Word - changing document defaults
aka all about Normal.dotm
Before Christmas, Microsoft made another update blunder which deleted the key Microsoft Word normal.dotm file. That led to some questions from Office-Watch.com readers about normal.dotm and why it matters so much.
When you choose ‘Blank Document’ where does Word get the initial settings from?
After all, a ‘blank’ document isn’t really blank. It might not have any visible text but Word has to know what page size to use and many other basic settings. All the basic styles (Normal, Heading 1 etc.) need a font, font size, justification and a myriad of other adjustments.
On top of all that, there’s other personal configuration items like AutoText and Building Blocks that have to be saved somewhere.
It’s all in Normal.dotm (before Word 2007 it was normal.dot). Normal.dotm is the foundation for many Word documents.
A change to normal.dotm will affect any document (new or past) that’s based on that template.
Changing Settings
When you make default changes to Word document settings, you’ll given a choice about where to save it. Do you want it as the default setting for the current document or all documents based on the current template?
For example, the Font settings dialog has a ‘Set as Default’ button. Click on that and you’ll get this choice.
People get confused at this and probably click OK not realizing its importance.
This document only – the setting is saved in the current document only. It has no effect on any other document.
All documents based on the Normal.dotm template – changes the setting in the template (in this case normal.dotm).
Once you’ve changed a setting in Normal.dotm that setting will take effect in all documents based on that template. That can be great for consistency across many documents. But it’s most noticeable in a new document based on that template.
We’re going to focus on normal.dotm in this article. The same applies to other templates that are the basis for other documents.
Changing defaults for ‘blank document’
There are two ways to change the defaults for ‘Blank Document’. You can use ‘Set as Default’ buttons available in some Word dialogs or edit normal.dotm directly.
Set As Default
A common request is to change the default font for a blank document. Put the cursor on a line and make sure the Normal style is selection from Home | Styles. Then go to Home | Font and click the little arrow in the bottom right of that section.
That opens the full Font dialog box that’s little changed for many versions of Word.
Choose the new font, style and size you want then click ‘Set As Default’ at bottom left.
This is where you choose how to apply the new default. If you want the changes to apply to all future new documents, choose the “All documents based on the Normal.dotm template” option. Click OK.
You’ve actually changed the style Normal stored in Normal.dotm.
Styles in a Template
Style settings are stored in a template. Just like font settings, you can change a style and then choose whether that change applies to the current document or all documents using the underlying template.
At the bottom of the Modify Style dialog are the two options:
Only in this document – save change to document only
New documents based on this template – this text is a little misleading. It says that the change will only apply to new documents from the template. That’s wrong. The change will apply to all documents which use that template and linked style.
The alternate message (example above) “All documents based on the Normal.dotm template” is more accurate.
Edit the template directly
The direct way to change defaults is to open the template directly.
First you have to find normal.dotm . It’s normally at
C:\Users\<Windows user name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates
Check the template location at Options | Advanced| General | File Locations
User Templates has the location of your main templates.
Open normal.dotm from File | Open. Change the file type to Word Macro-Enabled Templates. Choose Normal.dotm then Open.
We strongly suggest you make a backup copy of normal.dotm, just in case your changes have unintended effects.
Now you can edit the template directly. Change the styles, page size or orientation and many other things. Save the template then open a new document to see the results.
Document Inheritance
Document settings (as opposed to settings for the Word program as a whole) can be saved in template files (dotx or dotm) as well as the document itself.
Word will check the document for a setting. If there’s nothing, there it’ll look in the template for the setting.
This is called inheritance because the document will ‘inherit’ a setting from a template.
(yes, there can be multiple templates involved with one template linked to another and so on. To keep it simple we’ll stick with one document and one template.)
For example, the font choice for a paragraph. That can be saved in the document itself but, if it’s not then Word will check the template to get the setting.
(yes, we know that there can be direct formatting, then document based styles, then possibly multiple templates. This is Office for Mere Mortals and we’re trying to keep it simple – OK?)