Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Duplicating Styles without Dependency.

Duplicating Styles without Dependency

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated June 4, 2022)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365


When you create a new style in Word, that style is typically based on an existing style. If you display the Modify Style dialog box, you can see that there is an option (Style Based On drop-down list) that allows the current style to inherit the characteristics of a style on which it is based.

If you create a new style using Word's inherent "style by example" capability, the new style is automatically based on the old style in the text. You can see this if you format a paragraph with the Normal style, and then apply some explicit formatting to it. Then, with the insertion point still in that paragraph, create a new style. (Click the down-arrow at the bottom-right corner of the style gallery on the Home tab of the ribbon and then choose Save Selection as a New Quick Style.) If you then display the Modify Style dialog box for this new style, you'll see that the Style Based On drop-down is set to Normal, the original style for the paragraph.

So how do you go about duplicating a style without the Style Based On being set to any other style? There seems to be no way to do this in Word. Some WordTips subscribers suggested using the Organizer to create the style, in this manner:

  1. Start with two documents—your original document and a new, blank document. You'll need to save the new document to disk so it can be accessed by the Organizer.
  2. In your original document, create the two styles—your original style and a new one that is based on that style.
  3. Use the Organizer to copy the two styles from the original document to the new, blank document.
  4. In the new, blank document, rename both styles.
  5. Use the Organizer to copy the second style back to the original document.

The rationale is that this copied style will no longer be based on any existing style, since the original style was not copied back with it, and there is no style in the original document that bears the new name of the original style. The only problem is that when the Organizer copies the style back to the original document, it doesn't set the Style Based On drop-down to (no style), it sets it instead to Normal. In other words, you are still in the same predicament, and you still need to display the Style Based On drop-down to manually change to (no style).

The bottom line is that, short of a macro, the easiest solution is to duplicate the style using the "style by example" capability and then set the Style Based On drop-down for the style to (no style). Displaying the Modify Style dialog box may be tiresome, but there seems to be no other way around it.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8102) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Duplicating Styles without Dependency.

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

Centering a Table

Left-justified tables are great for many document designs, but you may want instead to center a table between the margins ...

Discover More

Using Duplex Printing

Need to print on both sides of a piece of paper? If your printer can handle it, you can duplex your output from within ...

Discover More

Determining Columns in a Range

If you need to know the number of columns in a particular range, you can use the COLUMNS worksheet function. This tip ...

Discover More

The First and Last Word on Word! Bestselling For Dummies author Dan Gookin puts his usual fun and friendly candor back to work to show you how to navigate Word 2019. Spend more time working and less time trying to figure it all out! Check out Word 2019 For Dummies today!

More WordTips (ribbon)

Changing Styles

Styles are a great boon to making your documents look better and making them easier to update. You can change the ...

Discover More

Unwanted Styles

Want to get rid of some styles in a document that you don't need any more? It can be a difficult thing to do, unless you ...

Discover More

Pasted Text Not Formatted as Expected

Copying and pasting information is a common practice in Word. How the program should handle formatting (especially styled ...

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 seven more than 3?

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.