How can I make Word 2013 open in Draft View by default?

Anonymous
2013-04-16T04:27:08+00:00

I use Word 2013 on a 14" laptop and the default view, Print Layout, is a colossal waste of space, but I can't get the program to open in Draft View by default. Have done the following:

  • Changed settings to "allow documents to open in Draft View"
  • Saved documents in Draft View...they re-open in Print Layout
  • Tried to change New Document template to Draft View but new documents still only open in Print Layout.

I hope that the answer is not "you have to change to draft view every single time you open a document." There are already a lot more clicks / action in Word 2013 than in previous versions.

Have searched forums but there doesn't seem to be an answer for this in Word 2013.

Thanks for your assistance.

BP211

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Answer accepted by question author
Jay Freedman 208.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2013-04-16T19:49:33+00:00

Follow the instructions at http://www.gmayor.com/installing_macro.htm to put the following two macros into a module in the Normal.dotm template:

Sub AutoOpen()

    ActiveWindow.View.Draft = True

End Sub

Sub AutoNew()

    ActiveWindow.View.Draft = True

End Sub

The first will run automatically every time you open an existing document, and the second will run when you create a new document.

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Answer accepted by question author
Jay Freedman 208.3K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2013-04-19T03:51:09+00:00

That one's hidden about as deeply as possible. A lot of the things in the Options dialog are properties of the Options object in VBA, so you can say things like Options.Overtype = False. Controlling the draft font display is not one of those things. :-(

Actually, it's a throwback to Word 2003 and earlier. The Dialogs collection includes a member called Dialogs(wdDialogToolsOptionsView), which refers to a tab of the Options dialog that no longer exists (and of course the Options command isn't on the Tools menu, which doesn't exist). That dialog has an argument named DraftFont, which is a boolean (true/false) value. So this is how you do it:

Sub AutoOpen()

Dim dlg As Dialog

Set dlg = Dialogs(wdDialogToolsOptionsView)

With dlg

    .DraftFont = False

    .Execute

End With

ActiveWindow.View.Draft = True

End Sub

and similarly for AutoNew().

By the way, both your original problem and this one point the the probability that there's something amiss in your Windows registry, because these things should be saved there automatically. This trouble sometimes happens when you have certain third-party add-ins or other programs that interfere with Word's ability to write to the registry. There can also be misconfiguration of the permissions for certain parts of the registry. If you think that working with macros is harrowing, you don't want to know how to troubleshoot the registry. If these two macros solve the problem, leave well enough alone.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-12-03T01:45:58+00:00

    Thanks, Jay and Suzanne.  I will try to tackle the macros later with the info you provided.

    As for returning to the right place in the document body by keyboard after a search…

    I discovered that what I actually need is now called “advanced find.”  One way to get there is by clicking the arrow after “find” on the right end of the ribbon, then pressing “a.”  After that it is just what I wanted!  (Also known as “the traditional Find dialog box.”)

    Does anybody know a keyboard shortcut for “advanced find,” so I can get there without any clicking at all?

    I did locate this advice on “How to Map Ctrl+F to the Advanced Find Command in Word 2013.”  Looks difficult, but the end result would be great:

    http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/how-to-map-ctrlf-to-the-advanced-find-command-in-w.pageCd-storyboard,pageNum-10.html#slideshow

    The escape key does work to go from the navigation pane to the document, but it usually puts the insertion point (cursor) at the top of the document or the last place where I typed, not at the search result, which largely defeats the purpose of the search.  Strangely, sometimes the escape key DOES place the cursor with the new search result.  I played with it a lot but couldn’t figure out why it only worked sometimes.

    Thanks!  You guys are the greatest. I feel a lot less alone in my struggles with “progress” in the Word software.

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  2. Suzanne S Barnhill 279.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2014-12-03T02:37:28+00:00

    I usually just use Ctrl+H to open the Replace dialog. You can then select the Find tab if desired, or you can search from the Replace tab.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-12-03T02:58:40+00:00

    Crtl-H is just what I needed! THANK YOU, Suzanne! You are an angel!

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