Moving Building Blocks

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 25, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365


Gay has a number of building blocks defined, all of which are stored in her Normal template. When the Normal template is replaced by her IT department, all of Gay's custom building blocks are wiped out. She wonders if there is a way to transfer building blocks from one template to another so that she can save her building blocks.

Fortunately, there is a way to do just this—use the Building Blocks Organizer (Insert | Text | Quick Parts | Building Blocks Organizer). Select the building block you want to move, click Edit Properties, and simply change the "Save In" location.

Now, that being said, there is probably an easier way to manage your building blocks. Microsoft allows building blocks to be stored in any template you desire but has designated a special template exactly for this use. Instead of storing your building blocks in the Normal template, store them in the special Building Blocks.dotx template. In order to move building blocks to this template, use the Building Block Organizer as previously noted, but change the "Save In" location to Building Blocks.dotx.

If you choose to store your Building Blocks in Building Blocks.dotx, then there is less chance for them to be overwritten when your IT department updates the Normal template. If, however, your IT department automatically replaces Building Blocks.dotx when they update your system, then you will still be left with the approach of moving individual building blocks, as described earlier. (Of course, you could avoid that problem all together if you put your Building Blocks in a custom template and make sure you attach that template to all your documents.)

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (3873) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Hyperlinks to Charts

You can create hyperlinks to all sorts of worksheets in a workbook, but you cannot create a hyperlink to a chart sheet. ...

Discover More

Advanced Filtering

Many people know how to use AutoFilter, but there are times when you need some more filtering muscle. Here's how you can ...

Discover More

Keeping Part of a Paragraph with the Next Block of Text

If you are a WordPerfect user, you may be very familiar with the block-protect feature and wonder if there is a similar ...

Discover More

Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Replacing All Building Blocks

Word's Building Blocks can be a great tool to improve your productivity when writing. Depending on the type of writing ...

Discover More

Reloading Building Blocks

Building Blocks can be a powerful tool for document creation in Word. Saving your Building Blocks and reloading them into ...

Discover More

Understanding Building Blocks

Ever wonder what the Building Blocks feature does in Word? Here's an explanation of the feature and what you can do with it.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five minus 5?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the ribbon interface (Word 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the menu interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.