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Turn OFF ALL Styles

The threads on this are old.  Has anyone found a way to turn them all OFF once and for all?  Most of my office work is doing complicated layouts that print precisely where I have calculated them to land.  Like making large labels for things that need each line a certain font/size/layout.  When I set my tabs, font, etc for a 2 line section, I need it to retain all of that when I hit the enter key, not change it to some other style.  It takes me 3-4 times longer to do them because of all the stupid auto formatting office does.  I've wasted the last 2+ hours now trying to figure out how to turn it off.  I've never once used styles.  I don't create documents that I would even want styles in.  I HAVE A BRAIN.  I resent office doing what it does.  If I had to create a style for every format layout, I would literally soon have hundreds, if not a thousand, styles that I would have to manage and remember to delete all the time.

I need it to always remember every single aspect of formatting that I did from one carriage return to the next, not change it back to what it was sometime before the moment I hit the enter key.

Please tell me someone has figured out a registry hack or has an add-on that lets us normal people with brains turn off yet another idiot feature.

Thanks.
No, you can't turn off styles, any more than you can turn of pagination, it is a part of what is built into Word and makes everything else work.
Understanding Styles in Microsoft Word

I would strongly urge you to learn how to use them instead of fight them. The latter is like trying to push a long string uphill.

Application of styles automatically is a different thing, though.
This is probably the "AutoFormat as you type" feature which is in the AutoCorrect Options.

Volunteering to "pay forward" the help I've received in the Microsoft user community.

Charles Kenyon
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
wordfaq[at]addbalance[dot]com

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As Charles said, you can't avoid styles in Microsoft Word. Your work will be easier if you take some time to learn style basics.

To prevent Word from changing the style as you press Enter, change the "Style for following paragraph" option in the Modify Style dialog box for your current style. For example, if you are primarily using Normal style, make sure that "Style for following paragraph" is set to "Normal."
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The built-in formatting for most of the regular text styles in Word are set for the following paragraph to have the same style.  When that's the case, direct formatting  is retained for every later paragraph--unless you change the direct formatting again or clear it.  So pressing enter at the end of a normal + directly formatted indents and tabs paragraph produces another normal paragraph + the same direct formatting. 

But heading styles (and maybe a few others, like caption) are set for the following paragraph to have the normal style.  That means the direct formatting is not carried through.   As Stefan says, you can modify the style setting to suit your needs.


Pamelia Caswell

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Go to File | Options | Proofing and click AutoCorrect Options. On the AutoFormat As You Type tab, clear the check box for "Define styles based on your formatting." You may want to clear some of the other check boxes as well, but this is the most likely offender, as what it really means is "Apply styles that resemble your formatting." And when Word has applied a heading style (which it may also go if you have the box for "Headings" checked, then the "Style for following paragraph" is going to be Normal.
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I have all the auto correct and auto formatting and auto everything turned off.  I really resent when computers attempt to think for me.

I like the analogy of pushing a string uphill.  But styles to me are a HUGE waste of time and effort.  Apparently, I have to create them to do my layout, only to have to delete them when I'm done to unclutter things.

I like simple things.  I open word.  I don't even look at styles.  I just set my margins and tabs for what I need FOR THAT LINE, type my layout FOR THAT LINE, do a carriage return, type the next line if it is the same layout (and that's where word says, no you don't, you have to reset everything again for the 2nd line), or change the layout for the 2nd line.  Continue ad nasium.  It's not uncommon to change the layout and font or font size every couple of lines for me or even within the same line.  I might need the start of lines to be in 12 point and the end of the line be in 24 point.  

I don't type many letters or memos or such.  For me, it's a 'feature' I loath so much, that I cringe every time I have to open word.  It's just sad that word has become the industry standard.  Maybe something like OpenOffice or Corel or Word Perfect would be better suited for my needs as long as I can open/save in word format.  It's a lot of wasted money I spent buying my license for what to me is a piece of trash.  I know you guys like it and that's fine, but for me, it doubles and triples my work time if I have to create styles for each change of the layout, then delete them when done.  Even if I don't do any housekeeping and delete them when done, it still doubles my time to have to create a style for each line of the document.  I don't want software to fight with me.

