Lately, when I bring up Microsfot Word, it is set at Calibri, 11 point type. I manually switch it to Times New Roman 12 point type, and then click the default button to ensure that the default setting for future documents is Times New Roman 12 point type. Yet it does not seem to take hold, and the next time I bring up Word, it is back to Calibri 11 point type. I have tried a few times, and also used the disk and clicked the "fix" option, with no success.

Any recommendations on how to correct this problem? Thanks.

Hi David,

You have to make the changes to Word's normal template to get the settings to hold.

1. Close all Word windows.

2. Click on the start menu at the bottom left corner of your desktop, and in the little search box, search for normal.dotm.

3. When you see the normal template appear in the search results, right click it and choose Open File Location from the pop-up menu. (Mine was at C:\Users\Owner\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates but each computer can be a little different depending on the operating system, installation location, etc.) Highlight and copy the file location at the top of the window (like the one I just pasted above) by hitting Ctrl + C on your keyboard when the text is highlighted.

4. Do not just open the normal.dotm file or it won't work. Instead, open a blank document in Word just as you normally do. Then go to File, Open, and paste in the file location into the top bar to locate the normal.dotm file. Double click the normal.dotm file to open it.

5. Change to Times 12 pt or whatever you would like. Hit the Save button (not Save As, just regular save). Close the normal.dotm template and exit all Word windows. Open a new Word window and you should be set. Good luck!

Rocky

I was unable to locate normal.dotm or a template. Now what?

hmm...can you give a little more info about what youd id and saw/did not see? don't copy and paste the location that I gave (that was just an example), but make sure you search for it.

I don't think the normal template should be hidden, but just in case you can try opening any folder first, then in the Organize tab at the top left of the window, choose Folder Options. Then click the View tab and select Show hidden files and folders. Again though I don't think that should make a difference in this case...

There is an easier way:
• Start Word with a new blank document
• Make sure the paragraph Style is set to 'Normal' (it usually is)
• Change the formatting to your requirements
• Click on Styles > Manage Styles > New documents based on this template > OK

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

that is a good solution, and in addition to answering the present question, also helped me solve one of my own questions, which i'll post to my thread on retrieving lost styles in a moment...

I did what Cheech recommended, but it did not take. When I bring up Word again it is back to the Calibri 11 point setting. I tried it twice! What do I do now?

did you try macropod's solution? it is much more direct than what i offered.

Sorry, I meant Macropod's solution was the one I tried twice and did not work for me.

sounds strange to me that it's not working, almost as if the normal template is refreshing each time you start word, which i do not believe is standard. when you tried my solution (searching for the normal.dotm template), how did you perform the search, and what results did you find?

When I do the search you recommended, it just brings up all the documents I have created in Word, with no reference to a template.

Open Word, click the File menu, click New, click My Templates.

In the window that pops up, you will see a document that says "Blank Document." Right click on that and choose "Properties" from the pop-up menu. That will have the location where the normal template is stored.

Copy the entire line (you might have to scroll to the right to get to the end) and then paste the text into the top bar of My Documents or any window. Then follow the other instructions in my solution above.

In the templates Icon I have "Normal" but not "Blank Document." Is "Normal" the thing to which you are referring?

it says Blank Document for me, but give it a try because indeed you are looking for the normal template.

Found it, and your suggestion appears to have done the trick. Many thanks!