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parksite_karl
parksite_karl
Participant
June 3, 2026
Answered

How to Apply Eyedropper Formatting Only to Selected Text in InDesign

  • June 3, 2026
  • 3 replies
  • 37 views

Already posted in user voice, but duplicating here as I rarely see answers in that forum…  Wondering if anyone is seeing this?

Previously, the Eyedropper allowed formatting to be applied only to selected text. In 21.4, it now applies formatting to the entire text block, regardless of what is highlighted. Even worse, there appears to be no way to apply a style with the eyedropper only to selected text or to text selected after picking a style with the eyedropper

This completely destroys an established workflow relied on for years.

What makes this even more frustrating is that after discovering the issue, I rolled back to version 21.3. The behavior remained exactly the same, meaning the update appears to have permanently altered functionality even after reverting to the previous version.

This is not a minor annoyance—it's a significant regression that fundamentally changes how text formatting works. A core editing tool has become far less usable, and users are being forced to completely rethink their workflow without warning.

Frankly, this level of reliability is unacceptable. An update should not break basic functionality, nor should its effects persist after rolling back. I would appreciate confirmation that this is a known bug and information on when a fix can be expected.

    Correct answer Mike Witherell

    Just double-click the Eyedropper tool and turn on or off the parts you want.

    3 replies

    Barb Binder
    Community Expert
    Barb BinderCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    June 3, 2026

    You are doing it differently than me: highlighting with the Eyedropper tool and then applying, but that works for me too in 21.4 (I updated to answer your question so can’t check 21.3.)

    Can you share your top level Eyedropper settings? Double click the Eyedropper tool. Do they look like this?

     

    And to double check, you made it to the very bottom of that post and deleted the hidden files?

    EDIT: It looks like Mike took care of this for you. I didn’t see his post!

    ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
    parksite_karl
    parksite_karlAuthor
    Participant
    June 3, 2026

    Yes, now my setting look like that.  When I updated, it must have checked every setting which was not the case before, I assume.  The behavior that changed lies somewhere in the Paragraph settings.  Not sure which one changes the whole text box.  I will have to figure that out for myself.  

     

    In terms of your roadmap to repairing Preferences, Yes.  I did complete the entire list step by step, includin the Hidden Files step.  Thank you for that.  I will definitely try that when running into any issues!  Have a great day!

      Mike Witherell
      Community Expert
      Mike WitherellCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
      Community Expert
      June 3, 2026

      Just double-click the Eyedropper tool and turn on or off the parts you want.

      Mike Witherell
        parksite_karl
        parksite_karlAuthor
        Participant
        June 3, 2026

        Also something I was not aware of.  Yes.  Apparently updating Indesign changed these settings for me.  And then they remained changed when I rolled back.  This corrected my issue.  Still not sure why Paragraph setting would change the entire text block, when only highlighting or applying a portion of the text though.  Although that being checked is the culprit.

         

        Thank you very much

        Barb Binder
        Community Expert
        Barb BinderCommunity Expert
        Community Expert
        June 3, 2026

        Hi ​@parksite_karl:

        I understand your frustration, but I’m not able to recreate it. 

        / 

         Have your tried rebuilding cache/preferences? https://www.rockymountaintraining.com/adobe-indesign-rebuilding-preferences-cache/

        ~Barb at Rocky Mountain Training
        parksite_karl
        parksite_karlAuthor
        Participant
        June 3, 2026

        Hi Barb, thanks for that cache / preferences reset info.  I was completely unaware of that and maybe that will be helpful some day.  Today, not so much. 

        Just went through all of those methods to no avail. 

        Please see attached video for behavior.  What is so odd, is this did not behave this way this yesterday.  I updated to 21.4 this morning, witnessed this behavior and the unacceptable bug of not being able to move multiple objects and decided to revert back to 21.3.  And this bug now remains here.  Perhaps a setting got changed, but I have never seen the eye dropper work like this in my life.

         

        Thanks again.

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