Stefan, I've been doing exactly as you describe but the modification is never permanent. I have to redo it each time I open each document. There are no prompts to save the Normal template.

Is there any difference between balloon text and comment text? I figure there must be, otherwise there wouldn't be two different styles.

You do see the change in the current document, after you modified the styles?

Note that any time when you modify a style via "Add to template," the modification only applies to the current document and to future documents based on the template. If it doesn't work at all, something is probably preventing you from saving changes to the Normal template correctly (you have to troubleshoot this separately).

In theory, Comment Text determines the formatting of balloons, while Comment Text determines the formatting of comments. But comments are in balloons, so you see the problem...

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional