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• How to Reset Microsoft Office (Word) to Default Settings

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Last Updated September 14, 2022 If your Microsoft Office products are not working properly, you can reset Microsoft Office settings to default to see if it helps. 2 ways for how to reset Microsoft Word to default settings are also provided. To recover deleted or lost files for free, MiniTool Power Data Recovery helps. On This Page :

• How to Reset Microsoft Office Settings
• How to Reset Microsoft Word to Default Settings – 2 Ways
• Free Office Recovery Software to Recover Deleted/Lost Files
• Bottom Line

If your Microsoft Office products like Word or Excel have problems, you can try to reset Microsoft Office settings to see if it can help fix the issues. Also learn how to reset Microsoft Word to default settings in 2 ways.

How to Reset Microsoft Office Settings

• Press Windows + S to open the Windows Search dialog.
• Type office in the search box, right-click Office app and select App settings.
• Click the Reset button under the Reset section to reset Microsoft Office. It will reinstall Microsoft Office and revert to default settings.

Alternatively, you can also go to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office16 in File Explorer. Right-click the OSPPREARM.exe file and select Run as administrator. Click Yes in the UAC window to reset Microsoft Office settings.

How to Reset Microsoft Word to Default Settings – 2 Ways

If you want to restore Microsoft Word to its default settings, you can try the 2 ways below. Way 1. Rename the Normal.dotm file

• Close all Microsoft Office programs.
• Press Windows + E to open File Explorer. Click the View tab and click Options. Click View tab and tick Show hidden files, folders, and drives under Hidden files and folders. Click OK to save the settings.
• Next, press Windows + R to open the Windows Run dialog.
• Type %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates in the Run dialog and press Enter.
• Find and right-click the Normal.dotm file and select Rename. Change the file name as Normal.old. After you rename the file, Microsoft Word will have to create a new file with its original factory settings.
• After this, you can follow the operation above to hide the hidden files and folders again if you want.

Way 2. Reset Microsoft Word to default settings with Registry

• Press Windows + R, type regedit in the Run dialog, and press Enter to open Windows Registry.
• For Office 2016/2019/365, navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word.
• Select the Word key and press Delete to delete the key.
• Close Registry Editor and restart your computer. Open Word again and it should be reset to default settings.

Note: Editing the registry can be risky, it’s advised you back up your Windows registry before you do some edits.

Free Office Recovery Software to Recover Deleted/Lost Files

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Bottom Line

This post offers a guide for how to reset Microsoft Office settings and how to reset Microsoft Word to default settings. For more computer tips and tricks, please visit MiniTool News Center.

About The Author

Position: Columnist Alisa is a professional English editor with 4-year experience. She loves writing and focuses on sharing detailed solutions and thoughts for computer problems, data recovery & backup, digital gadgets, tech news, etc. Through her articles, users can always easily get related problems solved and find what they want. In spare time, she likes basketball, badminton, tennis, cycling, running, and singing. She is very funny and energetic in life, and always brings friends lots of laughs. Sometimes Microsoft Word may not work properly due to user modifications or changes made by other programs. In these cases, the easiest way to restore Word functionality is to reset it to the factory default settings. In this tutorial, you will find detailed instructions on how to reset Word to default settings in order to remove any modifications made by you or others.

How to Restore Word Default Settings.

Step 1. Delete the «Normal» Template.

The first method to restore the word settings is to delete all the modifications that have been made and stored in the Normal.dot template. 1. Close Microsoft Word. 2. Press Windows + R keys to open the run command box. 3. Type %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates and press Enter. 4. Find and delete the Normal.dotm file. 5. Now open Word and check if the problem, is solved. If not, continue to step 2.

Step 2. Reset Word settings in Registry.

Like many programs, Word saves all settings and modifications made in the registry. To remove the stored Word Settings from Registry in order to force Word to load with the default settings, proceed as follows: 1. Close Word. 2. Press Windows + R keys to open the run command box.
3. Type regedit and press Enter. 4. In Registry Editor navigate to the following key, according your Office version:

• Word 2007: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Word
• Word 2010: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word
• Word 2013: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Word
• Word 2016, 2019 & Office 365: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word

5. Finally, expand the Word key and select and delete these subkeys:

• Data
• Options

* Note: When prompted click Yes to confirm your decision. (this will force Word to recreate the «Options» registry key at the next run with the default settings) 6. Close the Registry Editor.
7. Open Word and you’re done.

