Word 2003 and 2010 use different file structures. You do not want to use a Word 2003 normal.dot as a Word 2010 normal.dotm. It will cause problems.

You rename the normal.dot to avoid confusion. A good name would be normal2003.dot. If it is placed in the Word Startup Folder all AutoText and macros in it will be available to every document.

To original poster: You may want to use Greg Maxey's building blocks utility to move the AutoText from your old normal.dot to your new normal.dotm. That way you will be able to use the pop-up tool-tips for the AutoText. Building Blocks & AutoText
I know that this isn't the simplicity you asked for. The first instructions you got from Stefan are the best simple instructions you are likely to find.

I think it's a good idea to make a copy of the normal.dot file or whatever its equivalent is in word 2010. Mine got corrupted somehow, and I had to redo the macros. If it ever goes bad, just delete it out of there and pop in the copied file in its place. Would that work?

Making a backup of Normal is always a good idea. But you can't replace Normal.dotm in Word 2007/2010 with Normal.dot of older versions.

__________________
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

A backup of your customizations is a very good idea. They are not all stored in normal.dot, though! Here is a list for Word 2007 & 2010: https://www.msofficeforums.com/word/...locations.html
For Word 2003 see What Files Do I Need to Backup? (or where does Word store all my customizations?) by Dave Rado, MVP and Brenda Hutton

You can also store your macros and many customizations in a different global template so you don't have to worry about normal.dot having to be reset. This is also a better way to share customizations with others. You would want a backup of that file.

Again, you can't transfer the normal.dot file directly from Word 2003 to a later version. You can use it, you just can't use it to replace normal.dotm.

Thanks for that link. I actually found that doing a Google search. I did go to Tools\Options\Save and check the box to prompt to save the normal.dot file. I think all my templates though are in App Data\Microsoft\templates. Here's the folder. I don't know of any other templates I have. The macros were the most work, and I believe they are in the normal.dot file. I do have a couple of letter templates, but they are stored in the same place as all my letter files. The template was not saved as a template either. I just make a macro to open the template (file) and insert the date automatically. I guess I did that wrong huh? It can get pretty confusing. I set the template (regular file) to promp for read only though. Then there is a global template. I only use style sheets on certain documents. I'm a rookie, and home use is all I need. If I worked in an office doing this all day long, I would learn much more about it. Apologies for hijacking the thread.



Thanks for the assistance.