Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. 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: Resetting Paragraph Formatting.

Resetting Paragraph Formatting

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated February 6, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021

If you are using styles in your documents, you can reset a paragraph to the default settings (according to the assigned style) by positioning the insertion point anywhere within the paragraph and pressing Ctrl+Q.

If you are creating macros you can achieve the same effect by using the Selection.Paragraphs.Reset method. This command counteracts the effects of any alignment, spacing, tabs, indentation, or pagination that was done manually to the paragraph. The method returns the current paragraph (the one that is selected or where the insertion point is located) to the default paragraph specifications based on the style assigned to the paragraph.

Note:

If you would like to know how to use the macros described on this page (or on any other page on the WordTips sites), I've prepared a special page that includes helpful information. Click here to open that special page in a new browser tab.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (12933) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2021. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Resetting Paragraph Formatting.

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. Learn more about Allen...

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