How To Fix Microsoft Word Document Template

Dear Apple Tech Talk:

I’m not sure what I did but every time I open a new Microsoft Word document, I have to fix the fonts and the line spacing from what it used to be. I have tried to saving my settings when I open a new document but the next time I open a new document, the problem returns. Do you have any idea what is going on and more important, how I can fix it?

Thanks for your question. We think we know what happened, and yes, we can help you can fix it.

When you start a new document in Microsoft Word, it opens a special template called, “Normal.dotm”. This document contains all of the default settings you see when you open Microsoft Word.

Our guess is that somewhere along the way, this file either got corrupted, or somehow got its default values changed. To fix this, you can open the Normal.dotm file, make your changes and then save the file again. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done.

The problem is, the Normal.dotm file is not easy to find. It is located deep within the User Library on your Mac. But the User Library is a hidden folder so getting to it takes a bit of work.

We’ll step you through where the Normal.dotm file is, in a minute. Our suggestion is when you get to it, just delete it from your Mac. This file is part of Microsoft’s program code and if Word cannot find a copy where it is supposed to be, the program will create a new one. So, by deleting the one on your Mac, Word will create a new one the next time you start the program, and this new file will have all of the original setting.

How to Find the Normal.dotm File

Before you start, make sure to close the Microsoft Word program completely.

To find the User Library;

• Make sure you are in Finder.
• Click the Go option on the top menu bar.

• Scroll down to Go to Folder.
• In the box that opens, type; ~/Library. (To type the ~ symbol, look at the key to the left of the 1 key, and hold down the Shift key.)
• A new option will now appear in your Finder window called Library.

• In the Library, Navigate to; Group Containers/UBF8T346G9.Office/User Content/Templates. There you should see at least two files.

• Delete the Normal.dotm file that is there.
• Close the Finder Window.
• Open Word so it can recreate the Normal.dotm file.

The new file that opens should now contain all of the original settings you had when you originally installed the Microsoft Word program.

A word of caution. The User Library contains a lot of important files your Mac needs to run properly. And many of the folders in the Library often have similar names. Make sure you navigate carefully and double check that you are deleting the correct file.

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