Microsoft Word: Clearing Unused Styles in Word Documents

Microsoft Word is a powerful word processing tool that comes with a plethora of features to help users create professional-looking documents. One of these features is the ability to apply styles to text, which can help make documents more visually appealing and easier to read. However, over time, a document can accumulate a large number of unused styles, which can clutter the style list and make it difficult to find the styles you need. In this article, we will show you how to clear unused styles in Microsoft Word documents.

Informational

This article is informational in nature, as it aims to provide readers with step-by-step instructions on how to clear unused styles in Microsoft Word documents.

Checking for Unused Styles

Before you can clear unused styles in your document, you need to know which styles are not being used. Here's how to check for unused styles:

Open your document in Microsoft Word.
Click on the "Home" tab.
Click on the "Styles" group.
Click on the "Styles Pane" button.
In the Styles Pane, click on the "Options" button.
Select "All styles" from the "Select styles to show" drop-down menu.
Select "In use" from the "Select how list is sorted" drop-down menu.
Click "OK".

This will display a list of all the styles in your document that are not being used.

Clearing Unused Styles - Manual

Once you have identified the unused styles in your document, you can clear them using the following steps:

Open your document in Microsoft Word.
Click on the "Home" tab.
Click on the "Styles" group.
Click on the "Styles Pane" button.
In the Styles Pane, right-click on the unused style you want to remove.
Select "Delete" from the context menu.
Click "Yes" to confirm the deletion.
Repeat these steps for each unused style you want to remove.

Clearing Unused Styles - Macro

Use this Macro to clear unused styles in a document: The Code will remove all unused styles from only the open document

Save document before doing this in case something goes wrong.
Open that document and press Alt + F11 that will open the VBA Editor
In the pane on the left, double click 'ThisDocument'
Copy and Paste the code below into that blank page
Click somewhere in the middle of that code and at the top, click the Play (run) button
Delete all code and close the VBA Editor

Sub DeleteUnusedStyles()

Dim aStyle As Style

For Each aStyle In ActiveDocument.Styles

If aStyle.BuiltIn = False Then

With ActiveDocument.Content.Find

.ClearFormatting

.Style = aStyle.NameLocal

.Execute FindText:="", Format:=True

If .Found = False Then aStyle.Delete

End With

End If

Next aStyle

End Sub

Conclusion

Clearing unused styles in Microsoft Word documents can help keep your style list organized and make it easier to find the styles you need. By following the steps outlined in this article, you can quickly and easily remove any unused styles from your document.