Thanks for your instructions Guessed, did what you said and now Word opens directly to a blank page.

When I tried pressing Ctrl+N however, the new page that opened still had standard margins, not the new default ones (.5") that I had specified before clicking set default.

I tried setting the default one more time, closing and reopening word, then typing Ctrl+N, but the new document still has the standard 1" margins.

Any other suggestions to set my default margins so I don't have to change them every time? Thanks.