Step 3. Uninstall & Re-Install Microsoft Office.

The final method, to fix Word problems is to completely uninstall and reinstall Office on your PC. 1. Download the Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant (SARA) utility.
2. When the download is completed double click to run the SetupProd_OffScrub.exe application.
3. Click Install to install the SARA utility. 4. When the installation is completed, click Agree and then click Yes. 5. Wait until the ‘Microsoft Support and Recovery Assistant’ troubleshooting the issue.
6. Select the checkbox, at the left of the Office product name to select all the installed Office products and click Next. 7. Now wait until the Office removal process is complete and when this is done, restart your computer.
8. After restart, proceed and reinstall Office by following the instructions from these links:

• Office 365
• Office 2019
• Office 2016
• Office 2013

That’s all folks! Did it work for you?
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How to reset user options and registry settings in Word

• Article
• 05/05/2022
• 7 minutes to read

• Applies to:

  Microsoft Word

In this article

Important This article contains information about how to modify the registry. Make sure to back up the registry before you modify it. Make sure that you know how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up, restore, and modify the registry, see Description of the Microsoft Windows registry.

Summary

This article describes various methods that you can use to reset user options and registry settings in Microsoft Office Word. There are two basic types of options that you can define in Word:

• Options that affect the way that the program operates. The information for this kind of option is generally stored in the Microsoft Windows registry.
• Options that affect the formatting or the appearance of one or more documents. The information for this kind of option is stored in templates or documents.

When you troubleshoot unusual behavior in the program or a document, first determine whether the problem might be caused by formatting, options, or settings. If the behavior occurs in multiple documents, we recommend that you try to reset Microsoft Word to the program’s default settings.

How to reset user options and registry settings in Word

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor or by using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk. To manually reset a registry key, you must first delete it. Important Always export a registry key before you delete it. This step is important because you may have to restore the functionality that’s provided by the key.

1. Exit all Microsoft Office programs.
2. Open Registry Editor.
3. Locate and select the registry key that you want to delete. Refer to the Main locations of Word settings in the Windows Registry section.
4. Select File > Export, type a file name for the backup copy of the key, and then click Save.
5. Make sure that the key that you just exported is selected, and then click Delete on the Edit menu.
6. When you are prompted to respond to one of the following messages, click Yes:
   • Are you sure you want to delete this key?
   • Are you sure you want to delete this key and all of its subkeys?
7. Exit Registry Editor.

After you delete a registry key and restart the program, Word runs the Setup program to correctly rebuild the registry key. If you want to rebuild the registry key before you run the program, repair your installation by following the steps in Repair an Office application.

More Information

Main locations of Word settings in the Windows Registry

You can reset some Word settings, such as the Word Data and Options keys in the Windows registry.

Word key

Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, and Word 2016 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word Word 2013 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Word Word 2010 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word The Data and Options key are the most frequently changed areas.

Data key

Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, and Word 2016 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word\Data Word 2013 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Word\Data Word 2010 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word\Data This key contains binary information for «most recently used» lists, including the most recently used file list and the most recently used address book list. This key also contains «Track Changes» settings and «Edit» settings.

Options key

Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, and Word 2016 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word\Options Word 2013 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Word\Options Word 2010 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word\Options This key stores the options that you can set from Microsoft Word. The options are in two groups: default options and optional settings. Default options are established during the setup process. You can change them by modifying options in Word. These options may or may not appear in the registry.

Wizards key

Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, and Word 2016 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Word\Wizards Word 2013 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Word\Wizards Word 2010 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Word\Wizards All wizard defaults are stored in this key. These settings are created the first time that you run a wizard.

Common key

Word for Microsoft 365, Word 2019, and Word 2016 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\16.0\Common Word 2013 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\15.0\Common Word 2010 HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\14.0\Common This key is used by other Microsoft programs, such as the Office programs. These settings are shared between programs. Changes made in one program’s settings also appear in the other program’s settings.

Shared Tools key

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Shared Tools This key contains the paths for all Windows utilities. (The path may include utilities such as Equation, WordArt, and MS Graph.) Paths for graphics filters and text converters are also registered in this location.

