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. Anonymous
    2012-11-15T09:22:16+00:00

    Thanks for the reply. I was able to do what I wanted by changing NORMAL.DOTM.

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  2. Anonymous
    2012-11-15T06:57:49+00:00

    Dear usermcw,

    I had the same issue, and finally found the solution - which is painfully simple once you get it!

    Open a new word document

    Click on the 'home' tab.

    Go to the section 'font' which is in an enclosed box. To the lower right corner of this box is an arrow. Click on the arrow and a pop-up box will appear. Choose your default font eg Times. Then look below at the bottom left corner of this pop-up box: click 'Set as default'. Another pop-up box will appear saying if you want to apply these changes to the current document or all future documents, click on the second option. Then click on ok till you reach your blank document. You can test if this worked by opening a new document, it should go straight to Times font not Calibri.

    The same applies for changing spacing: instead of 'home', now click on 'page layout', go to the box called 'paragraph'. In the lower right hand corner, click on the arrow so a pop-up appears. Choose/write 0 for before- and after- line spacings and click the 'set as default' button which appears below, and follow steps as mentioned.

    If my description is hard to follow, you can check out some picture-steps at http://www.addictivetips.com/microsoft-office/change-default-font-settings-styles-in-word-2010/.

    Hope this helps!

    Cheers.

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  3. Anonymous
    2012-08-31T10:28:30+00:00

    Thanks for the reply. I was able to do what I wanted by changing NORMAL.DOTM.

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  4. Anonymous
    2012-08-31T03:56:32+00:00

    I know this is long, but I just did this and it worked, so I hope it wasn't just a fluke.  I hope this works for everyone else.

    :-)

    Open a new document.

    If you click on the little arrow that kind of points to the corner under "Change Styles", a list should appear.

    Normal should have a box around it. If you hover over the paragraph symbol, you'll see an arrow that will bring up a drop-down menu.

    Click on the drop-down arrow.

    Select Modify.

    Under "Formatting" and directly under the Font Color drop-down menu (it should say "Automatic"), you'll see 2 "boxes"....the first one has 2 little blue arrows pointing away from each other and the second one has 2 little arrows pointing towards each other.

    Click the one with the arrows pointing TOWARDS each other.  When you hover over it, it will say "Decrease Paragraph Spacing".

    Click it twice or as many times as you can.  It will stop when there are no more spaces to delete.

    Now at the bottom, click on "New documents based on this template"

    (Side Note:  If you want to change the default Font or Size of your new documents, you can change it here)

    Click OK

    Close the original drop-down menu if it's still open (Click on the "X")

    Now click on "Change Styles" (the entire button).

    In the drop-down menu, select "Set as Default"

    Now close your document.

    Open a new document.

    Type something and press Enter.

    The space should be deleted.

    :-)

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