Office 365/Office/MS Word-On opening a NEW Document

Question

Hi There

Every time I open a NEW document the default settings are as follows:

• 2 columns
• narrow margins
• Language set on English United States
• Font Calibri body 11
• No proper numbering

How do I reset this to reflect as follows:

• No column
• normal margins 2.54 all round
• Language set to English South Africa
• Font Verdana 10
• Add my standard numbering

Would you kindly assist in having these settings changed that every time I open a new document it is already a standard document and has no columns at all unless I have added it myself.

Looking forward to your response as this is driving me nuts having to change these setting manually every time I start a new document.

Answer 1

Hey,

These settings are based on a document template.

Please see the article below which should help you to configure a suitable document template:

[https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-template-86a1d089-5ae2-4d53-9042-1191bce57deb

Or, you can adjust most the settings you're after, then set them to the template you're using:

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

Thanks Tom

I am not trying to set up a template though. So if I am wanting to write a letter every time I open a word document I have two columns and narrow margins. I am just tired of having to change it every time I open word and create any document change these settings. It's never been a default setting before only the last 2 months or so have the default setting changed from normal no columns and normal 2.54 margins all round.

Answer 3

Hi @Tanya De Lange

For language, please go to File > Options > Language, add and set English (South Africa) as preferred.

If you want to set default formats for new Word document, you need to modify the templates.

• Please close all the files of Office and go to File explorer > View in Show/hide group > check the box of "Hidden Items".
• Go to C:\Users<user name >\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates, then find the Normal.dotm and rename it as a backup. This file will be automatically generated when reopen Word.
• Then please find the new Normal.dotm, right click it to edit it, and then you can modify the margin and formats as you need.
• You can save it and open a new Word document to have a check.

---

If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable e-mail notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

---