Page Orientation Format Problem

[dawnwriter]

I need help. Suddenly my copy of Word 2008 has begun to open all New documents in Landscape orientation, with a document size of 10 x 7.5 (instead of 8.50 x 11.00). I have been unable to correct this in Print Setup, which shows that Standard 8.50 x 11.00 Portrait orientation is selected. An actual printout results in a document sized for Landscape on a sheet sized for Portrait. Selecting Landscape in Print Setup produces the opposite results. I can only get a correctly sized and formatted document by writing over the contents of a document that existed before the problem appeared. Any suggestions?

[Charles Kenyon]

Originally Posted by dawnwriter

I need help. Suddenly my copy of Word 2008 has begun to open all New documents in Landscape orientation, with a document size of 10 x 7.5 (instead of 8.50 x 11.00). I have been unable to correct this in Print Setup, which shows that Standard 8.50 x 11.00 Portrait orientation is selected. An actual printout results in a document sized for Landscape on a sheet sized for Portrait. Selecting Landscape in Print Setup produces the opposite results. I can only get a correctly sized and formatted document by writing over the contents of a document that existed before the problem appeared. Any suggestions?

If this is happening with new - but not saved - documents, the problem is with your normal.dot or normal.dotm file. Open that file and change the page size to letter and the orientation to portrait. Save and exit the file. Do not put any text in your normal file.
Normal Template in Microsoft Word - How to Open

If that isn't the answer, could you create a new page and post it here.

[dawnwriter]

Thank you for your reply. I am using MS Word 2008 for Mac. However, once you made me aware of the template problem, I resolved my issue by quitting Word, going to my user account and following the path ~/Library/Application Support/Microsoft/Office/User Templates/Normal.dotm. I renamed Normal.dotm to JunkNorm.dotm, then reopened Word. Voila! A new, correctly oriented blank Normal document opened. I am very grateful for your help.

[Charles Kenyon]

If you had any customizations like macros, keyboard shortcuts or custom styles, they may be stored in your old file. See Moving (Sharing) Customizations in Microsoft Word if you need to move any of them.