Prevent formatting non-selected text

[Brainspin]

This drives me nuts both in MS Word and Libre Office:

I want to insert a heading in the text, but the previous paragraph gets reformatted too. I understand this is by design, although I cannot for my life understand who would want this to happen.

Is it possible to turn this behaviour off? It causes me a lot of unhappiness and distress while writing.

[mikekaganski]

I want to insert a heading in the text, but the previous paragraph gets reformatted too. I understand this is by design

No, but you seem to confuse what paragraph is. Your text seems to be one paragraph with line breaks that don’t start a new paragraph. So applying a paragraph style changes all the single paragraph, with all line breaks.

[Brainspin]

I use the styles.

1. I write some lines of normal text.
2. I touch the return button
3. I select Heading 3, in order to insert a heading for the next section

=> The previous paragraph/section gets reformatted to the Heading 3 font (I utter nasty words)

As above, but:

…
2) I touch return twice

3. I select Heading 3, and I can now insert a new heading without the previous paragraph getting reformatted, albeit with a much wider space above then I intended. (If i delete the excess space, the previous paragraph gets formatted as Heading 3 again).

There must be millions like me. Again: Where is the fanclub of this behaviour?

[mikekaganski]

There must be millions like me

Nope. Seems you are alone - or there are very few who have such a strange thing happening when you “touch the return button” once. Try enabling formatting marks, and check if “touching the return button” once inserts a new paragraph or a line break; check the same for two “touches”. If the former inserts a line break, then something funny is on a different level (OS sending different keycodes?)

[Brainspin]

Thank you for your kind answer.

[LeroyG]

@Brainspin,

You don’t tell how are you trying to insert a heading:

• if you select the text first then the style;
• if you select the style then write the text; or
• if you write the text and, without selecting it, select the style.

If you select from the end of a paragraph—line 1 in the image, to the beggining of the next paragraph—line 2 (or viceversa, from the beggining of 2 to the end of 1), and select a style, both paragraph (line 1 and lines 2 and 3) will receive the style.

Activating the button with a “¶” in the toolbar (menu View - Formating marks or Ctrl+F10) will show end of paragraphs—with “¶”, and line breaks—with a symbol like the Enter one.

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[Brainspin]

Thank you for answering!

I don’t select anything. Starting with an empty document,

1. I write som lines of text in the “Normal” style

2. I hit “Enter”, in order to insert a blank line

3. I select “Heading 3” from the top left meny, wishing to write a heading for the next section of text

=> The text I already has written in the “Normal” style is formatted to Heading 3.

Expected outcome (at least what I expected):

Unselected text will not be affected, I can write a heading in the style “Heading 3”, then contimue writing in the “Normal” style.

[EarnestAl]

Are you accidentally touching the SHIFT key at the same time as the ENTER key? That will give a line break and the behaviour you describe. A line break in View | Formatting marks looks like a backward-facing arrow with a bent up tail (just like the picture on the ENTER key).

Maybe there is something jamming one of your SHIFT keys on your keyboard. Do you have to have the CAPS LOCK light on to type normally? IF so it is a hardware problem.

[EarnestAl]

Have you got Sticky Keys turned on? The behaviour sounds like this accessibility feature could have been turned on. There are shortcut keys for it in Windows like pressing SHIFT 5 times in a row but in any operating system look for a operating system setting Accessibility and turn it off