Hi

I've received 2 legal agreements from a client: Doc A with outline numbering; Doc B without any formatting. The client wants me to apply the outline numbering in Doc A to Doc B, and to apply the outline numbering to future agreements he sends. I'm not sure how to do this in Word 2010.

I thought I'd save Doc A as a Word Template - I understood to do this I needed to open Word and select File > New > Available Templates: New from Existing, and locate Doc A, having tried and failed by opening Doc A directly and selecting File > Save As > Save as Type: Word Template.

In any event, when I then open Doc B, I've no idea how to activate the Doc A template so I can apply it to Doc B.



Can someone point me in the right direction, please?

Thanks
Bertie

You could open Document B and attach the template with the box checked to update styles. This is done using the Document Template button on the Developer Tab.

You could also use the Organizer to copy the particular styles from one document to the other. Note, if there are multiple styles, you should copy them as a group and do the copying three times to update any links.

Thanks. I've opened Doc B and clicked on Developer > Document Template but the only template in the 'Document template' field is Normal and if I click on 'Attach ...' that just takes me to a folder with the Normal.dotm in it. Yet if I click on File > New > Recent Templates, Doc A is there, so I presume I've saved Doc A as a template. Why does it not appear under the Document Template button?

When you get to the folder with normal.dot in it, navigate from there to your other template. When you click on the document template button and click on attach, you need to find your template. Anything listed in that dialog before you push the Attach button is irrelevant.

Did you save Doc A as a template? You have to tell Word you want a template and not a document when saving.

If this is difficult, use the Organizer. That, too, will require that you find your new template or the old Doc A document so you can list the styles.

Thanks. I saved Doc A as a macro-enabled Word template, but I didn't know you had to save it to the default C:users/.../templates folder. Anyway, I've fixed that and managed to attach it to Doc B. However, the normal.dotm styles are still showing in the Quick Styles Gallery/Styles Pane in Doc B. I wasn't sure how to get Doc A styles to appear so selected the only thing I could see that made reference to Doc A: Change Styles > Set as Default for Doc A Template. It didn't work.

How did you create the numbering? Is it attached to paragraph styles as discussed in the article at http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numb...g20072010.html? If not, copying the number formatting between files isn't necessary an easy task.

Sometimes reversing the process is more convenient. Make a copy of the document with the desired formatting and then copy content from other files into that copy.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

Thanks.

I didn't create the numbering; a client did. Headings 1-5 in the Quick Styles Gallery of Doc A have associated numbering so I'm assuming those paragraph styles are attached to numbering. I don't know whether this numbering was created from a new list style or new multilevel list - I'm not sure how to tell the difference.

To clarify, you do not need to save it to that folder and may not want it there. For a full exploration of templates, their uses and placement, see Templates in Microsoft Word and File New Variations in the Versions of Word.

I agree very strongly with Stefan's recommendation that numbered styles be set up following How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in Ribbon Versions of Word by Shauna Kelly. It is step-by-step and all of the steps are necessary. It may be that by following those directions, you can reproduce the numbering setup of your other document. Once you do that, save a copy of your revised document (with the content cleared) as a simple outline template for future use. The first time doing this it is confusing and seems a lot of work. Saving as a template means you never have to repeat that work.

Did you get the revised headings to show up in the Quick Styles Gallery in Doc B? If you attached the template and checked the box to update styles in the same dialog where you attached the template, they should be in the Quick Styles Gallery.

Solved! I forgot to check the box to update styles - it works now! I've read Shauna Kelly's 'How to' article several times; tomorrow, I'll actually knuckle down and define a new multilevel list following her procedure, for future use. In the meantime, thanks for your help - much appreciated, Charles and Stefan!