How to Undo a Linked Heading Style

Question

How to Undo a Linked Heading Style

Irenē Colthurst 25

I am copy editing a manuscript. The last line of body text at the end of Chapter 28 has the heading used for chapter numbering applied to it. That style is also linked somehow to the heading style for the Chapter 29 heading on the next page. I try to apply the normal body text heading to the line of text, and both shrink to the size of body text.

I have already selected the checkbox in the settings to delink the heading styles. The problem remains. So, how do I actually delink the heading styles on these two types of text so I can apply their separate heading styles?

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Answer accepted by question author

Xavier-D 13,110 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hello Irenē Colthurst

This may be happening because the last line of Chapter 28 and the Chapter 29 heading are still part of the same paragraph, even though they appear on separate lines or pages.

Here are what you can try:

Go to Home and select Show/Hide ¶ to display the formatting marks. Check the symbol after the last line of Chapter 28. If you see a bent arrow ↵ instead of a paragraph mark**¶**, delete it and press Enter.
Click anywhere in the body-text paragraph and apply your normal body-text style.
Click in the Chapter 29 heading and apply the chapter-heading style.

The Disable linked styles setting does not separate text that belongs to the same paragraph, so both sections must first have their own paragraph marks.

If they are already separate paragraphs, select the affected body text, choose Home > Clear All Formatting, and then apply the correct body-text style again.

I hope this helps restore the correct formatting for both sections.

Feel free reply back to this post and update me on this issue, I'll be happy to help.

Irenē Colthurst 25 Reputation points

2026-07-17T14:02:43.1533333+00:00

Hi Xavier,

Thank you! That did work to solve the core issue, although I did not see an arrow symbol on that line; there was simply no formatting mark of any kind at the end of the line when I clicked the formatting view. But after adding the pilcrow to the body text line, I could apply the chapter heading to Chapter 29.
Xavier-D 13,110 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-19T01:14:05.0533333+00:00

Hi Irenē Colthurst

I’m glad adding the paragraph mark separated the two sections and allowed you to apply the chapter heading correctly.

Since the formatting is now working as intended, the issue appears to be resolved. Thank you for confirming what worked, and I hope the rest of your copy editing goes smoothly.

Best regards

1 additional answer

Your answer

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Irenē Colthurst 25 Reputation points

2026-07-17T14:02:43.1533333+00:00

Hi Xavier,

Thank you! That did work to solve the core issue, although I did not see an arrow symbol on that line; there was simply no formatting mark of any kind at the end of the line when I clicked the formatting view. But after adding the pilcrow to the body text line, I could apply the chapter heading to Chapter 29.
Xavier-D 13,110 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-07-19T01:14:05.0533333+00:00

Hi Irenē Colthurst

I’m glad adding the paragraph mark separated the two sections and allowed you to apply the chapter heading correctly.

Since the formatting is now working as intended, the issue appears to be resolved. Thank you for confirming what worked, and I hope the rest of your copy editing goes smoothly.

Best regards

Answer 1

Stefan Blom 352.4K MVP Volunteer Moderator

[---] there was simply no formatting mark of any kind at the end of the line when I clicked the formatting view. But after adding the pilcrow to the body text line, I could apply the chapter heading to Chapter 29.

Is there a manual page break that separates the two paragraphs? In that case, formatting may "spill over" onto the next page, unless you add a paragraph mark as well, by pressing Enter. This is an old limitation in Word.

With nonprinting marks displayed, pressing Enter adds a pilcrow, as you said, and the pilcrow represents a paragraph mark.

Irenē Colthurst 25 Reputation points

2026-07-17T15:33:24.3733333+00:00

Yes, there is a page break after that last line of Chapter 28. Should I move it or do something else? I added a paragraph break at the end of the text line, and after I did that it became possible to apply separate heading styles to the line of body text and the chapter heading for Chapter 29, respectively.
Stefan Blom 352.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-17T18:59:23.6733333+00:00

Yes, there is a page break after that last line of Chapter 28. Should I move it or do something else? I added a paragraph break at the end of the text line, and after I did that it became possible to apply separate heading styles to the line of body text and the chapter heading for Chapter 29, respectively.

Pressing Enter will work, as you have seen.

However, if appropriate, you can add "Page break before" formatting into the heading style, as an alternative. That way, you can avoid manual page breaks. Of course, this will only be helpful if you always need a new page following the heading level that you use for chapters (usually Heading 1).
Irenē Colthurst 25 Reputation points

2026-07-18T22:00:22.7933333+00:00

Should I move the page break at the end of Chapter 28? It seems to be lower down the page than the breaks at the ends of the other chapters, and there is still a Tracked Change around it.

How would I do that, if I need to?
Stefan Blom 352.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator

2026-07-19T09:20:45.78+00:00

Should I move the page break at the end of Chapter 28? It seems to be lower down the page than the breaks at the ends of the other chapters, and there is still a Tracked Change around it.

How would I do that, if I need to?

Generally, you don't need to move the manual page break as long as it is separated from the following paragraph by a paragraph mark, as discussed earlier.

My suggestion was to replace manual page breaks with "Page break before" formatting, if appropriate. You can only do this if all your Heading 1 paragraphs should start a new page. If you want to try this, post back. But I think you are OK for now with a combined page break and para mark.

Tracked changes do complicate matters a bit. You may always see inconsistencies in formatting until after you have accepted (or rejected) changes and stopped the tracking.