Word: Use the Organizer to copy macros, styles from one document to another

You’ve set up a terrific style in a document and now you want to copy that style to your main template or to another document. Or perhaps you have a macro assigned to a particular document or template that you want to use in another document or template.

While there are several ways to deal with a macro (e.g. copy/paste the code from one document to another, or store the macro in a special macros file), copying a style from one document to another is not so simple. The hard way is to write down or print out all the style’s settings and then re-create the style in the other document. But that method is for masochists!

There’s a much simpler way — use Word’s Organizer function. It’s been around for years, but most people aren’t aware of it. Power users, of course, have probably been using it forever!

Note: The screen shots below are from Word 2003; the Word 2007 screens are almost exactly the same.

1. Open the Templates and Add-ins dialog box:
   • Word 2003: From the menu, select Tools > Templates and Add-ins.
   • Word 2007/2010: Go to the Developer tab > Templates group, then click Document Template. (If you don’t have the Developer tab [see the Notes below], you can access the Organizer from the Manage Styles dialog box (see Notes) — click the Import/Export button in the bottom left corner.)
2. Click the Organizer button at the bottom left of the Templates and Add-ins dialog box.
   
3. Select the tab for the type of object you want to copy — e.g. Styles or Macro Project Items. For this example, you’ll copy some styles from another document to the one you have open; the same method is used to copy macros.
4. Click Close File below the right panel. (You would usually close Normal.dot as you want to copy from another document, not the Normal template.)
   
5. Click Open File below the right panel. By default, Word opens your Templates folder and sets the file type as a Document Template (*.dot) file.
6. If you’re copying from another document and not a template, change the Files of type to Word Documents (*.doc, *.doc*), then navigate to the folder where the document you want to copy the styles from is stored.
7. Select the document you want to copy from, then click Open.
8. The name of the file you selected displays in the Styles available in field below the right panel in the Organizer dialog box.
9. In the right panel, select one or more styles that you want to copy. Use Ctrl+click and/or Shift+click to select multiple styles. In the screen shot below, I selected two Table styles.
   
10. Click the << Copy button in between the two panels to copy the styles from the document on the right to the document on the left (your current document).
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 for any other styles you want to copy. If a style of the same name already exists in your current document, you will be asked if you want to overwrite it. Click Yes or Yes to all if that’s what you want.
12. When you have finished, click Close. The styles you selected from the other document are now available in your current document.

Notes:

• To show the Developer tab in Word 2007: http://cybertext.wordpress.com/2010/11/22/word-2007-show-the-developer-tab/
• To show the Developer tab in Word 2010: http://cybertext.wordpress.com/2010/11/09/word-2010-developer-tab/
• To show the Manage Styles button, follow the first three steps in the Word 2007 section of this blog post: http://cybertext.wordpress.com/2009/08/12/word-set-the-styles-that-users-see-in-a-template/
• To make macros available to all your documents: http://cybertext.wordpress.com/2009/10/18/word-separate-out-macros-and-attach-them-to-all-documents/

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