Templates and add-ins

Global Template (Normal.dotm)

To prevent formatting changes, AutoText entries, and macros that are stored in the global template from affecting the behavior of Word and documents that are opened, rename your global template (Normal.dotm). Renaming the template lets you quickly determine whether the global template is causing the issue. When you rename the Normal.dotm template in Word 2007 or later, you reset several options to the default settings. These options include custom styles, custom toolbars, macros, and AutoText entries. We strongly recommend that you rename the template instead of deleting the Normal.dotm template. If you determine that the template is the issue, you will be able to copy the custom styles, custom toolbars, macros, and AutoText entries from the Normal.dotm template that’s renamed. Certain types of configurations may create more than one Normal.dotm template. These situations include cases where multiple versions of Word are running on the same computer or cases where several workstation installations exist on the same computer. In these situations, make sure that you rename the correct copy of the template. To rename the global template file, follow these steps:

1. Exit all Office programs.
2. Open Command Prompt.
3. Run the following command:ren %appdata%\Microsoft\Templates\Normal.dotm OldNormal.dotm

When you restart Word, a new global template is created that contains the Word default settings.

Add-ins (WLLs) and templates in the Word and Office Startup folders

When you start Word, the program automatically loads templates and add-ins that are located in the Startup folders. Errors in Word may be the result of conflicts or problems with an add-in. To determine whether an item in a Startup folder is causing the problem, you can temporarily empty the folder. Word loads items from the Office Startup folder and the Word Startup folder. To remove items from the Startup folders, follow these steps:

1. Exit all instances of Word, including Microsoft Outlook if Word is set as your email editor.
2. Open the Office startup folder.
3. Right-click one of the files that’s contained in the folder, and then click Rename.
4. After the file name, type .old, and then press Enter. Note the original name of the file. You may have to rename the file by using its original name.
5. Start Word.
6. If you can no longer reproduce the problem, you have found the specific add-in that causes the problem. If you must have the features that the add-in provides, contact the vendor of the add-in for an update.If the problem isn’t resolved, rename the add-in by using its original name, and then repeat steps 3 through 5 for each file in the Startup folder.
7. If you can still reproduce the problem, open the %AppData%\Microsoft\Word\STARTUP folder.
8. Repeat steps 3 through 5 for each file in this Startup folder.

COM add-ins

COM add-ins can be installed in any location, and they are installed by programs that interact with Word. To view the list of COM add-ins in Word, see View, manage, and install add-ins in Office programs. If add-ins are listed in the COM Add-Ins dialog box, temporarily turn off each add-in. To do so, clear the check box for each listed COM add-in, and then click OK. When you restart Word, Word doesn’t load the COM add-ins.

Summary of Word options and where they are stored

In the following table, «Template» refers to either the Normal.dotm template or a custom template.

Setting name	Storage location
AutoCorrect-Formatted text	Normal.dotm
AutoCorrect-Shared entries	.ACL files user.acl
AutoSave path	Registry
AutoText	Template
Company name	Winword.exe
Custom keystroke assignments	Template
Font substitution	Registry
Macros	Template/document
Picture editing	Registry
Print data forms	Document
Snap to grid	Registry
Styles	Template/document
Toolbars	Template/document
User info	Registry
View toolbars	Template
View/toolbar	Template
Document Parts	Template

AutoCorrect lists are shared between Office programs. Any changes that you make to the AutoCorrect entries and settings when you are in one program are immediately available to the other programs. Additionally, Word can store AutoCorrect items that are made up of formatted text and graphics. Information about AutoCorrect is stored in various locations. These locations are listed in the following table.

AutoCorrect information	Storage location
AutoCorrect entries shared by all programs	.ACL file in the %appdata%\Microsoft\Office folder
AutoCorrect entries used only by Word (formatted text and graphics)	Normal.dotm
AutoCorrect settings (correct two initial capitals, capitalize names of days, replace text as you type)	Registry
AutoCorrect settings used only by Word (corrects accidental usage of CAPS LOCK key, capitalizes first letter of sentences)	Registry