Software is meant to make us more productive, not waste our time.

Thanks for everyone's help and input.  :)

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" then delete them when done"

 

Why not keep them then.

 

" It's not uncommon to change the layout and font or font size every couple of lines for me"

 

Maybe so, but surely if you have 100 lines, you do not have 100 distinctly different and separate formats. There must be some repetition.  If there is...there you go.  That is using styles.

 

" I've never once used styles. I don't create documents that I would even want styles in. "  Then you are not fully grasping how to truly use them.

I can understand you frustration, but you can NOT turn off all styles. Word is built around them, and for the better.  If it is such a pain for you, why not use something else. 

 

"OpenOffice or Corel or Word Perfect would be better suited for my needs as long as I can open/save in word format"  Why do you need to open and save in Word format, if it so clearly does not work for you. If you use Word - ever - you are going to have to deal with styles.

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Now that you have turned off all of the "auto's" (they make me crazy too) you are working in "manual" mode. I think you are confusing the various "auto" formatting and "fix" features with styles. They are separate.

Styles are good for maintaining consistency. But the type of work you are doing apparently does not lend itself to using styles.  Don't create new styles for each line.  I do suggest you change your default style to something other than the NORMAL style, and that is not based on Normal style. That way, if there is a change to the normal style, it will NOT affect your work.

Actually, I think you may be better off using a simpler editor.  Any WYSIWYG HTML editor may be better suited to your needs. And it will create much smaller files.
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First - do NOT set margins for every line. You are asking for a monumental crash of your document!

If you really need different text boundaries for each line change the Indents, not the margins. The difference is that indents are paragraph-level formatting while margins are Section level formatting. If on each line you are starting a new Section, I'm not surprised that word balks.

When you press the Enter key in Word, you are telling Word you want a new paragraph and that is what it gives you. As Suzanne pointed out, if you are in a Heading style, it will probably give you a new paragraph in the Normal style. Otherwise, Word does not have anything that reverts formatting to something else when you press Enter. You can set up styles to change at the end of a paragraph, but that is unusual for other than Heading styles and I know of no built-in styles other than the headings that do that.

Consider using WordPad. It is under Programs>Accessories and comes with Windows.

If you want to continue using Word and don't enjoy the frustration, take a bit of time and learn how it works. A great place to start is:
Basic concepts of Microsoft Word: An introduction

I don't understand why you would be changing left and/or right indents for each line. Are you doing poetry where you want your words placed in unusual places?

Volunteering to "pay forward" the help I've received in the Microsoft user community.

Charles Kenyon
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
wordfaq[at]addbalance[dot]com

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I know you guys like it and that's fine, but for me, it doubles and triples my work time if I have to create styles for each change of the layout, then delete them when done. 

I don't know that anyone responding on this board exactly likes Word! I don't, but I've learned to make it do work for me that I need to get done. I really hated it when I was forced to use it at a new job.

Software is meant to make us more productive, not waste our time.

Agreed.

When I realized that I was going to be spending a lot of my time using this tool, I determined to spend a small amount of time each day learning how to make it help me better. At that time, I was using it about 3 hours a day. I decided to spend 15-45 minutes a day learning. That time paid itself back in multiples within the first week. If you are going to continue to use Word, I strongly urge you to look at Basic concepts of Microsoft Word: An introduction. It won't take that long and I guarantee you'll be happier using Word after you've read it.
Volunteering to "pay forward" the help I've received in the Microsoft user community.

Charles Kenyon
Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
wordfaq[at]addbalance[dot]com

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Last updated April 16, 2025 Views 4,645 Applies to: