New to Office 2007? Don’t like the default font, font size, spacing, or justification for Word 2007? Tired of changing it to your preferred setup each time? Let’s configure the Microsoft defaults to your defaults.
First, make sure all Office applications are closed. Now we’re going to browse to where the default template stores these settings.
Open up My Computer and you’ll need to make sure show hidden files and folders is turned on.
Under Tools, Options… go to the View tab and click on the radio button next to “Show hidden files and folders.” Also make sure “Hide extensions for known types” is unchecked. Click Ok.
Now browse to this location (running Windows XP or Server 2003): C:Documents and Settings[user name]Application dataMicrosoftTemplates
(Running Windows Vista): C:Users[user name]AppDataMicrosoftTemplates
Make a note of the full file name for the Normal file. Most likely it will be Normal.dotm, but it could be Normal.dot or other variants. In this screenshot, the full file name is Normal.dotm.
Go ahead and keep this window open, minimize if necessary.
Launch Microsoft Word 2007. With a blank document, make all the changes you want for your default. Such as which font, font size, justification, formatting symbols shown, macros installed, and more.
When done go to the Office Button, Save As, Word Template.
In the drop-down box, change the file type to a Word macro-enabled template .dotm. Give your file a temporary name like ‘temp.dotm’ or ‘asdf.dotm’ anything but Normal.dotm and save it to the same location we went to earlier: (running Windows XP or Server 2003): C:Documents and Settings[user name]Application dataMicrosoftTemplates
(Running Windows Vista): C:Users[user name]AppDataMicrosoftTemplates
After saving the file, you may get a prompt about compatibility mode and the new file format. Just click ok on this window after you read the message.
Now close Word completely. Restore the window we were looking at earlier that pointed to the Templates folder. Rename the existing file (Normal.dotm) to something like Normal.old or old.dotm. Then rename your file that was just saved to Normal.dotm or the filename that you noted earlier.
Next time you open up Word, it should be holding onto all of the settings you specified earlier. If you find any preferences are incorrect or aren’t your prefered defaults, just run through these instructions again.
+ Microsoft has a comprehensive write-up in their TechNet site about migrating AutoText, AutoCorrect, Add-ins, and more from previous versions to Office 2007. Why reinvent the wheel?