Please Note:
This article is written for users of the following Microsoft Word versions: 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. If you are using an earlier version (Word 2003 or earlier), this tip may not work for you. For a version of this tip written specifically for earlier versions of Word, click here: Factory Default Settings for Word. Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated March 28, 2020)
This tip applies to Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365 There may be times when you want to set Word back to a pristine, first-installed condition. For instance, you may be offering Word training, and you want to reset Word between each class offered. Many people think that the easiest way to do this is to simply allow Word to recreate the Normal.dot template. While this will restore some settings to their first-used state (such as macros, toolbars, and the like), it will not do the entire trick. Other suggestions may include uninstalling and reinstalling Word. This, however, will not lead to a pristine version of Word. Many of the configuration settings unique to Word are stored in the Registry. The uninstall process does not remove all option settings stored in the Registry and many of these will be picked up after the re-install so that Word can use them. This is ideal for those who are upgrading—they get to keep their settings rather than find the upgrade overwriting them. However, it’s not so useful for those who are looking to get a completely ‘clean’ install with no throwbacks to previous installs. Thus, after an uninstall, it is likely to be necessary to edit the Registry to remove the settings. You should remember that you cannot do «resetting» of Word while the program is running. This is because Word saves configuration information as it exits. If you make changes and then exit, you overwrite any resetting you did. You should make sure you rename the Normal.dotx file to a different name. In fact, it is a good idea to look for any file that begins with the word «Normal» and then look at the filename extensions for those files to determine if you should rename them. You should also remove any files from the Startup folder. This is not the end of the process; you also need to make a few changes to the Registry. You may want to protect yourself from potential problems by backing up the Registry first, and then you can accomplish the following steps:

1. Choose the Run option from the Start menu. This displays the Run dialog box.
2. In the Open box enter the name regedit.
3. Click on OK. This starts the Regedit program.
4. If you are using Word 2007, select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/12.0/Word key.
5. If you are using Word 2010, select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/14.0/Word key.
6. If you are using Word 2013, select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/15.0/Word key.
7. If you are using Word 2016 or a later version, select the HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/Microsoft/Office/16.0/Word key.
8. Press the Delete key. You are asked if you want to really delete the key.
9. Click on Yes. The selected key is deleted.
10. Close the Registry Editor.
11. Restart Word. Word has been reset to default settings.

Understand that when you make all these changes, there are still a couple of settings that can then only be changed by a complete reinstall. For instance, the company name you entered when you first installed Word is actually stored in the Word program file. There are also other files that can be changed during the course of using Word, but you cannot «reset» by simply deleting them. An example would be any file on your system ending with the .ACL file name extension. These are used for shared and user-specific AutoCorrect settings. If you simply delete the files, you are removing all AutoCorrect settings, not setting them back to factory defaults. For additional information about resetting options and Registry settings, you may find the following useful:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office/troubleshoot/word/reset-options-and-settings-in-word 

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training.
(Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.)
This tip (12864) applies to Microsoft Word 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019, and Word in Microsoft 365. You can find a version of this tip for the older menu interface of Word here: Factory Default Settings for Word.

Author Bio

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. Learn more about Allen…

MORE FROM ALLEN

Changing the Position of the Dollar Sign When you receive documents created by others, it is not unusual that you’ll want to edit what they’ve written. For … Discover More Offering Options in a Macro It is often helpful to get user input within a macro. Here’s a quick way to present some options and get the user’s response. Discover More Renaming a Macro Got a macro that doesn’t have quite the right name? You can rename the macro by following these simple steps. Discover More Many of us use Microsoft Word every day. But sometimes, you may run into trouble as you work in Microsoft Word. This is where it pays to know how to get Microsoft Word back to default settings. Learn how to get Microsoft Word back to default settings for a fresh start in the app. (Background graphic source: Envato Elements.) When you learn how to reset Word to default settings, you can work with a clean slate. Your copy of Word will perform just like it did when you first installed it. Any changes you made later will be rolled back. Let’s learn how to reset Microsoft Office Word to default settings in this tutorial.

When to Reset Microsoft Word Back to Default Settings

Microsoft Word is a popular and versatile word processing tool used to create documents quickly. Word is part of the Microsoft Office suite of apps, which also includes Excel, PowerPoint, and more. You may have changed settings or used add-ons that negatively impact your daily work. And from time to time, merely reversing your changes doesn’t go far enough. Sometimes, it’s useful to reset Word to default settings to troubleshoot and solve problems. (Image source: Placeit.) Let’s imagine times when you’ll need to know how to reset Microsoft Office Word to default settings:

• You’ve installed Add-ins that aren’t working well. These are tools that expand Word’s features. But some may cause unwanted problems as you work.
• Files become corrupted. If you’re having serious issues with your computer, your Word install may become unstable or even unusable.
• You don’t remember what settings you’ve changed. If you’ve forgotten the custom settings that you’ve applied, a reset can help.
• Certain features don’t work. If options vanish or are grayed out, a reset to default settings may be your only fix.

