Word: Styles get overwritten on another computer

Chris had a problem:

I’m having a problem with the styles in a client’s document. The client sends me the document. I edit it and send it back to the client. They then contact me and say, ‘all the formatting has disappeared’.

My response to Chris:

• Any styles you create often are overwritten by the styles of the same name on the client’s machine if you haven’t specified a template and/or the client isn’t using that template. Does the client have the template you’re using for the styles/formatting installed? My guess is that they don’t and/or you haven’t set the path to the template in the Word document (Word 2007/2010: Developer tab > Document Template).
• Also, make sure when you send the document that Automatically Update Styles is TURNED OFF (Word 2007/2010: Developer tab > Document Template). That’s a guaranteed way to stuff up the styles.

And the solution that worked for Chris:

Thanks for your advice: the client had the automatically update styles check-box ticked. This was the problem. Amazing how such a ‘small thing’ can cause such a headache.

See also:

• http://wordribbon.tips.net/T011159_Making_Sure_Styles_Don_t_Update_Automatically.html

[Links last checked December 2011]

Has this tip helped you? Saved you time? Saved your skin? You can thank me by clicking the PayPal button (or this link) to buy me a coffee or to make a small contribution to this blog’s maintenance.