WD97: Changing Text Formatting Changes Paragraph Formatting

ID: Q167392

The information in this article applies to:

Microsoft Word 97 for Windows

SYMPTOMS

If you select all of the text in a paragraph, excluding the paragraph mark, and change the font formatting of the text, the formatting changes are applied to the paragraph mark also. This affects any subsequent paragraphs when you press ENTER from any point within this paragraph. This functionality is different from earlier versions of Word.

NOTE: To see the paragraph mark and other nonprinting characters, click the Show/Hide button on the Standard toolbar.

CAUSE

When you apply font formatting to a selection of text that spans a paragraph, Word assumes you want to change the paragraph formatting even though you did not select the paragraph mark.

WORKAROUND

To format all of the text within a paragraph without affecting the paragraph formatting (excluding the paragraph mark), select all but one character of the paragraph and then apply the font formatting. Select the remaining character and apply the same font formatting.

MORE INFORMATION

In earlier versions of Word, if you want to apply character formatting to the paragraph mark, you must select it before you apply the font formatting; otherwise, the paragraph mark does not take on the new character formatting.

In Word 97, if all of the text in the paragraph is selected (excluding the paragraph mark), character formatting changes are applied not only to the text of the paragraph but also to the paragraph mark.

Selecting white space before or after the text has no effect on this behavior.

REFERENCES

For more information about character formatting, click the Office Assistant, type "character formatting," click Search, and then click one of the topics.

For more information about paragraph formatting, click the Office Assistant, type "troubleshooting paragraph formatting," click Search, and then click one of the topics.

NOTE: If the Assistant is hidden, click the Office Assistant button on the Standard toolbar. If Word Help is not installed on your computer, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID: Q120802
   TITLE     : Office: How to Add/Remove a Single Office
               Program or Component

For more information about formatting, please see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

     ARTICLE ID: Q159941
     TITLE: WD97: General Information about "Auto" Features in Word 97


     ARTICLE ID: Q108501
     TITLE: WD: Heading Numbering Command Changes Style, Paragraph 
                Formatting


     ARTICLE ID: Q161976
     TITLE: WD97: Reveal Formatting Help Tool Not Installed


     ARTICLE ID: Q123302
     TITLE: WD: How to Reset Character and Style Formatting in Word


     ARTICLE ID: Q97793
     TITLE: WD: Underline Formatting Does Not Appear at End of Line


     ARTICLE ID: Q158565
     TITLE: WD97: Character Format Functions Ignore Leading, Trailing 
                  Spaces

Additional query words: 97 word97

Keywords          : kbualink97 kbusage
Version           : 97
Platform          : WINDOWS
Hardware          : x86
Issue type        : kbprb

Last Reviewed: December 17, 1998