How to Restrict Style Changes in Microsoft Word

This tutorial shows how to restrict style changes in Microsoft Word.

My last software tutorial explained how to restrict Track Changes and comments in Word. Today, we will restrict style changes in Word.

Style includes things such as font, font size, font color, emphasis (i.e., italics, bold font, underlining), line spacing, and indentation.

We’ll also look at how to turn off style restrictions when they are no longer needed.

Reader Alert: This tutorial is for general knowledge only. The Microsoft Word protection features shown here should not be relied on to protect sensitive or classified documents.

This tutorial is available as a YouTube video showing all the steps in real time.

Watch more than 100 other writing-related software tutorials on my YouTube channel.

The images below are from Word for Microsoft 365. These steps also apply to Word 2021, Word 2019, and Word 2016. In addition, they are similar for Word 2013 and Word 2010.

How to Turn On Style Restrictions

Select the File tab in the ribbon.

File tab of Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 1. File tab

Select the Info tab in the Backstage view.

Info tab in Backstage view of Word 365/2019 — Figure 2. Info tab

Select the Protect Document button.

Protect Document button in the Backstage of Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 3. Protect Document button

Select Restrict Editing in the drop-down menu.

Restrict Editing in the Backstage of Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 4. Restrict Editing menu option

Check Limit formatting to a selection of styles in the Restrict Editing task pane.

"Limit formatting to a selection of styles" checkbox in the Restrict Editing pane in Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 5. “Limit formatting to a selection of styles” option

Select the Settings link.

Settings link in the Restrict Editing pane in Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 6. Settings link

Check Limit formatting to a selection of styles in the Formatting Restrictions dialog box.

"Limit formatting to a selection of styles" checkbox in the Formatting Restrictions dialog box in Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 7. “Limit formatting to a selection of styles” option

Check or uncheck the individual styles you want to allow from the Formatting Restrictions dialog box. Or, select one of the preset option buttons:

All checks every style option currently allowed in the document.

Recommended Minimum checks common style options currently allowed in the document but unchecks less common styles such as table and list formatting.

None unchecks all style options. Select this option if you want to prevent other Word users from making any style change.

"Checked styles are currently allowed" menu in the Formatting Restrictions dialog box of Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 8. “Checked styles are currently allowed” menu

Check or uncheck the three optional formatting choices:

Allow AutoFormat to override formatting restrictions lets AutoFormat supersede the options selected in the Formatting Restrictions dialog box. Unless you are using AutoFormat (which is not common), strongly consider unchecking this option.

Block Theme or Scheme switching prevents other users from changing the document to a different theme in the Design tab or to a separate scheme (such as a color scheme, which is not common).

Block Quick Style Set switching prevents other users from using the style options on the Home tab.

Formatting option checkboxes in the Formatting Restrictions dialog box in Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 9. Formatting options

Select the OK button.

OK button in the Formatting Restrictions dialog box in Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 10. OK button

Select Yes or No in the dialog box asking if you want to remove existing styles that aren’t allowed by the restrictions you just set in the Formatting Restrictions dialog box. Select No if you want to keep the current formatting in your document.

"Formatting or styles that aren't allowed" dialog box in Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 11. “Formatting or styles that aren’t allowed” dialog box

Select the Yes, Start Enforcing Protection button.

"Yes, Start Enforcing Protection" button in Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 12. “Yes, Start Enforcing Protection” button

Enter and reenter a password in the Start Enforcing Protection dialog box.

Start Enforcing Protection passsword text boxes in Word 365/Word 2019 — Figure 13. Password text boxes

Select the OK button.

OK button in the Start Enforcing Protection dialog box in Word 365/Word2019 — Figure 14. OK button

Word allows you to turn on your restrictions without a password by selecting OK in the Start Enforcing Protection dialog box. However, without a password, other users can simply turn off the restrictions themselves.

How to Turn Off Style Restrictions

The following steps show how to turn off style restrictions using the password entered in the previous section. Note that this process won’t turn off the style restrictions for password-protected copies of files you have shared with other users.