Hello Stefan
Thanks for your quick answer. Some of the styles that were brought into the new file, had to do with direct formating. So if I delete them in the source document, won´t the direct formating disappear then - in the source text?


I have managed to take an easy way around this problem by moving smaller parts of the text one after another, in which case - for some reason - no styles were brought along. But since I have more similar books to come, I would like to find a practical solution.

Direct formatting may be lost when paragraphs are reformatted in Normal style; that is true. The rule is that if more than 50% of a paragraph has direct formatting, that formatting will be cleared when a different paragraph style is applied.

Copying the text in smaller chunks has advantages, as you have noticed, because it gives you more control. Of course, it may be time-consuming!

On the other hand, if there are undesired styles in a source document, and those styles are not applied to text, you avoid bringing them into a target document by omitting the final paragraph mark (¶) of the document when copying the text.

To show/hide paragraph marks, as well as other nonprinting marks, click the ¶ button on the Home tab.

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional