thanks. I've been spending my afternoon researching this on the webs. I out how to modify the existing styles. Or so I thought. I still seem to get random re-formatting whenever Word seems to think it's time to screw me up.



Another question or two, if I may:

I've got the Style & Formatting panel open. Am I correct that the styles at the top of the "pick formatting to apply" list (the ones above the line), are the recent styles I've used?

If I have the cursor in a paragraph, it shows me the style assigned to the paragraph to the right. If I click a new paragraph to from the "pick formatting to apply" list, does it matter if I pick one from above or below the line?

If I right-click on a style in the pick formatting style to apply list and click "modify," will the modification apply to every paragraph with that style? What does the "select all instances" option mean?

Also -- There are many Styles in the "pick formatting style to apply" panel that I don't want to use. They are causing a lot of trouble because they seem to have been created randomly. Yet, when I right click on them, the "delete style" option is greyed out. Can I get rid of these? Is there a way to wipe the entire document clean of styles and start over?


Thanks again. This is very frustrating.

In the Styles and Formatting pane, the styles on top are the most recently used ones, yes.

The Modify command can be used to change the style definition, which applies to all paragraphs using that style; that is correct. If you are changing the numbering, always start with the level 1 style (for example, Heading 1 for outline-numbered headings).

Note that you can control which styles show up in the task pane. In the "Show" box, click the "Custom" option and make your changes in the Format Settings dialog box.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional