Backup Word settings

Does this cover everything?

Not necessarily... it depends on what customizations you've made.

If you've created your own templates (*.dotx or *.dotm files), by default those are also in the folder %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates and need to be backed up along with the Normal.dotm file. If you've deliberately saved them in a different folder, back them up from there. For instance, if you wrote macros in templates for add-ins, they'll be in %appdata%\Microsoft\Word\Startup.

If you saved any Quick Parts (AutoText or other kinds) anywhere other than Normal.dotm, back them up. In particular, look at %appdata%\Microsoft\Document Building Blocks\1033\Building Blocks.dotx, and back it up if its Modified date is recent. (If you use languages other than US English, check the files in the numbered folders next to 1033.)

If you installed and used fonts that didn't come with Office, back them up. Some will be in C:\Windows\Fonts along with those installed with Office or Windows. Ones downloaded from Microsoft will be in folders within C:\Users<your login name>\AppData\Local\Microsoft\FontCache\4\CloudFonts.

If you added words to the spell-checking dictionary, back up the file %appdata%\Microsoft\Proof\Custom.dic. Also, look at the folder %appdata%\Microsoft\Office\16.0, which contains one or more subfolders with random hexadecimal numbers as names. Open the most recently modified subfolder, open the Proofing folder there, and back up the RoamingCustom.dic file it contains.

If you created any new "plain text" items in the AutoCorrect dialog, those will be in one or more of the *.acl files in %appdata%\Microsoft\Office, each for a different language; for example, MSO1033.acl is for US English.

It may be useful to back up Word's section of the registry by exporting the key Computer\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word and all its contents from the Registry Editor. The File > Export command on the menu will create a .reg file of the selected key (you must supply the file name and path) that can be used to restore all the values in that key and its subkeys.

You should read the article https://wordmvp.com/FAQs/General/FilesToBackup.htm although it's old and some of it no longer applies to current versions.

One last bit of advice: The easiest way to be certain that you backed up everything you may need to restore is to make an image backup, a snapshot of the entire drive that contains all your files and settings.

All of those are contained in your Normal.dotm file by default.

1. Close Word.
2. Open a file window.
3. In the address bar, paste:
   %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates
4. Copy Normal.dotm to a secure location.

See Moving (Sharing) Customizations in Microsoft Word for as complete a list as I can give.

%appdata%\Microsoft\Templates is a "shortcut" to the folder where Word's templates are stored, by default. You can access that folder via the Run dialog box. Hold the Windows logo key as you press R; in the dialog box, paste %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates and press Enter. Normal.dotm will be in that folder.

For more on what to back up, see the replies provided by Jay and Charles.

Thanks

Does this cover everything?