[Word 2013] Formatting undone by Word + "undo" grayed out!

[New Daddy]

This is a really weird experience, one I've never had with previous versions of Word.

I don't know what triggered this (I may have pressed Ctrl+S to save), but some of the character/paragraph formatting that I've applied are gone, and, to add insult to injury, the "undo" button is grayed out.

Does anyone have any idea what's going on here?

[HansV]

Do you have any add-ins installed? Some add-ins cause weird behavior.

[New Daddy]

Do you have any add-ins installed? Some add-ins cause weird behavior.

Yes, I do have a few add-ins.

I also suspect that the fact that the style was designated as a "paragraph style" rather than "font & paragraph" style may have had to do with it, although it doesn't explain why paragraph formatting, not just font formatting was also undone.
I really can't wrap my head around this paragraph style vs. font/paragraph style. In previous versions of Word, a "style" contained more than just font properties and paragraph properties; there were border/shade properties and bullet point properties too.

[HansV]

If the problem occurs again, you might try disabling the add-ins temporarily.

[kdock]

Do you have Automatically update document styles turned on? Tools > Templates & Addins > make sure box at the top is unchecked.

Kim

[New Daddy]

Do you have Automatically update document styles turned on? Tools > Templates & Addins > make sure box at the top is unchecked.

Kim

No. I suspected it at first too.

[New Daddy]

This is part of a more general problem: saving the document sometimes clears the "undo" stack! This is really unnerving, because I press Ctrl+S out of habit, to prevent loss of hours of work. I understand that some Office apps -- Excel does that, right? -- clears the undo stack when you save the file, but Word never had that bad behavior.

[Jay Freedman]

I've never had Word 2013 clear the undo stack on saving. It just doesn't. The only action native to Word (any version) that clears the stack is unprotecting a legacy form.

However, like the style change, it could be something done by an add-in. That explanation is especially likely if it happens only when certain (unknown to you) conditions exist, which would appear as a "random" event. As an extreme example, I could write a very short macro that clears the undo stack only when you save a document after 5:00 PM on Thursdays. [Hmm... ]

So do follow Hans's advice to disable add-ins, and then be aware of the state of the undo stack each time you save. If it still empties occasionally, try to isolate whatever might be common to those occurrences -- type of document, contents of the document, what actions you did recently, etc.

[kdock]

I agree with Jay Freedman, something you've got running in the background is clearing your undo stack. I use code that does this deliberately, but not invisibly. It's probably some routine that's "cleaning up" after itself. Well-meaning, but ultimately destructive.

If you can correlate the undo problem with one of the add-ins, you'll have a better idea on how to proceed. You may find it's being generated by an add-in you can't live without. If you share them with the lounge, we might recognize it...

Kim

[New Daddy]

I agree with Jay Freedman, something you've got running in the background is clearing your undo stack. I use code that does this deliberately, but not invisibly. It's probably some routine that's "cleaning up" after itself. Well-meaning, but ultimately destructive.

If you can correlate the undo problem with one of the add-ins, you'll have a better idea on how to proceed. You may find it's being generated by an add-in you can't live without. If you share them with the lounge, we might recognize it...

Kim

When you say "add-ins", you mean the ones under the "Developer"-Add ins, right? Both "(template and) Add Ins" and "Com Add ins"?

Ok, I'll do what everyone suggested.

[kdock]

Yes. Misread 2013 -- thought it was 2003. I've gotta get my eyes checked!

Developer Tab > Templates Group > Document Template button.