Forum Discussion
Push template changes to documents
1. When you update a template, how do you get changes to flow through to documents using the template? I've tried "Automatically Update" in the template with "Only in this document" and "New documents based on this template."
2. I have Document A using Template A with a style, "Body A." How do I get Body A to update when I attach Template B (with a different Body A) to Document A?
3. If I change "Body B" style in a document using a template, does that change it in the template?
4. How do I know if my styes are coming from the template or the document? I want the template to take precedence.
Thanks
To redefine all styles in a document so that they match the corresponding styles in the template, use the "Automatically update document styles" check box in the Templates and Add-Ins dialog box.
In Word for Windows, you can display the dialog box by clicking the Document Template button on the Developer tab. (If you can't see the Developer tab, enable it via File > Options > Customize Ribbon.)
3 Replies
CaroleSL Just one thing to add to Stefan's response - You should probably not leave that box checked as it can cause changes in the formatting of documents that you receive from other users.
To redefine all styles in a document so that they match the corresponding styles in the template, use the "Automatically update document styles" check box in the Templates and Add-Ins dialog box.
In Word for Windows, you can display the dialog box by clicking the Document Template button on the Developer tab. (If you can't see the Developer tab, enable it via File > Options > Customize Ribbon.)
I should clarify that the "Automatically update document styles" option will overwrite existing styles with the style definitions from the template and add any styles that do not currently exist in the document.
As Doug pointed out, the option must be manually turned off once you have had the styles updated (that is, after saving and re-opening the document).
