How to open Word styles pane automatically

There is no option built into Word to control display of the Styles Pane.

Remember, there is a keyboard shortcut to toggle display of the Styles Pane: Ctrl+Shift+Alt+S.

You could instead add the following macros to your Normal.dotm template.

Sub AutoOpen()
    ' Show Styles Pane in Versions 2016 and later (also works in 2010)
    Application.TaskPanes(wdTaskPaneFormatting).Visible = True
End Sub

and

Sub AutoNew()
    ' Show Styles Pane in Versions 2016 and later (also works in 2010)
    Application.TaskPanes(wdTaskPaneFormatting).Visible = True
End Sub

See https://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm for information on what to do with macros.

You could use my free Add-In.

https://addbalance.com/word/download.htm#NavPane

It gives control over both the Styles Pane and the Navigation Pane. It uses the above dialog to let you set the default visibility and set the display width of those panes. It has its own keyboard shortcut to display the dialog.

Dear @Kuula Juha,

I hope you’re having a good day. 

Thank you for your question.

The Styles pane is the task pane used to view and manage styles in a document and can be opened with: Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S or from Home > Styles.

Regarding your main question, I am not aware of a built-in Word option that forces the Styles pane to remain open automatically for every document.

A WordTips article discussing this exact scenario states that Word does not provide a native setting to keep the Styles pane open by default. The suggested workaround is to use a VBA macro (for example in Normal.dotm) that makes the Styles pane visible whenever Word starts or a document is opened.

For reference: Keeping the Styles Pane Open by Default

(This link is shared by community members for your convenience. It points to a third-party site that is not managed or verified by Microsoft. I can’t guarantee the quality, safety, or suitability of any content or software found there. Please review carefully and make sure you understand any potential risks before using it. )

Therefore, if the Styles pane previously stayed open consistently and now behaves differently for some documents, Word may simply be restoring different window states depending on how the document was opened or how the Word session was initialized.

If your goal is to guarantee that the Styles pane opens every time, a VBA-based solution is likely the closest available workaround

I hope this information helps point you in the right direction.

Warm regards,  

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