As you can see, it can often be useful to know how to reset Microsoft Word. It helps you get your work and productivity back on track. Download the beautiful Resume Word template to use in our tutorial. While we work, you’ll see a premium template in use. We’ll be working inside the Resume Word template. Download it today to follow along. Now, let’s get started learning how to get Microsoft Word back to default settings.

What Does (And Doesn’t) Get Reset in Microsoft Word When You Revert to Default

Before you learn how to reset Word to default settings, it pays to know exactly what you’re doing. You need to know what will be reset and changed, and what won’t. This helps you decide if resetting Word to default settings is truly the right move for you. When you go back to default settings, Word will reset:

• custom font design settings
• user-applied defaults
• interactions from add-ins

But you won’t see changes to the following:

• Word’s own defaults, which work as the baseline that Word will reset to.
• basic layouts
• built-in designs that install automatically with Word

In essence, resetting Word returns the app to its «normal» layout. It reverts your install back to the basics, without having to actually reinstall Word. Keep in mind, resetting Word to default settings isn’t always your best option. It’s a good idea to try and reverse changes that you know you’ve made to see if your problem is resolved. Often, a few clicks can roll back unwanted changes and get you back on track. But sometimes, you’ve got no other choice. Now, we’ll learn how to reset Word to default settings on both macOS and Windows.

How to Reset to Default in Word for macOS

The steps in this section were written using macOS Monterey and Microsoft Word via Office 365. If you’ve got a different a version of the operating system or a different version of Word, your steps may be slightly different. When you think of how to reset Microsoft Word, it’s vital to understand that Word doesn’t have a «reset button.» There’s currently not an option to reset Word to default settings with a single click. To get started, we’ll learn how to get Microsoft Word back to default settings using macOS. Imagine that you’ve got Word installed on macOS, and you want to revert to default settings. The first step you need to take is to close out Microsoft Word, along with all other Office apps. That means that if you’ve got Excel running in the background, you need to close it out too. The same goes for PowerPoint slides, and even your emails in Outlook. For good measure, it’s a smart idea to Force Quit the apps to ensure they’re fully shut down. Then, you’ll need to open Finder, which is the file browser on macOS. On the menu bar at the very top of your screen, hold Option on your keyboard, then choose Go, and then click on Library. Here, you’ll see a lengthy list of files and folders that power your Mac. By deleting Word files from your Library folder, you’ll return Word to default settings on macOS. Scroll down, until you find the Group Containers folder. Open it up, and find the folder titled UBF8T346G9.Office. Inside it, go to User Content, then Templates. Find the file labeled Normal.dotm. Click and drag the file into your Desktop folder. Next, return to the Library folder. This time, open the Preferences subfolder. Inside, click and select the two files labeled:

• com.microsoft.Office.plist
• com.microsoft.Word.plist

Moving the com.microsoft.Office.plist file to your desktop is how to reset Word to default settings on Mac. Repeat the earlier step of dragging them into your Desktop folder. Now, all you need to do is reopen Word. The files are replaced automatically, resetting you to Word’s default settings.

How to Reset to Default in Word for Windows

The steps in this section were written using Windows 11 and Microsoft Word via Office 365. If you’ve got a different version of the operating system or a different version of Word, your steps may be slightly different. You’ve just learned how to reset Word to default settings using macOS. Now, we’ll learn how to do the same when you’ve got Word installed on Microsoft Windows. On Windows, Word stores user settings in a similar fashion to macOS. Specifically, many of them sit in a file called Normal.dot. This may sound familiar from our macOS example. By deleting the Normal.dot file, you can revert Word to default by reverting changes that you may have made. Once again, you’ll need to close out Word and all other Microsoft Office apps that you’ve got open. This step ensures that the reset will work correctly. It also helps you guard against unwanted changes and potential further damage. These settings live in the hidden AppData folder. The easiest way to find it is to click the Windows icon and type in %appdata%. You’ll see a pop-up for the AppData folder. Press Enter on your keyboard to open it. On the Windows menu, type in %appdata% and press Enter to find the hidden AppData folder. With this complete, it’s time to find the Normal.dot file. In the AppData folder, find Roaming/Microsoft/Templates inside. In this folder, you’ll see Normal.dot listed. Select it, and press Delete on your keyboard. On Windows, you’ll need to delete the Normal.dot file that controls MS Word user settings. If you don’t see this file listed, make sure Hidden Items is ticked on the View menu As you do on Mac, now you can re-launch Microsoft Word. The deleted file will be rebuilt, and factory default settings will be restored. Just like that, you’ve learned how to reset Microsoft Office Word to default settings on Windows.

