Word Paragraph Defaults Not Working

Question

I cannot get a change to the Word Paragraph Defaults to stick.  Particularly, if I check "Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style," and then try all manner of saves (Set Default, OK), and select to make the change to all documents using normal.dotx, the change does not survive the current document.  Neither does it apply to the current document in paragraphs already typed (this latter problem is not the issue, as I really care about setting it for future use).

Answer 1

Certain add-ins prevent Normal.dotm from being saved, so your changes to defaults are not saved. If you have an HP computer, likely you have PDF Complete, which is the most notorious offender. The ultimate solution is to identify the problem add-in and disable or remove it, but a temporary workaround is to open the Normal template for editing and make the changes directly there. An easy way to do that is this:

In Word, press Alt+F11; the Visual Basic Editor opens. Press Ctrl+G to activate the Immediate window. In that window, type (or paste)

NormalTemplate.OpenAsDocument

and press Enter. Normal opens, but note that it may not be on top of all windows. You can close the Visual Basic Editor. Make the desired changes to the Normal file, and then save and close it. If the changes you have made have not been recognized as changes (the Undobutton is not activated), press Spacebar, then Backspace to “dirty” the file, thus ensuring that the template will actually be saved.

Answer 2

Text boxes by default use the Normal style, so if you've modified either Normal or the document defaults, these should be effective in text boxes. A page break can (depending on settings) take on the formatting of the following paragraph; make sure you have a paragraph mark before the page break.

Answer 3

This works for everything except text boxes.  I can't find a way to change that default and it's getting on my nerves.  I don't understand why it's designed this way.  Everything seems screwy with word; page breaks (Ctrl+enter) leave weird formatting items before them that cause text and bullet points to start in the center of the line, and trying to get pictures into documents is just plain screwy.  It's really a shame that software we pay so much for is so dysfunctional.

Answer 4

Yes, you can open Normal as you would a document. The problem for many users is difficulty in locating it. Now that it's in your Recent list, you can pin it to make it more accessible.

As for identifying problem add-ins, look at the Add-ins tab in File | Options. If you see add-ins you know you don't need, you can disable them. Then try disabling others one at a time and testing, or you can disable them all and add them back in one at a time. Neither of the ones you mention sounds like a likely culprit. But if changes you subsequently make are saved, then it may be that failure to save Normal.dotm was not the problem. If you are prompted to save it when you quit Word, of course you must answer yes (if you've made changes you want saved).

Answer 5

This worked.  I will assume that simply opening Normal.dotm in Word (which is now in the "open" list when launching Word), and then saving it, will also work.

I do not have PDF Complete, though I do have an HP computer.  I did a clean install of a retail version of MS and an install of MS Office 365 Small Business.  As you can see, I do have Acrobat PDFMaker for Office.

How do I identify offending add-in?  The only ones that look like they could qualify are PDFMaker and Visual Studio Tools for Office Design -- Time Adapter for Word