Formatting is not applied to entire paragraph in Word 2002 and in Word 2003 (275965)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Office Word 2003
  • Microsoft Word 2002
This article was previously published under Q275965

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Office Word 2003 and in Microsoft Word 2002, after you apply formatting to a paragraph, and the new formatting creates a formatting selection in the Styles and Formatting pane, when you then attempt to apply the same formatting to another paragraph using the new selection in the Styles and Formatting pane, the formatting is not always applied to the entire paragraph.

CAUSE

This behavior can occur because a formatting style that contains only font properties behaves like a character style and is applied only to words that you have selected, not entire paragraphs. If a formatting style contains paragraph properties, such as center alignment, the formatting style then behaves like a paragraph style. The following examples illustrate this behavior.

Example 1: Character Style Formatting

  1. Start Word.
  2. On the Format menu, click Styles and Formatting.
  3. Create two paragraphs (each paragraph must contain at least two words).
  4. Select the entire first paragraph.
  5. On the Formatting toolbar, click Bold, and then click Italic.

    A new style appears in the Style and Formatting pane that includes Bold and Italic.
  6. Place the insertion point in the first word of the second paragraph.
  7. In the Styles and Formatting pane, click the new style. Note that the new style is applied only to the first word in the second paragraph.

Example 2: Paragraph Style Formatting

  1. Start Word.
  2. On the Format menu, click Styles and Formatting.
  3. Create two paragraphs (each paragraph must contain at least two words).
  4. Select the entire first paragraph.
  5. On the Formatting toolbar, click Bold, and then click Center.

    A new style appears in the Style and Formatting pane that includes Bold and Center.
  6. Place the insertion point in the first word of the second paragraph.
  7. In the Styles and Formatting pane, click the new style. Note that the new style is applied to the entire second paragraph.

WORKAROUND

To work around this issue, if you want a character (font) style to apply to an entire paragraph, select the entire paragraph, and then click the style that you want to apply.
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:7/27/2006
Keywords:kbprb KB275965
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