5 Tips for Custom Settings in Word

Now that you know how to reset Microsoft Word, what’s next? What else should you do to get back on track? Once you’ve done a reset, it’s time to get your copy of Word working the way you need. Again, you’ve got a clean slate. You can apply custom settings to work more efficiently. Let’s look at five great ways to make Word work great for you. The tips in this section were written using macOS and Office 365. If you’ve got a different operating system or a different version of Word, your steps may be slightly different.

1. Default Spacing

Text spacing really controls the look and feel of your Word document. And chances are, you may find yourself using the same settings over and over. It’s a good idea to set defaults. This means that Word automatically uses the settings you prefer most often. Of course, you can still manually change them. But you’ll find your favorite presets ready to use each time you open a new document. Using the Format > Font menu, you can control default spacing in Word. To set default spacing, find the Format > Font menu. Spacing options sit on the Advanced tab, and you can edit them here. At the bottom, you’ll see the Default button. When you’ve applied your favorite spacing settings, click Default. Now, Word will use these settings each time you launch a new document.

2. Grammar and Spelling Checks

By default, you can have Word check your grammar and spelling. These are great options to leave on automatically. They save you from embarrassing mistakes with no time or effort needed on your part. To ensure Word runs these important checks, click on the Word dropdown menu in the upper left of your screen. Then, go to Preferences > Spelling & Grammar. Ensure that Always Suggest Corrections and Check Spelling As You Type are both checked. This lets Word check your grammar each time you start typing.

3. Custom Margins

Margins control how text is positioned on a page, relative to the sides of each page. By default, Word uses 1-inch margins. But you can set your own default. Set custom margins to default to in Word using the Format > Document menu. To do so, go to Format > Document. A menu appears. You can click on the Margins tab. In the boxes, you can specify custom margins for your Word documents. To use them on every new file, click Default at the bottom of the menu.

4. Set Default Fonts

In Word, you can also set default fonts. This means you can use the same font style and size each time you work with a new document. To do that, go back to the Format > Font menu. On the Font tab, specify your font preferences. Then, click Default.

5. Edit the Startup Layout

Layouts in Word control the document orientation, footers, headers, columns, and more. To apply a default startup layout to each document, return to the Format > Document menu. On the Layout menu, you can apply custom layouts for MS Word to default to each time you open a new document. This time, choose Layout. Set the specific settings that you want to use each time you launch MS Word. Choose Default to set them as your standard layout.

The Best Microsoft Word Document Templates for 2022 Projects (With Unlimited Use)

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• Ease of use. With fill-in-the-blank template designs, you’ll save time getting documents written.
• Professional styling. Each template is built by a creative expert, and you’ll benefit from their design prowess.
• Inspiring designs. With pre-built layouts, you’ll find design inspiration on every page.

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You Learned How to Reset Microsoft Office Word to Default Settings

Microsoft Word acting up? It’s time that you use your knowledge of how to get Microsoft Word back to default settings. Bookmark this page for those times when your app doesn’t feel quite like new. Whether you’re on macOS or Windows, use these tips of how to get Microsoft Word back to default settings for a quick reset. Did you find this post useful? I believe that life is too short to do just one thing. In college, I studied Accounting and Finance but continue to scratch my creative itch with my work for Envato Tuts+ and other clients. By day, I enjoy my career in corporate finance, using data and analysis to make decisions.
I cover a variety of topics for Tuts+, including photo editing software like Adobe Lightroom, PowerPoint, Keynote, and more. What I enjoy most is teaching people to use software to solve everyday problems, excel in their career, and complete work efficiently. Feel free to reach out to me on my website.

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