Can't change default style in Word

Anonymous
2011-09-26T22:54:58+00:00

I have been able to change the default font to what I want, and the default margins, but cannot find a way to change the default style.  I want to have it default to "No Spacing" instead of "Normal". 

Note:  I edited this on 9/27/11 to put "Normal" instead of "Paragraph", which I had erroneously put in originally.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Anonymous
2011-09-26T23:21:24+00:00

That setting doesn't ring a bell. Where do you set it?

When all else fails to change a default, I suggest opening the template for edting, NORMAL.DOTM is the default, and make changes there.

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  1. Stefan Blom 353.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-08-25T18:10:04+00:00

    The explanation is in the message to which you are replying: By changing the default Spacing Before and the default Spacing After to zero, you won't see any extra spacing added as you press Enter. This modifies the Normal style and transfers the modification to the Normal template.

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  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-08-25T18:09:28+00:00
    1. Press Alt+Ctrl+Shift+S to open the Styles task pane.
    2. At the bottom left, click Manage Styles.
    3. In the Manage Styles dialog, select the Set Defaults tab.
    4. Under Paragraph spacing, set both Before and After to zero and set the Line spacing to Single.
    5. Select the radio button for "New documents based on this template" and click OK.

    Alternatively, right-click in a Normal paragraph and choose Paragraph... Make the same choices and click Set As Default, then choose "All documents based on the Normal.dotm template."

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-08-25T14:41:22+00:00

    What do you mean by "change the spacing before and after zero?"  I need to know how to change the normal template or make "no spacing" the default style. This was much simpler in older versions which had menus to allow the user to set the default.

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  4. Anonymous
    2013-05-12T14:08:31+00:00

    If I ever find a solution I'll post it here. Thanks for all the ideas - maybe there's one in there I haven't tried that will solve this little mystery.

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