Please Note: This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here: Deleting Unwanted Styles.
Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated January 21, 2023)
This tip applies to Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365
When you work with other people who use Excel, it is not unusual to copy worksheets from their workbooks into your own workbook. When you do so, the worksheet isn't the only thing that is copied—Excel also copies their formatting styles to your workbook. Manually deleting the unwanted styles can be a hassle, depending on the number of styles. Removing user-defined styles is very easy, though, if you use a macro. The following macro will quickly delete the unwanted styles:
Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Excel versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Excel 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Excel, click here:
Sub StyleKill()
Dim styT As Style
Dim intRet As Integer
For Each styT In ActiveWorkbook.Styles
If Not styT.BuiltIn Then
intRet = MsgBox("Delete style '" & styT.Name & "'?", vbYesNo)
If intRet = vbYes Then styT.Delete
End If
Next styT
End Sub
The macro needs just a little user input. Whenever the macro detects a user-defined style, you are asked if you want to delete it. Clicking on the Yes button causes the style to be removed from the workbook.
You should be aware of the limitations of a macro approach such as this. The biggest limitation is that if your workbook is corrupted in any way (and, yes, it is very possible to have corruption in the styles in a workbook), this macro won't fix that corruption. Instead, you may want to look at a handy third-party solution (XLStylesTool) that can work wonders if you need to clean up your styles in a more comprehensive manner. You can find more information about XLStylesTool here:
https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/xlstylestool/9WZDNCRFJPTG
Note:
ExcelTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Excel training. This tip (12259) applies to Microsoft Excel 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, 2021, and Excel in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Excel here: Deleting Unwanted Styles.
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2023-01-22 10:28:35
J. Woolley
My Excel Toolbox includes the following dynamic array function to return all styles for the formula cell's workbook:
=ListStyles([SkipHeader])
Expect 2 columns (Name, Built-in), where Built-in is FALSE for a user-defined style. Here is an abbreviated version:
Function ListStyles()
    Dim oWB As Workbook, A() As Variant
    Dim nRows As Long, n As Long
    Set oWB = Application.Caller.Parent.Parent
    nRows = oWB.Styles.Count
    If nRows = 0 Then
        ListStyles = "No Styles"
        Exit Function
    End If
    ReDim A(1 To nRows, 1 To 2)
    For n = 1 To nRows
        With oWB.Styles(n)
            A(n, 1) = .Name
            A(n, 2) = .BuiltIn
        End With
    Next n
    ListStyles = A
End Function
When using pre-2021 versions of Excel without support for dynamic arrays, consider UseSpillArray.pdf.
See https://sites.google.com/view/MyExcelToolbox
Got a version of Excel that uses the ribbon interface (Excel 2007 or later)? This site is for you! If you use an earlier version of Excel, visit our ExcelTips site focusing on the menu interface.
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