Nov 28, 2017 - Note: You can't reset defaults using the browser version. Right-click Normal in the Styles Quick gallery, choose Modify, and then choose.
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Microsoft Word is used by many businesses as its primary word processing program and it can sometimes develop glitches. If the version of Word on your business computer is displaying grayed-out options, or if your paragraph styles are changing for unknown reasons or if all the tab settings are not looking correct, it is time to hit the reset button. Unfortunately, there is no button in Word to reset the program to its default settings. However, you can rename Word’s global template to see if that fixes its problems. If Word continues to have issues or it runs very slow, another option is to delete Word’s registry key. This forces Word back to the original default settings.
Rename the Global Template File
1.Close Word and any other Microsoft Office programs you are running.
2.Right-click the Windows “Start” button and select 'Open Windows Explorer.'
3.Browse to “C:Users(your username)AppData RoamingMicrosoftTemplates.” Sometimes you can’t see the AppData file since it is hidden. You can type the full path into your Explorer address window and press Enter to go to the Templates subdirectory.
4.Right-click on the 'Normal.dot' file and choose 'Rename.' Type in a name like 'OldNormal.dot' or 'Normalold.dot.'
5.![Styles Styles](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125690822/895082057.png)
Open Word. The program will recreate the Normal.dot file based on its default settings.
Microsoft’s FixIt Wizard
1.![Reset Reset](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125690822/628540476.jpg)
Launch a Web browser and navigate to Microsoft's support page to download the Fix It program (see Resources). This option should be used if Word is running very slow or if renaming the global template did not fix your Word issues. Close Word or other Office products before you run the Fix It wizard.
2.Click the “Microsoft Fix It” button in the middle of the page.
3.Click “Run,” in the File Download dialog box and follow the steps in the Fix it Wizard.
4.Open Word after you have run the Fix It program. Microsoft Office will automatically run the Setup program to reinstall the registry key.
Fix It Manually
1.Close Word and any Microsoft Office programs you have running.
2.Click the Windows “Start” button, type 'regedit' in the Search field and press 'Enter' to open the Registry Editor.
3.Browse through the registry keys by double-clicking on the registry names in the left pane to expand them in the right. According to Microsoft, the key for Word 2010 is located in 'HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftOffice14.0Word.'
4.Select the key that you want to delete, click the “File” drop-down menu and choose “Export.” Type a name for the file and click “Save” so you have a backup of the Word registry entry you are about to delete.
5.Select the registry key again, click “Edit” and click “Delete.” Click “Yes” to confirm your decision and close the Registry Editor.
6.Open Word and allow the computer to rebuild the registry key from the Setup program.
Tip
- Rename Word’s global template rather than delete it. This will preserve any macros styles or AutoText entries you created in case you need them again.
Warning
- Making changes to your registry is not for technology novices. Deleting an incorrect registry key can result in your computer crashing or may render your computer inoperable.
References (1)
Resources (1)
About the Author
Translating technical jargon into everyday English is one of Anni Martin’s specialties. She is an educator and writer who spent over 13 years teaching and creating documentation at the University of Missouri. She holds a Master’s Degree in educational technology as well as Bachelor’s degrees in journalism and political science from the University of Missouri.
Photo Credits
- text image by Ewe Degiampietro from Fotolia.com
Choose Citation Style
Martin, Anni. 'How to Reset MS Word to Its Default Settings.' Small Business - Chron.com, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/reset-ms-word-its-default-settings-55135.html. Accessed 11 September 2019.
Martin, Anni. (n.d.). How to Reset MS Word to Its Default Settings. Small Business - Chron.com. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/reset-ms-word-its-default-settings-55135.html
Martin, Anni. 'How to Reset MS Word to Its Default Settings' accessed September 11, 2019. http://smallbusiness.chron.com/reset-ms-word-its-default-settings-55135.html
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Word provides built-in styles for several different levels of headings and subheads—Heading 1, Heading 2, and so on. The styles define the font family, size, color, and more. While you can create your own styles and use those as headings, or adjust the formatting of headings look on the fly, you can also change the default styles if you want.
How to Customize a Heading Style
On the “Home” tab in Word, you’ll find some built-in styles in the “Styles” group, including the Heading 1 and Heading 2 styles.
You can right-click either of those heading styles and then select “Modify” to get started customizing them.
But Word also includes a bunch of other heading levels—nine in all. To see them, click the little arrow at the bottom right of the “Styles” group.
By default, the Styles window that opens shows only recommended styles, which is the same group Word shows on the Ribbon. To change that so you can see all the styles, hit the “Options” button.
In the Style Pane Options window that opens, open the “Select styles to show” drop-down, change it from “Recommended” to “All Styles,” and then hit “OK.”
The Styles window will now show all nine heading levels.
Right-click any of them and then choose “Modify” to start customizing the style.
Whether you started modifying a style from the Ribbon or the Styles window, the “Modify Style” window opens up, and the rest of the process is the same.
In the “Properties” section, you can rename the style, select the “Style Type” (only available for certain headings), base the style you’re editing off of another style, and even change the style for the paragraph that follows the heading. We’ll name our heading “Custom Style” and leave the rest alone since the default options are already pretty good for headings.
For the “Formatting” section, we’ll break it down into four separate pieces.
- This section lets you modify the font type, size, and color. You can also apply bold, italics, or underline to your text. The drop-down menu on the right lets you choose the script type (like Latin or Asian).
- This section lets you set your alignment and indention preferences.
- This section shows you see a live preview of the changes.
- This section shows a written description of your heading style.
The next bit in the Modify Style window lets you choose whether to add the style to the Styles gallery and whether to automatically update the style if you make manual adjustments to a paragraph in your document that uses that style (we don’t generally recommend using that option because it always leaves people wondering how their style got changed). You can also choose whether the style changes you’re making should apply only to the current document or should apply to new documents based on this template. Since the template your document is based on is likely Word’s main normal.dot template, choosing this option usually means changes will apply to all your documents.
If you’re unsure about any of these options, we recommend leaving them at their default settings. If you want to learn more about how styles work, check out our guide to mastering styles and themes.
Once you’ve made your choices, select “OK” to apply the modifications.
If you edited the name of the heading, you’ll see that change take place both on the Ribbon and in the Styles menu.
Now just select the style and start typing!
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