Something strange is going on. I have been getting strange messages about saving changes to Normal.dotm when ever I close a document. I always say no, but sometimes I have to go through a number of dialog boxes to exit the file. Now my Normal.dotm is not working properly. It does not create new documents with my styles or macros.

I configured Normal.dotm with a default page containing a heading, footer, page number, date, etc. It also contains many macros that I created. Now, when I start Word, the template creates a new document but with a blank sheet and no macros. The same happens if I double-click Normal.dotm. However, If I "open" Normal.dotm, the default sheet is present with all the macros.

To create a new document, I have to go through a convoluted routine: open Normal.dotm, and then use save-as to create the document.

How can I fix this? I have tried creating a new Normal.dotm and copying styles and macros into it. But the problem persists.

I am using Word 2016, on a Windows 10 pc.