Why does my Microsoft Word program keep cancelling boldface commands and quote indentations?

I am assuming that you are using Word 2007 or later. You may have a Style being applied. How are you indicating bold text. One way is to highlight the area to be bold and click on the B icon on the Home tab, Font group. Another is to highlight the text and press Ctrl-B. I have always found it easier to type first and format later although you can format as you type.

Press Shift-F1 to open the Reveal Formatting task pane. Click in different areas to see what formatting is being applied in that area.

If that fails to identify your problem, go to the Control Panel as if you are going to uninstall Word. After you select the program to uninstall, but before you uninstall, you will see the option to Repair. Repair and it should fix any problem with Word.

EDIT: Also, either press Ctrl-Shift-* or click on the ¶ icon on the Home tab, Paragraph group. Either will show non-printing characters which may show your problem.