Changing Word New Document Defaults
Gayle Fink (Gayle Fink)

This corner of the newsletter is reserved for readers to share practical tips, techniques and shortcuts that can make a difference in our work. Send your tips to Gayle Fink (gfink@bowiestate.edu).

I’ll be honest – the Word 2007 defaults on new word documents just do not work for me. Double spacing, Calibri font and 1.25 inches left and right margins are not in alignment with my University’s style manual! Here is a quick way to update spacing (single), default font (times roman), and margins (1.0 inch).

Start by opening a new Word document.

Space Fix

  1. On the Home tab, click the “Show Paragraph Dialog” box tool.
  2. Change the “Spacing Before” and/or “Spacing After” to 0 (zero), and change Line Spacing to single.
  3. Click Default .
  4. Click Yes to change the default for all new documents.
Font Fix

  1. On the Home tab, click the “Show Font Dialog” box tool (See #1 above).
  2. Change font to your desired font and click the Default button.
  3. Click Yes to change the default for all new documents.

Margin Fix

  1. On the Page Layout tab, click the “Show Page Setup Dialog” box tool.
  2. Change the Margins to 1 on top, bottom, left and right.
  3. Click Default.
  4. Click Yes to change the default for all new documents.

Enjoy your Winter Break!