Styles won't apply

[Guest]

I created a new style in Word and set it up so that the next paragraph is a
different style. However, when I use that style and hit Enter, the next
paragraph is the same style as the previous one.

Even worse, when I select the new paragraph and then click on the style I
want to use, it won't change it -- it just keeps its current setting.

I don't think this was always the case -- is it possible that some recent
update broke this feature?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Two possible factors:

1. If you press Enter in the middle of an existing paragraph, you break it
into two paragraphs in the same style. The "following style" applies only
when you press Enter at the end of a paragraph.

2. In recent versions of Word, you can apply a paragraph style only by
selecting the entire paragraph or having the selection collapsed to a point.
If you inadvertently select one or more characters in the paragraph, the
style is applied to those characters as a character style.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for writing back, but neither of the situations you mention apply.

1. I am pressing Enter after I finish typing a paragraph. I've even turned
on the feature that shows paragraph marks to be sure.

2. I don't know what you mean by "having the selection collapsed to a
point", but I am definitely selecting the entire paragraph and trying to
apply a style to it but it just won't accept it.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

2. I don't know what you mean by "having the selection collapsed to a

point", but I am definitely selecting the entire paragraph and trying to
apply a style to it but it just won't accept it.

It means just having the cursor in it, nothing actually selected. Try it
that way, instead of selecting.

 

[Klaus Linke]

Also, make sure that the styles you are dealing with are paragraph styles:
They have a ¶ to the right of the style name.
Unfortunately, the latest versions of Word often create character styles with the same name as existing paragraph styles, so that might be confusing.

Regards,
Klaus