document than the one in which you deleted the styles?

If the latter, there's nothing to be done globally since styles are carried
by the document in which they've been applied. Deleting the styles from one
doc doesn't remove them from others. One way to expedite removing styles
from more than one doc is to use Tools> Templates & Add-Ins - Organizer. It
enables you to remove custom styles from docs without having to open them,
but it still has to be done one doc at a time.

If the former, it suggests you had the check in place for Add to Template
when the styles were created so they were added to the Normal template. No
matter how many documents you delete the style from they will still be
present in any new docs you create until you delete them from the template.
You can use File> Open to navigate to the folder where Normal is stored,
open that template file & delete the unwanted custom styles, close & save,
or you can use the Organizer as described above. NOTE: This is assuming that
some other template isn't the basis for these documents - if so, that's the
template they need to be deleted from.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac