Forum Discussion
Automatically update document styles
So this might come across as daft, but I have an issue with style sheets and existing documents
I'd have thought that selecting this option, when applying a style to an existing document, would force the document to adopt the styles defined in the DOTX.
If I change a style on the orignal DOTX I'd have thought the changes would be reflected in the document. But it doesn't and it does not refresh the document to reflect the changes made. Am I doing something wrong here?
If not, how can I force existing text for accept the new styles.
ps - Re-editing the existing document context isn't an option because we've lots of documents covering some 630+ pages which we regularly update 4 times a year.
3 Replies
Check the box under Document Template under the Developer Tab to automatically update styles upon opening.
This will overwrite style definitions for styles of the same name in the document. It will not change any styles in the document that do not exist in the template.
It must have the template other than Normal attached. This can be problematic if your template is not available. See What happens when I send my document to someone else? Will Word mess up my formatting? by Shauna Kelly, MVP.
You could also consider using [Quick] Style Sets.
- These only cover styles which are in the [Quick] Styles Gallery.
- If the Style Set is updated, you would need to re-apply it under the Design tab.
- You can use these with your templates to make formatting in the various templates more uniform.
How about this:
1. Attach the Template and Enable Document-Level Updating
1. Display the Developer tab (File → Options → Customize Ribbon → check “Developer”).
2. On the Developer tab, click Document Template.
3. In the Templates and Add-ins dialog:
o Click Attach… and select your .dotx.
o Check Automatically update document styles.
o Click OK.
4. Save and close the document, then reopen it.
On open, Word will overwrite every style in your document with the ones from the template.
2. Use the Organizer to Copy Styles (One-Off or Batch)
If you’d rather leave “Automatically update” off—and manually control updates, you may:
1. Go to Developer → Document Template.
2. Click Organizer….
3. In the Organizer, copy styles from your template into your document (select all, click Copy).
4. Repeat this in each document (you can automate it via a macro if you have hundreds of files).
3. Automate via VBA Macro
For mass-updates without reopening every file manually, drop this into a .dotm in your default template:Sub SyncStylesFromTemplate() Dim t As Template ' Change path to your template Set t = Templates("C:\path\to\YourTemplate.dotx") ' Attach and mark for update on open With ActiveDocument .AttachedTemplate = t.FullName .UpdateStylesOnOpen = True .Save End With End Sub
1. Open each target document.
2. Run SyncStylesFromTemplate (you can assign it to a keyboard shortcut).
3. Close and reopen the doc to pull in every updated style from the template.Kidd_Ip thanks for that. I do that, because that's how I thought it work(s)(ed) but was then (unreliably) informed by MS that it doesn't overwrite existing styles. I was told that changes made to the styles in the attached DOTX are only reflected in "new" documents that are created with that style sheet, which left me sitting, head in hands trying to figure out if I was to chuck the lot out and take up beach-combing as a career option (tip....not many open positions for 'beach-combers' on LinkedIn)
And that seems to be (partially) true because some changes in the DOTX are made when opening a document, and others (like line-spacing .... a nightmare to navigate) appear not to change.
So as beach-combing isn't an option I'm going to persevere with this for now and quietly mutter exactly what I think of MS and their product range under my breath.
On a slight side note, you've touched on something...VBA. Is there a VBA group on here? I'm manipulating these Word documents using VBA in MSAccess (because clearly masochism is a big thing in my life) and I've another couple of issues which is testing the patience of an avid wanna-be beach-comber???
