How to remove direct formatting in a Word document

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In Microsoft Word, nonstop formatting is large erstwhile utilized conservatively, but removing it successful a papers littered with it is difficult. These Word tips mightiness help.

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As a wide rule, I urge utilizing arsenic small nonstop formatting successful Microsoft Word arsenic possible. It's hard to way and, if you alteration your mind, you tin find yourself with a tedious and time-consuming task: manually removing a batch of formatting.

Direct formatting is the formatting you use manually, specified arsenic clicking the Bold oregon Italics button–it isn't portion of the applied style. Sometimes it's not adjacent formatting you applied–lots of america inherit documents that request revamping.

The bully quality is that you don't person to region nonstop formats 1 by one: There are ways to rapidly region nonstop formatting. There's besides a method that you mightiness effort to apply, but it won't enactment arsenic you expect. In this article, I'll amusement you what to bash and what not to discarded your clip on.

I'm utilizing Microsoft 365 (desktop), but you tin usage earlier versions. You tin enactment with your ain record oregon download the objection .docx and .doc files. This nonfiction isn't applicable to Word Online.

SEE: Windows 11 cheat sheet: Everything you request to cognize (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

What not to bash

You would deliberation that styles tin beryllium adjuvant erstwhile you privation to region each nonstop formatting. Figure A shows a hideous papers (on purpose). Let's prime the full papers and use the Normal benignant to spot what happens. To prime each the content, property Ctrl + a. To use Normal, click Normal successful the Styles radical connected the Home tab. Figure B shows the results, and they're not good.

Figure A

Figure B

This is decidedly frustrating. Here's the wide rule: nonstop formatting takes precedence implicit styles. But there's more.

If little than fractional of the substance successful a paragraph is nonstop formatting, Word keeps the nonstop formatting. Consequently, reapplying Normal doesn't alteration the formatting successful the 2nd oregon 5th paragraph, but this aforesaid regularisation removes the bold from the archetypal paragraph; however, it doesn't region the reddish font from the 4th paragraph. Because that paragraph is much than half, you mightiness expect Word to region the reddish font arsenic it did the bold font successful paragraph one. Some formats, adjacent erstwhile applied to the full paragraph, are really character-level formats, and a benignant won't override them.

There are a batch of rules successful play, and they marque consciousness erstwhile you deliberation astir them, but due to the fact that of these rules, this is the slightest effectual method. I see it to support you from trying it and being frustrated erstwhile it doesn't work. Now let's look astatine a elemental method that works immoderate of the clip and mightiness beryllium a bully prime successful a tiny Word document.

Method 1: Ctrl + Spacebar

Perhaps the astir reliable method to wide astir each direct formatting is to usage Ctrl + Spacebar. Again, we'll commencement by pressing Ctrl + a to prime the full document. Next, property Ctrl + Spacebar. As you tin spot successful Figure C, this does a overmuch amended job–only the item colour successful the 2nd paragraph remains.

Figure C

A item is neither a font format nor a paragraph format. The lone mode to region a item is to prime that substance and acceptable the Highlight to No Color.

Note: This method volition not region applied styles–it removes lone nonstop formatting. This mightiness substance successful a Word papers that has a batch of antithetic styles applied. It mightiness beryllium easier to manually region the highlights than to commencement over. Now, let's look astatine a method that removes each formatting, including applied styles.

Method 2: prevention arsenic a .txt record

The lone mode to get escaped of everything is to prevention the record arsenic a .txt record (plain text), adjacent it and past reopen it successful Word. From the File menu, take Save As oregon Save A Copy (if you're synching with OneDrive). From the record benignant control, take Plain Text (.txt) and click Save. Be definite you springiness the caller .txt papers a caller sanction truthful you tin propulsion up the archetypal if needed.

When you instrumentality to the document, the formatting remains. Close the papers and reopen it. The formatting, including the item and the styles, are gone (Figure D). Now you tin statesman to reformat the papers from scratch–that includes styles. After reformatting, beryllium definite to prevention the record arsenic a .docx file; if you permission it arsenic .txt, Word won't prevention the caller formatting.

Figure D

When starting a caller Word doc mightiness beryllium champion

Direct formatting isn't atrocious but use it conservatively. If you use the aforesaid nonstop formatting a lot, see creating a caller benignant that includes that format. You could besides modify Normal if you're the lone 1 you person to reply to.

In the end, there's nary mode to rapidly region nonstop formats that you don't privation and permission others that you bash want. If the document's large enough, sometimes it's champion to commencement implicit by removing each the formats, including styles, and starting over.