How to import styles from one document to another document in word?
If you have a set of carefully constructed styles in one document and you want to apply these same styles to other documents. Now you have to import styles from this document to another document. This tutorial will tell you how to import styles from one document to another document in word.
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Step 1: Open the document you want to import style to in Word then click File > Options> Custom Ribbon to add the Developer under the Main Tabs to ribbon. See screenshot:
Step 2. Click Document Template under Develop Tab, there will be a popup dialog, and click Organizer. See screenshot:
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Step 3. There will be another popup dialog, click Close File in the right, and the check box will be replace with Open File. See screenshot:
Step 4. Click Open File, and select the file you want to import style from, then click Open.
You can search the file you want according to the format by clicking A, and also can enter the name of the file in File name box to quickly search it.
Step 5. After opening the file you want to import style from, you can select the style of the file in the right box and click Copy, it will copy the style to the left box. See screenshot:
Note:
1. Where the arrow point to will be the place import style. And these two files can copy the style from each other. (Press Ctrl+click or Shift + click to select multiple styles)
2. You also can delete or rename the style.
3. There will be a description under the left box when you select a style in the box.
Step 6. After the copy, click Close, the style importing is finished.
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.· 1 years agoGreat help, got me through
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Thank you. In Word 2016 for Mac I was able to do it by starting from Tools -> Templates and Add-Ins -> Organizer and then follow your instructions.
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Thanks, when i simply make a template file i can link my dotx file from that first screen. No need to to all that copying :)
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.I found a much easier way (it works for Word 2016, I don't know for earlier versions of Word):
- In the document you have created your styles and headings, go to the 'Design' tab and click the downward arrow on the style sets. Then choose 'Save as a New Style Set'. A popup window will open to save the style set as a Word Template (*.dotx). Type in a name for the template style set and save it.
- In the new document where you want to use these styles, go again to the 'Design' tab and click the downward arrow on the styles sets. Then choose your saved template style set under 'Custom'. The style set will apply to your headings (if included in the template) and you can choose those styles for any paragraph.-
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.YES. love the simplicity. it worked perfectly!
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.I found a workaround. I created the source document and created styles over there.
For example, created styles as numbered headings for h1,h2, h3, h4 and given names for these styles.
Types some empty content with these heading levels as in
11. H1
11.1 H2
11.1.1 H3
11.1.1.1 H4
In the current working document, I copied the h1, h2, h3, h4 empty content and pasted retaining the "Keep source formatting".
This copies the content retaining the source styles and also copies those styles into the current document. Both styles and style names are copied.
Wherever we want we can apply these styles. -
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Every time I have tried this, the indentation settings automatically change in the resulting imported style. (i.e. Left changes from .08" (Doc A) to 1" (Doc b) and Hanging changes from .4" (Doc A) to .5" (Doc B)). This renders the import from Doc A useless in Doc B. Help?
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Sorry, Bob. I read your post wrong. You were correct. Doc A is the formatted doc with the Styles you want and Doc B is the document you are importing the correct Styles into. Just follow the steps and you'll be fine. Just be aware that if some styles don't display, it's because the Style names are identical in both documents. I will be publishing a new course on Word Styles and Templates in the near future. I have a totally new and revolutionary approach to Word Styles...and my methodology eliminates duplicate use of Styles, 200+ Styles in a document, etc. I think many that see it will really love it.
I promise that anyone that eventually takes my course will increase their productivity with Word by up to 40 percent or more. Have fun, everyone!
Ken-
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.You're in the right place, Bob. Just follow the instructions above and you should get the results you're looking for. However, it may be less confusing if you consider Doc B as the one you are importing to and Doc A with the correct formats already present. The one thing that usually trips folks up is to know that if your Style names are identical, the format Styles with the same name in Doc A will not import to Doc B. Therefore, you either have to change the styles in Doc B manually, or change the name of the Style in Doc A and reapply that style in Doc B, where applicable. If you need any more help, let us know.
Ken -
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.I have no idea if this is the right place or not but I have 2 word docs (Doc A and Doc B). Doc A has all the formatting, fonts, etc. that I want so the document looks just how I want it to look. However, I have a Doc B that already has words, tables, pics, etc in it that is not formatted the same as Doc A. I want Doc B to be formatted in the same manner as Doc A. Same header, footer, body, all of it. Can I do this without a manual page by page process and if so how?
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Despite what many may think, I didn't create this tutorial or screen captures, or I would fix them. :-)
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished."Step 3. There will be another popup dialog, click Close File in the right, and the check box will be replace with Open File. See screenshot:"
That's not a check box. 2/10. -
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.[b]madfedaykin,
As I mentioned in my previous post:
If the style names (Note2) are the same in both documents, the style will from Doc1 will NOT overwrite the style in Doc2.
You will have to edit the style in Doc2 to match the Style you have in Doc1, manually. If you do that, I highly recommend the changes being made from the Styles window and not the top menu icons. The other option is to delete the Note2 style from Doc2 (the one you are importing into) and then import the Note2 style from Doc1. You will have to reapply the style in the text, where it applies in the document. -
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Chip, sorry if I confused you. The main answer to your question is that auto-numbering is not based on the previous style. It is based on the Multilevel List definitions once the template styles are defined. Styles are independent from each other. They become associated once a multilevel list is created.
Open a numbered document, click on the Multilevel List icon in the main menu, and you will get a better idea of how multilevel list works. That's about the only icon I use during document numbering-style modifications or development. Heading, paragraph and heading indents, fonts, font sizes, font color, numbering, and virtually everything else can be done automatically from the Styles window...without reeking havoc, I might add. -
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Sorry Chip! Now I understand your question. I personally NEVER use "Style based on". When you do that, anything changed in the first style gets changed in all of the others it's based on. It can be any attribute of the Based on style...font, color, font size, etc. Documents normally have different (Heading) font sizes, for example. You might have Arial 16pt, 12, and, 10. When changing any attribute, it leaves more work. It might be a little more work to build a template with the Styles window, but not really.
