Customising Word Default Settings

When you create a new document in Word, the program loads a blank template called ‘normal.dot’ which contains all of the settings such as margin sizes, fonts etc for the document to use.

It is highly likely that the settings in the template supplied by Microsoft are not suitable for your purposes so you will want to change them, however having to do this every time you start a new document is real chore. By editing the normal.dot template you can make word start with your own setting every time.

  • Open Microsoft Word
  • Load the ‘normal.dot’ template, which can be located in C:Program FilesMicrosoft OfficeTemplates
  • Make any necessary changes to the document such as font sizes, margins, page layout etc.
  • Save the file, use any filename you like, but give it the extension “.dot”
  • Exit Word, and start up Windows Explorer (or ‘My Computer’ if you prefer)
  • Locate and delete the file normal.dot
  • Copy the file you created above to the directory containing the original normal.dot, and rename it normal.dot – Word will now use this file as the basis for all new documents.