I recommend that you create every style as a standalone style, and not use "Based on". If anyone can tell me real advantages to using "Style based on", I would love to hear them. I can think of one, and that's if you plan to use the same document style for every document.
When you use auto-numbering from a Heading style, most people will start using the Numbering icon in the main menu. That is a huge NO-NO when with a template. When you have styles already built, as with a template, use the Style window styles, only. When changing things from menu icons, numbering will start going crazy. You just created a new style, automatically, and it gets imported into your document styles list. Word now starts using that Style instead of the one you've been using. Keep it simple. :-) Build the additional styles you need, build the template, then use the Styles window to modify.
When you want to make edits, do it from the Styles window. The only exception is the Multilevel Lists, but that for another time. :-). -
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.KIMT, it is not finding the template because you don't one or you are not using a Microsoft template from the Templates folder.
1. Open a document with all of the features you want.
2. Go to File > Save As
3. In the Save As dropdown menu, select Word Template (*.dotx) -
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Not exactly sure of your question, Chip, but if the base template uses the same heading styles, you're going to get the same heading style in the document you are importing to. The exception there is when the style names are different. If you are trying to update your heading styles, update them after the template styles import, then create a new template with the changes.
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.It's not File > Options> [b]Custom [/b]Ribbon as your text says. Look at your screenshot in step one. It's File > Options> [b]Customize [/b]Ribbon. It's CUSTOMIZE. not custom. You can clearly see it, can you not? Then why do you have "custom" instead of CUSTOMIZE as your own screenshot clearly shows.
I wonder how many years it will take you to fix this trivially easy to fix mistake. -
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Worked very well. Thanks a bunch!
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.You rock! You get a lifetime of karma from posting this.
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Chip, I recommend that you do not use Based on when creating new styles. The reason is that when you base one style on another, the second style is always dependent on the first. If you change the first, for any reason at all, the second, third, fourth, and all subsequent styles will also be affected.
If there are certain attributes you want to use, then create a style with any name you will recognize and use that one. For example, if you want to use the same font, font size, color, and other attributes, create a new style name and use that as the Based on style.-
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.[quote name="Ken Weatherford"]Chip, I recommend that you do not use Based on when creating new styles. The reason is that when you base one style on another, the second style is always dependent on the first. If you change the first, for any reason at all, the second, third, fourth, and all subsequent styles will also be affected.
If there are certain attributes you want to use, then create a style with any name you will recognize and use that one. For example, if you want to use the same font, font size, color, and other attributes, create a new style name and use that as the Based on style.[/quote]
Thanks for the help. I thought to get headings to autonumber you had base them on the heading above. Is that not true?
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.This does not work for me. I am copying a Note2 style from a template to a document. I overwrite the existing Note2 in the document during the copy. When I check the document, it still uses the old Note2 style.
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.April, let's assume you are creating a new document and it has styles already built into the document. When you import styles from another document, any style that has the same name in the new document will be overwritten by the styles from the document you are importing from.
So, you are importing from document A, which is the older document, into document B, the new document. The styles in A will overwrite any style in B that has the same name. Therefore, the style attributes in A (color, font, font size, etc.) are all imported into document B style that has the same name. Hope the clarifies it.
Note also that it depends on what the attributes are for the Normal style.
Anyone interested in an entire document on Styles...developing, managing, philosophy, etc.? Email me at Ken_Weatherford2004@yahoo.com -
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Please explain the following statement:
"For example, if the imported style has the same name as the style in the existing document, it will overwrite it."
What I don't understand is which one is overridden? Does this mean the incoming style will override the one in the existing document or vice versa?-
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.No, the incoming style does not overwrite the existing one if the name of the style is the same. For example, you want to import styles from A to document B. Let's say A has a styles named Heading 1. If B also has a Heading 1, the Heading 1 in A will not overwrite the Heading 1 in B.
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.I copied a style but it doesn't appear in the document afterward. what could i be doing wrong
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Oops. I just figured it out.
For whatever reason, one of my 5 imported Styles didn't appear in the Styles Gallery. But it had been imported, and just required an extra step to add it to the Gallery-
KAMZ, try this:
Click on the little arrow in the right bottom corner of your Styles Gallery, which will open up a menu of all of your available Styles. Find the Style you have been missing if it's there (which I'll bet it is) and select the drop-down menu. Choose "Add to Style Gallery", and it should now be available in the Gallery. -
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.I'm having the same issue as KAMZ. I have 5 styles I import over, but only four show up.
Anyone have an idea? Thanks.-
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Make sure you don't have the one style that is not coping over already in the document you are copying to. New styles will not overwrite the styles in the document you are copying to if the style has the same name.
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.This import method seems to kill all the style dependencies:
1) In your template, make style B based on style A
2) Import both of them as described above
3) In the destination document, the link B -> A is lost.
-> Style B becomes standalone, which means that changing style A no longer affects style B. [b]This may corrupt the complete hierarchy of your styles.[/b] -
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Same for me as is for Nicole. Styles import fine; however, for documents with existing styles (that were supposed to be replaced) some of the latter affects the Styles.
How do I correct this so that the imported Styles look exactly as they did in their original format?-
To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Take a look at "[b]Style based on[/b]" in [b]Modify Style[/b] popup box in both documents. You also may want to take a look at the font for [b]Normal[/b].
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To post as a guest, your comment is unpublished.Thanks a lot!
Saved me bunch of time!!